Category: five-minute friday

Who defines what ordinary?  Who decides what’s commonplace, what’s plain and not all that more special than something else? 

My kids think that life is ordinary.  They think that little girls gets their heads washed in the kitchen sink and done up nicely the night before church.  They think homemade bread and tasting the bread dough before it’s baked it ordinary.  They believe that family dinners at or on their birthdays are the norm.  Until they start chatting with other kids.

My parents thought life was ordinary.  My Dad spoke kreyol & french at home, believing that how people spoke.  And he was right, to a point.  He & his brother grew up respecting their parents, being obedience to their instruction and teaching.  My Mom grew up in a large family, where her Mother worked hard to provide.  She lived with an older sister for a time, helping to tend to her niece & nephews.  Then they arrived to this country.  No longer were their accents normal or commonplace.  Their faces were extraordinary.  Their values and morals, far from the new ordinary.  And snow?!  There was only one place they’d ever heard the term before.

I think that life for an earnest Christian is also far from ordinary.  God does amazing things and operates in His timing.  If He operated in our timing, we’d probably look and act just like every one else around us.  But He has a special purpose for each and every one of us.  We’re not meant to fit in.  We’re meant to stand out.  Not stick out like a sore thumb, but to be extraordinary among the humdrum around us…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phew!  I had no clue where this post was going when I first started it.  Your turn.  5 minutes, no editing.  Just let the words flow and your fingers type. 

Be be warned:  You’ll have fun

I don’t have a lot of friends.  I’ve always struggled in the friend-making department.  Breaking the ice?  Not my forté.  I’m great at halting conversation, not at carrying it.  Not because I want to willingly kill a conversation, but because I sometimes don’t know what you say that’s genuine.  Especially if I’m not feeling the person right at that moment.

Regardless of all that, I can still be a friend.  Just because I may not have a long list of people beating down at my door, filling my echoingly empty social calendar with dates and outings  and playdates doesn’t mean that I’m completely clueless.  I still choose to be a great friend. 

I’ve thought a bit about what I’d want a friend to be for me.  And that’s part of what I’m trying to follow.  No sense in having a list of desirable qualities in a friendship if you’re not planning to ever reciprocate. 

Then, there’s the ultimate in friends:  Jesus.  Have you started to take careful notes as to how Jesus does friendship?  He never quits.  He never stops loving.  He forgives always and forgets all about it.  He never holds a grudge.  Jesus always offer friendship on the ultimate level to everyone, and that’s without us even proving ourselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your turn.  The thing about “five minute friday”, at least for me, is that the first 4.5 minutes are spent trying to compose something sensible on the fly.  Then inspiration hits and I start rolling with it and then–
cut off!  Time’s up. 
Just spend the next 5 minutes writing freely, openly and without restraint.  You’ll be glad you did.  Click the button below if you’d like to link up.

Growing is an action; something that you do.  Something we should all do.  When I think about it, we are always presenting progressing towards some goal:

• Growing up
• Growing old
• Growing your hair out
• Growing grey
• Growing taller
• Growing wiser

I’m sure the list could grow even longer.  But once you stop growing, then you start slowly ebbing away.  Dying, really.  If you’re not growing up, maturing, then that means you’re stopped right where you are.  Are you at your maturity pinnacle right now?

If you’re not growing any older, and this can be done with grace & elegance (yay!), then you’ve stopped right where you are.  If you stop growing, doing, then life is at a stand still.

I don’t know too many who enjoy growing grey hair.  Some barely enjoy growing their hair out.  It’s a rough process, but once you’re past the awkward stages, then your hair can look fantastic.

Growing wiser.  I don’t know anyone who would purposefully choose to recede in wiseness.  Who wants to go backwards from growing in knowledge?  Why limit your brain to all it knows only here and now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quite the topic today.  Your turn.  Click the button below to link up.  Please do visit some other posts listed and try to leave a comment where you can.  It’s most encouraging to hear that someone has read what you’ve written.

This joy that I have the world didn’t give it to me
This joy that I have the world didn’t give it to me
This joy that I have the world didn’t give it to me
The world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away.
~~~song lyrics

• Jesus first
• Others second
• Yourself last

Kinda funny how with this near obsession to “keep it real”, reality ain’t always all that it’s cracked up to be.  More and more, people are focusing on being honest, telling the truth.  Relationships are salvaged and hashed out once the truth is told.  When people feel safe enough to be real, be themselves and also to tell the truth, things improve drastically.  (This goes for all relationships, not limited to just the romantic ones).

We need to be real on job applications, twitter feeds, résumés.  We need to be real with our parents, with our children.  We need to be real with ourselves.  The life we’re living right at this very moment is oh so real.  Why do we sometimes behave as though there was another way to live?

Real life, for most of us, is work.  We study hard for our education.  Fight for freedom and equality.  Work to get even from point a to point b.  There are times to relax and play too.  We work to put out a fantastic first impression.  Even though your true self may love sweats, that’s not job interview attire.

Real life can also be a positive, uplifting experience, for ourselves and others.  We have heaven to look forward too–eternity with God.  That alone is motivation to keep it real.  Don’t mistake honesty for hurting though.  You can be honest in kindness.  It’s not our role to convert anyone.  All we can do is share we what we know and encourage them to make good choices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your turn.  The originator took a wee bit longer than 5 minutes today, so I jumped at that chance too.  I did ixnay on the editing bit though.  It’s hard work, to ignore editing and tweaking.  Click below to join the link up.

Two things popped into mind upon seeing this week’s subject matter.  Rest–as in the tranquility break that one takes to get away from something.  And rest–as in the leftovers of something. 

The first rest, the break, is quite common.  Yet, to rest is something that I find very challenging to do.  Sure, in my head I know I should get rest.  However, in reality, it’s next to impossible.  There’s no time for rest.  Sounds quite absurd really.  Without proper rest for your body, mind & spirit, you will find yourself on a quick downward spiral, physically.  Your life will be shortened without ample rest. 

The second rest, the leftover portion, it means something completely different than a break or pause.  When referring to the rest of something, it’s usually whatever wasn’t first used up or taken or grabbed.  Yet, it doesn’t only mean that what’s left back is bad or inferior.  Sometimes, there’s only limited room for something.  The rest has to go somewhere else.  Sometimes, there are limits as to what we can handle, what we can do.  The rest will have to be handled, cared for by someone else. 

Hmm, this is one reason as to why no man can be an island.  You need people.  We need each other.  We only have two arms–we can only carry a certain-sized load.  We have only two ears–we can only listen and hear so much.  The rest will have to be carried, heard by someone else…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was aiming to be more spontaneous with my post today.  As in, not premeditating on the subject, coming up with all sorts of pleasant sounding ideas in my head.  Today, I just let go.

Your turn to join in.  You can link up too–it’s fun.  Just 5 minutes is all your need for the main part.

Growing older is not something that most of us look forward too.  The risk of illness, nursing home, slower movements all loom.  Don’t forget grey hair or a receding hair line.  Yikes!

But growing older can also mean getting better.  There’s a chance that as each day, hour, minute goes by, I can improve.  I can get better with that little pest known as procrastination.  I can become a better parent to my kids.  I can do better as a wife.  I can do better as one who claims to be a follower of Christ.  There’s lots of opportunities to “carpe diem” with life and just do.

With each birthday, come a time for reflection.  While most people use New Year’s to make new resolutions/promises, I use my birthday as that marker.  So far, I have done better since June. 

As I grow older, I aim to also learn faster.  I don’t have to wait until I’m 40, 50, 60 to make certain life changes that I really should have made in my teenage years.  It’s okay to make better decisions now, so that I can enjoy life as I get older. 

I’m also planning to age with elegance & grace.  I want to look fantabulous with each passing year.  I certainly don’t want to look any older than my age!  I want to keep stress on the down low, so that I can avoid premature wrinkling and greying of my hair.  I’d like to not wait too long to use that fine china or that fancy perfume.  Life is not guaranteed.  I’ve seen the young ages of people in the obituaries. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your turn.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat.  Don’t worry about tweaking/editing of any kind.  
2. You can click the button below to link up too, if you’d like.
3. Leave a comment on a few posts before yours (on the link up).  

The five-minute Friday originator has suggested that comments are like reaching through the screen to hug the poster.  I’d have to fully agree.  It feels good to both leave comments and receive comments.

I love the fact that new implies an undiscovered freshness.  New post brings up a completely blank slate, ready to be filled.  A new home is unlived in; free of someone else’s memories & germs.  New car–better technology–need I say more?  New relationship:  makes you want to work hard to keep everything sweet and innocent.  New baby:  altogether now–awwwww! 

There’s a phrase “new and improved”.  But that’s not always true.  New isn’t always an improvement.  I’ve bought some of that food from the grocery store–and won’t be trying those products again.  Who enjoys breaking in new shoes?  New jeans?  In fact, many clothes come with the “wash before wearing” label.  It needs some care and handling, even in its new state.

God’s mercies are new every morning.  I appreciate a fresh start of God’s love.  His mercy meter gets refilled each night, all topped up and ready for me in the morning.  It’s almost like God has a “Groundhog Day” (the movie) moment with all of us.  All we have to do is tap into it.  This repetitiveness is worth hanging on too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your turn.  Lisa-Jo even suggests that this exercise is as fun as finger-painting your words.  No worries about grammar, punctuation, or even font.  I’d have to agree.

Set your timer for 5 minutes and just let the words and ideas flow onto the page.

Enjoy!

According to its (paraphrased) definition, beauty is a quality present that is satisfying to the mind.  That’s true.  Beautiful music is like a healing balm–you don’t want the song to end.  Sometime it even invokes tears.  That picture perfect dessert, just before you slice into it.  You want to just put it on display so that everyone can enjoy it.  Watching a bride walk down an aisle to meet her beloved in a dress she hunted for especially for the moment–beauty all around.  The breathtaking scenes in nature–the brilliant colours on the flowers, or the clarity in the vivid blue waters off a tropical coast, beautiful indeed.  Just the thought alone brings a smile to my face.

Then there’s the flip side to beauty–ugly.  I mean much more than just the positioning of one’s nose or the ratio of forehead to face.  Ugly, to me, is the stuff that appears when your true heart is on display.  I’m not talking about pain–God can make beauty from anything–He’s The Creator.

I’m referring to the ugly that we harbour with grudges, unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, defiance.  The stuff that seeps through every crack in our carefully masked façade that reveals itself when we least expect it.  The stuff that has nothing to do with beauty.

In fact, it often undoes our beauty.  Unravels it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is so much that I’m now thinking of when it comes to beauty.  So many different ways to swing this post.  Maybe I’ll do a part two to this one?  We shall see.

Your turn now.  You will enjoy this exercise immensely.  Guidelines are:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat.  No editing or tweaking necessary (nor ‘allowed’).
2. Click the button below to link up with others.
3. Go and read a few other posts and leave a comment.  It feels good to know that someone is reading.

Whole is defined as not broken, damaged or impaired; intact.

This definition surely does not describe me.  I am not whole…yet. 

I’m broken, damaged, impaired and out-of-tact (or whatever the proper opposite for intact is).  Every personal dig, attack on my character, question of my authority, undermining moment, underwhelming expectedness, lack of respect, rudeness, underestimation has led, in part, to my unwholesomeness.

The other part comes from me and what I choose to believe and accept, rather than reject.  Sure, the words sting–there may even be a shred of truth here and there.  But I certainly don’t have to keep all the excess negativity.  I can hear what’s being said, evaluate it for truth and reject what’s not necessary.  Get rid of the things that are aiming to chip away at me.

God’s intention was for us to be whole–in Him.  We need God.  He created us.  On our own, we would never have had a beginning.  If that’s not a hint of where wholeness starts…

So to reverse the effect, to work on being more whole, I need God to fill me.  Every void, every chip, every hairline fracture can be repaired and gracefully covered.  His unconditional love and concrete promises are the super glue that repairs me.  Repairs you.

Restores us to whole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are so many paths these words could’ve taken tonight.  I didn’t know what was going to happen when I started.  To stay true to the polite guidelines of this exercise–no editing for me.  Your turn to give it a try.  It’s fun.