Five Minute Friday: Trust

Today, I went to a mom’s group in my area. We are studying the Psalms this year, all about praying under pressure. Just wanted to share a little bit of what I learned today!

 “But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” 

Psalm 13:5-6

It’s easy to trust God when things are going well, and life is flowing smoothly, and you are getting along with all the people in your life, but do you still trust Him when life gets a little uncomfortable?

It has been well documented that David’s prayers tell it like it is. He does not hold back on his feelings when he talks to God about life’s situations. He comes boldly before the throne of God and petitions Him regularly.

However, it is important to remember that he doesn’t stop there. The Psalms of David always come back to the truth that God is good and He can be trusted.

When your friend turns against you.

When your enemy is working hard to trip you up and cause you to fall.

When you lose your job.

When your kid gets sick.

When the money runs out before the month does.

When it seems like your hopes and dreams will never come to pass.

God is still good. God is still trustworthy. You can choose to trust Him and rejoice in His rescue plan, even when you don’t know what it is. This is possible because we know God’s track record. He has dealt bountifully with His people in the past and He will continue to do so in the future.

God can be trusted.

David gives us a model of prayer when we just want to complain.  

1. Get it off your chest—You can complain, tell God exactly how you feel.

2. Ask for your request—Ask Him to hear you, tell Him what you want.

3. Choose to give thanks—Make a choice to rejoice anyway. Take confidence in His lovingkindness.

Trust God with your cares and worries.

Joining in with the ladies of Five Minute Friday today with the prompt: Trust

Join me as I remember what it means to be a writer again. Writing for 31 days in an attempt to find where nature and art collide in the work of writing. Click the graphic to find all my #write31days posts.

Five Minute Friday: Family

It's Friday, which means we get our prompt for writing from Kate Motaung and the Five Minute Friday Community!  This week's prompt is...

Family:

My writing improves when I actually live my life. My family, my friends, my kids, life events, all of these give me things to think about, things to process, things to look at through a lens.

“In order to write about life first you must live it.” (Click to tweet)

In addition to living a life, I find that if I want to write, I need to read, not the useless consumption of facebook, news, and light reading, but time spent in God's Word, in quality literature, in books on the craft of writing. For me, writing only comes when I have something to write about. And there is a limit to consumption and I have reached the point where I need to step back from consuming and start creating.

When I think of my writing journey, I am only where I am because of family.  My husband encouraged me to go back to school to pursue a degree in Communications. He continues to support me by picking up the slack when I'm consumed with schoolwork. My father keeps giving me books on writing, devotionals to encourage the writer, how-tos and ideas for writings, etc. My mom and my sisters faithfully (or semi-faithfully) read my blog whenever I actually post.

My kids learn from my writing. We've had conversations about writing and going back to school (especially when my homework gets in the way of something they want). I have even caught my kids doing some of their own writing. Journals are pretty high on the Christmas list even for my young kids. They have written short stories, comic books, essays, etc.

I am thankful for my family. In anything you want to pursue, you need to have support and I believe that the ones who support you are your true family, whether it's through blood or not.

Writing has also expanded my family. I've been a part of the Five Minute Friday family, the Allume family and the God-sized Dreams family. You might call them communities, but really that's what family is all about. Living in community with one another.

My thoughts today: Be family to someone today. Encourage them to pursue their dreams. Cheering on others has a way of cheering yourself up!





Join me as I remember what it means to be a writer again. Writing for 31 days in an attempt to find where nature and art collide in the work of writing. Click the graphic to find all my #write31days posts.

Five Minute Friday: Find

A little Five Minute Friday (on Monday)

"You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it." ~Charles Buxton

"Lost time is never found again." ~Proverb

"To choose time is to save time." ~Francis Bacon

"You love what you find time to do." ~Unknown  (<== click to tweet)

"Take care in your minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves" ~Lord Chesterfield

Time management quotes always make me a little sick to my stomach, because I'm awful at it. I can never seem to find the time I need for the things that I say are of great importance to me.  Writing, quality reading, making cards, sending cards, maybe even reading to my kids (although that may be pushing it... Reading my Bible and spending time in prayer, investing in the lives of those around me, even exercise.

Constantly I wonder, why can't I find time for this or that? Then I realize it's because I haven't wanted it bad enough. I say I love to do these things, but actions speak louder than words.

When I have a few minutes to spare, I think it's too little time to get into a project or focus on a task I want to complete, so instead I fritter away 5-10 minutes on iphone games, facebook and instagram, brainless TV or novels, and the like... and before I know it, I've lost an hour and will never get it back.

What if I took those 5-10 minutes and stretched my brain or chose a chunk of a task? It's possible that an hour later I will look up from my task and see accomplishment. I don't need to focus on the hours when I start, just five minutes here and five minutes there, making the time for the things I say matter in my life. I might even find my motivation again.





So thankful I "found" time to write and join Five Minute Friday today. Maybe you will too?

Five Minute Friday: Learn

Wednesday seems as good a day as any to write and post a Five Minute Friday blogpost.

Five Minute Friday: LEARN

A new school year is on the horizon, not just for my kids, but for me, too. I never set out to be a #studentmom. I thought for sure my two years of a "Secretarial Program" (now it's called Office Administration) would get me through life just fine. And after seven years of various office jobs, I was ready to come home, stay home, and be a mom.

However, two things happened...

One, I suddenly started learning again. It's crazy how my kids teach me more than I am teaching them. Every day (even when I don't realize it) I am learning from them, through the situations we face, through the growing process. My kids are some of the most grueling educators I know...

I also discovered that I wasn't done with formal book learning. And 15 years after I hung up my pencils, papers, and textbooks, I started up again. This time for a BA in Communications/writing. To be honest, these on-campus classes freak me out a little bit. My brain isn't as fresh as it used to be. I have a lot more responsibilities and distractions than I did out of high school. And because I am a people pleaser, I always wonder how the young "whippersnappers" I'm in class with, will take to the middle aged MOM in their class.

Click To Tweet

I've discovered something in the last three years of continuing education... Experience goes a long way, and brings a new element to the learning process. Experience is a valuable teacher.

I never set out to be a lifelong learner, but it turns out that is what God wants of each one of us--even if it's not in the classroom setting!

Never stop learning! (Tweet This)

Five Minute Friday: Try

It's Friday and I'm actually writing another blog post! I love being back in the swing of writing and using the word prompts from Five Minute Friday!!


This Week's Prompt: TRY
I hear the word "try" and all I can think of is the famous Yoda quote...

"Do, or do not. There is not try!"

However, in my house lately the cry has been "I can't" (or more accurately, "buuuu-uuuttt, Iiiiiii caaaaa-aaaannnn't"). To which I reply, "All I'm asking is that you try!"

It's so easy to take the easy way out and say, "I can't, so I won't even try." But I'm working on teaching my kids (and myself) that you will never know if you don't even make an attempt. Sometimes all it takes is a little effort, just a small starting point, and before you know it you have done it...

learned something new
tried a new food
faced an old fear
discovered a new opportunity
made a new friend
created new artwork
succeeded over past failures.

Trying leads to doing! What have you discovered (or conquered) lately by trying?!

PS... wanna TRY to win a FairTrade giveaway?  Enter Here!!

Five Minute Friday: Ten

I've been keeping my eye on Five Minute Friday, even though it's been almost TEN MONTHS since I last blogged. So I thought I would attempt a blog post.

Here are 10 reasons I haven't been blogging:

1. Life got busy.
2. Life got really busy.
3. Then, I got lazy.
4. The notion that I couldn't start blogging without a special relaunch of my blog complete with a redesign and lots of cool giveaways.
5. Fear
6. procrastination and laziness...
7. wanting to start with a month of prescheduled posts.
8. I figured no one missed my writing, that my story isn't that important.
9. I don't think I can sustain a regular posting schedule.
10. The Chihuahua of FEAR.

And then 10 reasons I should start blogging again:

1. Writing is good for the soul
2. I love the blogging community
3. I have some new release books that I am reading that I need to share with you all.
4. I am part of the #FTFBloggingTeam, which means I should be blogging about the awesome ministry of Fair Trade Friday.
5. I have some giveaway ideas and I know how much my few readers (is there anybody here) love giveaways!
6. I have been writing on and off over the last 10 months, I've just been too chicken/lazy to post things
7. I don't want to be a "quitter."
8. Blogging is a creative outlet and I need creative outlets.
9. I have a story to tell... We all do and story is important.
10. It only takes "5 minutes" so I should have no problem blogging!

I wanna write, I really do... am I willing to take five (or TEN) minutes?

Handmade Cards: New

Behold, I make all things new.

 Revelation 21:5

So excited to be mixing #write31days with #fiveminutefreewrites because that's all I have time for these days...

The #fmfparty prompt today is NEW:

Sometimes when you get stagnant in creating, it's time for something new! A new technique, a new product, or simply new stamps. A while ago, a friend of mine was moving and cleaning out her stamping supplies. She gifted me with a large box of stamp sets that she was cleaning out!! I went on a stamping rampage when I got that box. The new stamps gave me a rush of of new ideas and I couldn't wait to create... and I made time to create.  

It's been a while since I went through that box. I know there are still plenty of stamps that I haven't even touched. Maybe it's time for me to gift someone else with some new enthusiasm for stamping by sharing with them!

This summer, I bought myself a new set of stamps! It was a huge splurge for me, but I had a plan already in mind. I knew that I wanted to create cards for actual snail mail and I wanted it to be encouraging. So I bought a set of Scripture stamps and then I created and created and created.

Here are just a few of what I came up with (I actually made over 30 in a week's time)

The question is this: What colors would you use with these Scripture stamps? Wanna special order a set? Stop by my shop!

My word prompt came from Kate Motaung who is doing 31 days of 5 minute free writes this month!  Five minutes of writing is about all I can squeeze in these days, but it's better than no writing!!

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment as I get moving again in writing and creating... (it might just benefit you at the end of our time this month)

Five Minute Friday: Because

Because I can't get it out of my head, because I really love making homemade cards, because there is something so wonderfully, incredibly encouraging about sending AND receiving snail mail... because I want to be like all the cool kids! I just might be making an attempt to join #write31days for October... which may or may not be a good idea, because it's only 4 days away and I haven't written a single post, I just have a million ideas floating around in my head.



I read this week that there are three things needed to be as successful blogger

Get Organized

Stay Focused

Believe in Yourself

(seriously, go visit my friend, Debi and sign up for her newsletters, she rocks!) and because I want to be one of those, I'm going to use the month of October to work on that--in between my readings of medieval epics for World Lit and my practicing and rehearsing and memorizing for my Oral Interp class... and in between mothering and housework and being a wife and a friend and the crazy day to day and trying to glorify God in all that I do.

So come back and hang out with me for the month of October ...because I want to write and I want to make new cards and I want to show you cards I've made and cards I love... and because I would love some feedback on my cards (and maybe a purchase or two).

So what do you say? will you join me on this journey? I have no idea what it will look like, but I would love to see it be an interactive journey, because I have this great idea for a giveaway at the end of the month...

Who is with me??? Stick around for 31 days (more or less... most likely less) of Handmade cards

Day 1: Stationery (not a card)
Day 2: Views equal purchases
Day 3: New stamps, new ideas
Day 4: What are you learning?
Day 5: Stuck in a birthday card rut
Day 6: One of a kind fall cards
Day 7: Go Team!
Day 8: Simple Card Tutorial

Five Minute Friday: Change

It was 20 years ago that I walked into this building for the first time as a naive, scared-to-death, 17 year old college freshman. A lot has changed since then... except for the scared to death part. Why is it that I can be 20 years older, but the thought of papers, and quizzes, and presentations, and interactions with kids half my age SCARES ME TO DEATH.


Twenty years ago, I was looking for a quick degree... just an AA, no big deal. Just enough of an education to get a job being a secretary. (Yes, back then we were still called secretaries instead of administrative assistants). I loved typing, numbers, and organization, but I hated the phone.

Life has brought about a lot of change in the last 20 years. I graduated, I got married... and then I had 4 kids in 4 and a half years... and somewhere in there I started blogging and discovered writing as a way to express myself, as a way to think, as a way to process life.

And I decided I wanted to be a writer and my husband encouraged me to go back to school and get a communications degree... what was he thinking? What was I thinking?

I've taken a few classes here and there, but this semester it's TWO classes (come on, I'm a wife and mom... can't put too much on my plate) and for some reason, I get an unbelievable fit of nerves at the beginning of each semester. Nevertheless it's back to school time and back to campus, even though I feel old and wonder how I can do it with all those young'ns on a college campus.

Rules have changed, campus has changed, I have changed! And that is where I need to focus. I'm not 17 anymore. Life has given me a lot of experience, something that I can share with these young whippersnappers. Life will change for them over the next 20 years and I can go to campus knowing that I have something to offer them and to remember that they have something to offer me.

Change is not something I look forward to, but I know that it can be good for me. So this fall, I enter this building with anticipation, not trepidation and I go in confidence that this is what God wants for me and I will do the best that I can, not for the approval of man, but for God's glory. Change is what gets me out of my comfort zone and that's what I need right now.

What does change look like for you?  

Join me and the other writers at Five Minute Friday and share your five minutes on change!





photos credit: my awesome husband

Five Minute Friday: Tell

I wanna be a writer... really, I do! But somewhere along the way I have to find my reason, my drive, my passion.  Until I do, I will just continue to attempt Five Minute Friday in the hopes that someday, some where, somehow, the writing will improve and I will find my voice and my vision for the future...

This week, I'm not going to wait until the last possible moment. I will MAKE myself sit down and write, and I will share it here... (for real, I wrote this on Sunday... I just procrastinated until now to get it on my blog...aaarrgghh)

How can I not with a prompt like Tell:


Would it shock you to know that I've been blogging on and off for over 10 years?!?!?  It was shortly after my firstborn son turned one that my husband opened me to the world of blogging. It was an outlet, a way to inform family on the antics of our baby and growing family, etc. Over the years, I've wondered what my purpose is in blogging... what am I trying to tell the world? I tried my hand at photography, counting the one thousand gifts, sharing recipes and craft projects, and the dear to my heart handmade cards. But it also became the birthing place for my desire to be a writer.

Lately, I've been struggling with that desire because I've been unmotivated to put that desire into action... and just Friday morning I read the following on the Allume blog...

What’s your end game in blogging? What is the ultimate goal you hope to accomplish with this?

And I will ponder that and think through my goals and purpose. The other struggle I've had is with all the verses in the Bible that show the wisdom in keeping your mouth shut... "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." ... and "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" and I think, does the world really need to hear what I have to say? Or should I just keep my mouth shut and my pen silent?

And then God brings to mind the verses where He commands us to tell the generations to come (Joshua 22:27-28) His mighty works, His goodness, His miracles. And while I haven't figured out the how, the why, the when; I do know that I can use this blog to tell of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes it will be sloppy and choppy and maybe, hopefully, someday it will be eloquent and life changing to some one... even just one reader.

So, I will tell of the wonders of my God and pray that you will join me in sharing testimony to the great things He has done!

Psalm 145:4 “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.”

Psalm 79:13 “ Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”

Psalm 71:15-16 “My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone. 

STOP:

Now get thee over to Kate Motaung's place and read some more great five minutes and tell them what their words mean to you!

And take a moment in the comments to share what great things God has done for you this week!

Five Minute Friday: Fill

I've always been a procrastinator, but this is getting ridiculous. I have loved Five Minute Friday from the start. It's what taught me to sit down and write without worrying whether it's right or not, but I still struggle with it. And now we've transitioned to a new host for Five Minute Friday and a new journey and I so want to be a part of it and I've almost missed the first week entirely.

When I saw the prompt last Friday, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about, but I had no idea what it was going to look like and then I refused to sit down and write... phooey on me!!

so here goes my feeble attempt in the eleventh hour!!

Fill:

A blueberry in the bucket, a blueberry in the mouth, a blueberry in the bucket, a blueberry in the mouth... Which will get filled first, the bucket or his tummy? That's the way it goes with my nephew. My girls on the other hand filled their buckets pretty quickly because for some reason, I can't get them to like blueberries, unless it's the dehydrated ones that come in muffin mixes. :)

I spent last Friday picking blueberries with my girls, my sisters, and my mom. It's been a while since I've done it, but I'm looking forward to some blueberry treats this fall, winter, or even spring... because now my freezer has a shelf of frozen blueberries all ready for baking.

Truth be told, it's the baking I love, I don't care if it's blueberries, cheesecake, brownies or Christmas cookies. I love baking! It fills my heart with joy and gives me more cushioning than I need, baking makes me happy.  Almost as happy as writing... actually baking makes me happier than writing because I can see the immediate positive results and feedback from my baking... maybe I should make this a baking blog (and maybe I should stop writing as my brain seems to have gone away with me and taken any chance of a complete thought with it).

Baking, blueberry picking, spending time with family like I did last week... all things that fill my heart (well maybe not the work of blueberry picking, but that's where this blog post started).

What fills your heart?  or what fills your freezer?  :)


So like I said it's the eleventh hour and I'm going to try to link up with the other fine writers at Five Minute Friday... before we all join for a new week and a new prompt tonight at #fmfparty on twitter!!

Five Minute Friday: Begin

I'm totally breaking the rules with this one, because it's the last 5 minutes with Lisa-Jo as she passes the torch to Kate Motaung (who I'm sure is a delightful person and I can't wait to get to know her through the coming weeks of Five Minute Friday)... Because I don't know her, I don't know if she will let us break the rules (or at least bend them a bit) :) So I'm thinking on the prompt Begin (or was it bacon) and doing a little research and a little sleeping before I begin my five minutes on begin. 

sidenote: I wrote this Thursday night before I turned out my light with the full intention of writing in the morning... and then my pen kept moving and this is what came out before my pen stopped!!!

I began with Five Minute Friday all those years ago with the first prompt --it was a photo prompt, not even a word prompt. And my 5 minutes were very short (this was before I wanted to be a writer).  Over the years I have written regularly and written intermittently and dropped off the face of the earth altogether, but I keep coming back to this community, this #fmfparty community, because when I'm with them, I fall in love with twitter again, I fall in love with blogging, with community, with inside jokes like bacon, alpacas, and ...

I fall in love with writing again, and when the romance with writing begins again I begin to smile and I begin to write until my hand aches and I think I better get a better pen to attach to my writing journal.

I begin to believe in myself again...

~believe in the dreams God has placed on my heart
~believe that God is writing my story
~believe that I am loved whether I blog every day or less than once a month
~believe that friends, real friends, exist online and I have friends in Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, California, and Florida and a whole bunch of other states, and even multiple locations in Canada, and right here in Pennsylvania.

These friends are here for each new beginning, cheering me on and they will cheer you on with encouraging words that can flow out in just five minutes (or more).

Take a few minutes to encourage others in your life today! You can't begin to imagine what it will mean to them!

and read some other great readers participating in five minute Friday with Lisa-Jo this week!

Five Minute Friday: Finish

Will you all bear with me and my recurring theme of late for one more blog post? I'm still a little lost and still finding my way and still procrastinating on Five Minute Friday and posting it at the last possible moment. I have good intentions of writing and posting on the actual Friday that the prompt goes live, but it never seems to happen, so I think... by Monday at least, but that doesn't happen either. and then I find it being Wednesday night and the house is quiet and I gave it a go... but it doesn't get posted until late afternoon on Thursday, mere hours before the next prompt goes live... but here it is anyway.

My {approximately} Five Minutes on Finish:

Some days I think I"m finished with this whole writing thing, that the words in my heart and my head have just dried up and disappeared. Some days, most days, the desire to write is so far gone that I find something, anything else to do (even housework) just so I don't have to sit down and write (which is why I'm attempting 5 minute Friday almost a week later).

Writing, it's what all the cook kids are doing and try as I might, I've never been one of the cool kids.

But finishing cannot be called finishing, when it's really quitting. Quitting is never the right answer. And I keep saying that I'm not going to quit.

So I'm finished with the quitting, finished with the excuses (for a day or two, anyhow) finished with the wishing and hoping but being unwilling to act.

Finishing brings about beginnings.

Fact is, I don't know what I"m beginning and chances are there will be multiple do-overs, but each time I want to quit I'm reminded that He's not finished with me yet and Hw ho has begun this good work in me will bring it to completion

... in His time.
... in His way.
... for His glory.

and He will do the same in your unfinished story.  Let Him keep writing His story on your heart, and I will let Him keep writing His story on my heart... and occasionally, I'll write it down and share it with you!

Five Minute Friday: Belong

It's a little far from Friday... closer to the next Friday, but I've been itching to try my hand at writing, at blogging again, so here it is...

I found Five Minute Friday hanging out at Crystal Stine's place this week... She's a treasure, be sure to check her out! She'll make you feel like you belong!


Here's my five(+) minutes on Belong

Start:

Somedays I wonder where I belong... Is it in the bloggy world, in the crafty world, in the writing world, in the continuing education world, in the just-a-mom world?



I recently took a social media break to figure it all out... and to finish strong in two online classes that were stretching me a little farther than I wanted to stretch (one of them was a PE class, haha). I'm still on the social media break, but I cheated recently and perused a little bit of twitter, a little bit of instagram, a little bit of facebook. And it reminded me of what I loved about the online community.

For one thing, when you disappear for a month, there is always someone to welcome you back (or even notice that you were gone in the first place). Not hundreds of people, but it was my people. An email here, a Voxer there, and a twitter conversation, too.  And I realize that I still belong.

I don't write for days, weeks on end, but when I sit down and focus the words will still flow... sometimes a little choppy at first, but they are still there, I just have to work at them. And I realize I can still call myself a writer, I just can't be lazy. Sometimes it takes a little effort to belong.

Those classes I worked so hard on, I got an A in both of them... and the anticipation of on-campus fall classes has me a little giddy and I realize I can still belong in the higher education arena, too.

I peruse Pinterest and am overcome with great card making ideas and when my classes are finally done, I sit down at my craft table and I create, and I create, and I create...



and I love every single card I make and I am giddy with the thought of sending them to some of my friends to bless and encourage others... maybe I don't belong in the etsy world full time yet, but God can use my gift of creating to show others they belong!

I take my kids to swim lessons and watch them improve and have a blast. I make rainbow loom creations (including a Queen Elsa).

We go on vacation and I enjoy the pool with them a bit, they ride bikes to the area park, we enjoy a day at the Creation Museum, etc... Back at home, I cuddle with my kids more and take them to the park and the library. I make little successes in parenting and I realize that above all I belong to these kids and they belong to me and I can be a mom ... and all the other things too. It's just an ebb and flow, and not so much a balance of it all, but a belonging and a taking turns on where my focus is.

STOP

so be a little gentle as I stop in to see if I belong in the blogging world still  ;)
Hope to be back again soon, but no promises!

Five Minute Friday: Nothing

It's Friday... and I have a thousand blog post ideas brewing in my head, but they haven't made it out on paper. But with a prompt like NOTHING for Five Minute Friday, I thought I would see if I could find something. Here's what I found...


Start:

I don't even want to write... it's been so long I feel like I can't remember how, or even why I write. My blog has been spotty at best and even when I have great ideas, I can't seem to find the space, the time, the margin in which to write.

I thought this was the dream I wanted to pursue, I went back to school for a communications degree and I can't even seem to communicate what is in my head, can't seem to get my thoughts out on paper. I know I have something to say, but most days it feels like nothing.

And when I get close to quitting, I get the encouragement I need to keep going, or at least the encouragement that I should keep going.  The difference between good writers and bad writers??!?! According to Jeff Goins, the bad ones quit.

just keep writing, just keep writing

So while I really want to quit, I won't. It might be quiet for days, weeks, even months at a time while I try to find something, anything to write about. But I know that even when I feel nothing, there is something. I just have to start writing or start typing and then the thoughts start flowing and my fingers start flying and sometimes it doesn't make a lick of sense, but I keep typing and occasionally that typing will end up here on the blog for all to see.... and sometimes it will just be between me, myself and I.

But I'm determine not to settle for nothing, and to remember that there is an ebb and flow and to everything there is a season, and nothing good ever comes to those who do nothing... and sometimes you just have to do the next thing, even if it's just writing a bunch of cliches because you still feel like you've got nothing.

There is always something. (and sometimes colored pens help you find that something...)

STOP

sometimes nothing is really something... what is your "nothing" today? Write for 5 minutes and join the party at Lisa-Jo's place!!

Five Minute Friday: Grateful

It's not Friday anymore, but I wrote based on the Five Minute Friday prompt, so be sure to stop by Lisa-Jo's place and see what others are writing in five minutes on the word:

Grateful

I tried so hard to go into Mother's Day Weekend with low expectations because even though I'm a mom, it is NOT all about me. Thankfully, I did pretty well --not perfect, mind you, there was one little hissy fit Saturday night... but I regrouped and went to bed before 9 o'clock because I was achy, tired, and cranky, and not feeling very grateful; even though it had been an amazing day, including a new flower garden space, prepping for the veggie garden, a late lunch at Texas Roadhouse and the afternoon/evening spent out on the porch swing ... (how is that for an awful run-on sentence?)

Sunday morning began with whispers and rustling in the hallway well before 7 AM. {smile} But Wes restrained them and gave some guidance. At 7 AM, I was greeted with hot coffee, a poptart, and four eager children with PILES of Mother's Day creations!

They had been busy!

Each one was adorable and amazing and created with an unconditional love that I can be so underserving of. My heart just exploded a little bit more with each one I got to look at and read.


There was kid writing from my kindergartner that could have used an interpreter,

the masterpieces from my one and only son including a pop up handmade card,

and the handprint in cement because my Ella has a fantatstic first grade teacher...

But then there was the work of art from my 9 year old --- her creation, combined with her words (she's gonna be my writer) just summed up my life, my relationship with my kids, and our unconditional love for each other in the middle of all the messes and all the mistakes!

I am so grateful!



What are you grateful for ?
 Grateful...

grateful for

new flower gardens
steak for lunch
sunshine
the porch swing
coffee and a poptart in bed
kids creative painting and cards
artwork
marinated veggies on the grill
unconditional love
messes and mistakes
seeing Jesus in my kids