Category: five-minute friday

 

I think of the encounter at a town well many years ago. A woman carefully chose the time of day to draw water, specifically to avoid meeting anyone else. Yet one day, she meets a Man. He’s from a background that she’s been raised to hate. She knows nothing about Him and refuses to give Him a fair chance. He is judged based on appearance. This Man then has the holy boldness to ask her for a drink of water. And a dialogue ensues.

One that, I imagine, happened with whispers and low tones.

The woman’s story is one of humiliation and defeat. This kind-hearted and gracious Man, however, is not in the business of embarrassing people. I imagine that as He asked her about her story, He did so with love and compassion and a gentle whisper. He was not trying to draw any extra attention to her. After all, their meeting was a clash of cultures. No need to drag her already sullied name into anymore mud. He listened as she spoke, not intending for anyone to overhear. In fact, when His disciples returned, they saw them together, but did not hear any of the conversation that was transpiring.

Today, these encounters happen anytime, anywhere. We do not need a meeting place in order to have a private rendezvous with Christ. We just need to start talking.

Our stories are just as private, intimate and embarrassing as hers was. And He is still just as kindhearted and gracious. Because He doesn’t change.

Even if all we can manage to do is squeak out a few whispered grunts and groans, He is fully attentive and listening for it.

Because He loves us so much and values every detail of our story.

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You can visit the five-minute Friday community over at Kate’s to see more about this week’s prompt ‘whisper’.

Each coming day has shown me how much the world is changing. It is not for the better.

I was hoping that I could avoid teaching my precious children some of the same hard lessons that my parents taught me growing up. What these last couple months have taught me is that I cannot drop my guard. The hard lessons are now a mandatory part of what they need to know in order to survive in this world. Because things have not changed.

What has also changed is the focus on self. Once upon a time, society seemed to encourage people to think of their neighbor; to lend a helping hand; to put others first. Nowadays, it’s all me first. I can’t help you without keeping a running tab of what’s owed to me. We used to act first and talk after. Now we ask first and think after. The main question being how can I benefit from helping you?

But not all change has been negative. The passionate emotions I have seen arising from the events in Ferguson, MO seem to touch most people. I have seen a lot of fear, uncertainty and felt venomous hatred this week.

I have also felt love. People who once ran from the slightest controversial conversations are speaking up. They’re finding their voice, asking questions aloud in hopes of learning together and bridging chasm-sized gaps.

And there has been change in me. Thank you, Jesus! God is at work in my life and in my heart, doing what He does best—good great things. I had the opportunity to show love this week–without expecting anything in return. I was tempted to say something ugly, but that would not have brought glory to God. At all. My decision to love helped spur a positive change for someone else in that moment.

When we allow God to change us, He will do amazing things through us. Our transformations may lead others to trust Him and be changed too.

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It’s Five Minute Friday. The chance to write freely, starting at one point and not worrying about a vision for the end point. It’s amazing where you can go somedays.

The linkup has a new home, with Kate. You can find us here.

 

I want to tell you things that inspire.

Motivate you to live right and choose life.

I wish the perfect words rolled off my tongue easily,

Flowing freely like sweet tasting clear springs.

Like the water found on scenic calendars or motivational posters.

 

I want to tell you how it feels to be a woman in this day and age,

But I haven’t finished learning yet.

Womanhood has made great strides since creation.

Yet, though we came from a rib

We’re still not walking side-by-side

As we could

 

I want to tell you what it means to be Black in this day and age.

The troubles, the fears, what normal looks like.

More people are willing to publicly contemplate

How race affects them in 2014.

Yes, it’s 2014, but the phrase ‘back in my day…’ still applies

To last year

And even just yesterday

 

I want to tell you how it feels to be parenting in this day and age.

But my kids aren’t grown yet.

I’m trying to raise children for the Kingdom

While kids around us seem to be living for themselves.

I’m teaching manners in a time when sass seems socially acceptable;

Even encouraged.

Our home has love

It also has discipline, structure and guidelines.

Tons of laughter and fun.

It is possible to have all these aspects at home

 

I want to tell you how it feels to be a wife in this day and age.

A time when the term ‘divorce’ is no longer taboo.

In fact, it nearly seems expected

Instead of asking each other ‘how are you?’

The question has turned into ‘are you two still together?’

 

Oh, I’m only scratching the surface of things I could tell

There are stories to share

Life lessons that I have learned

I want to tell you all the details, once I have them all sorted out.

Perhaps for now, right in this moment,

 

I already did.

Needing to be filled with fresh water, I grabbed the water bottle from the diaper bag and dashed to the tap.  I started running the water to reach the coldest temperature possible while twisting off the cap.  I emptied out the old water and noticed it was dirty.  I added a bit of fresh water, sloshing it around to rinse out the bottle.  Drained it and…it was still dirty.  Huh?  I looked inside the bottle.

Yuck.

At some point, a bit of grime has gotten in, making the bottle unclean.  Well, I certainly couldn’t fill up the bottle now.  I needed a clean container to use for our water.  There’s no way I was sipping from that thing without a good dunk in hot, sudsy water.

How often do I have great intentions and fill myself without first ensuring that I’m clean?  If my heart and mind are polluted by poor habits and unhealthy thoughts towards others, then I would sully the good efforts I’ve made.  Dirt is something that you can’t hide.  I could try burying it deep down, but as I fill up, the dirt eventually rises to the surface.  It’s an unstable foundation on which to start filling.  As a vessel, I cannot be empty and ready for best use when I’m not cleaned out.

I want to live a life that glorifies God.  I cannot expect Him to receive the glory when I’m still partially filled by aspirations of my own glory.  Our glories are not in competition.  Up against His perfect standard, I fall short every time.

Oh that He would fill me with His Spirit, His love and His grace.  So that my fullness brings Him glory.

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I’m joining the Five Minute Friday community again.  We have a new home now. You can visit us here.

Too many times, I hesitate to begin.  (There are a handful of times that I procrastinate at the beginning…but that’s for a different post).

Honestly?  I get caught up and overwhelmed by the bigger picture that I get lost before I even start.  Except for one key point—the ‘bigger picture’ will only remain a figment of my imagination if I never begin.  It’s easy to do.  We wait for ‘Mondays’ or for the end of an event to start this lifestyle change or that new habit development.  We hold the image in our minds of how we’ll look in that little black dress or in that home or accomplishing the goal of your dreams.  It can propel us as far as the start date…and then we get scared and uncertain.  Or we start with such trepidation, setting targets that are so low, they’re barely visible to our sight line.  This is to protect our fragile emotions, so that when we fall, we have a cushion.

This is not an encouraging way to begin.

I think of the account of the world’s creation in Genesis.  God looked at our orb, saw that it was nothing and started.  Day one consisted of creating light; day and night.  It was good and that was the end of the first day.

That’s it.  That was the beginning of the world.

There was no big marketing plan when our planet was created.  No launching parties or social media teasers.  No movie trailers or billboards.   God didn’t send out engraved invitations or plan a kick-off celebration in honour of creation.  There was no one here to see the planet until after it was made and ready to be inhabited.  He didn’t seem one bit discouraged by the lack of an audience or worried about measuring up against His competition.  The grand celebration came at the end of creation.

Perhaps I need to rethink how I begin?  Maybe my focus should be on getting started and moving ahead one small, yet steady step at a time.  Then I wouldn’t be overwhelmed and distracted by what could be.  I will stay on target by keeping my eye on what is…

 

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Linking up with the Five-Minute Friday community today.  They’re moving to a new home next week.  I’ll keep you posted.

My mind immediately runs down the long list of tasks unfinished.  Usually I multitask to accomplish more things while simultaneously doing something else.  It’s not enough to sit during an informal chat on the phone.  Not while I could be folding clothes or stacking the dishwasher instead of sitting down.

But at the end of the day, big deal.  Eating on clean dishes is important and all, don’t get me wrong.  Yet, in the grand scheme of things—do I have my priorities right?  If my life were to end in the next instant, I certainly wouldn’t want my last memory or my legacy, if you will, to be ‘the doer of many things’. 

The apostle Paul sounds so certain when he says

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.  (2 Tim 4:7, NLT)

The faithfulness he’s referring to at the end of his life isn’t to his ‘To Do’ list.  Paul’s life went beyond his personal passions and dreams.  His main goal, upon conversion, was to stay faithful to God.  No matter what.  And he lived quite the life with experiences and persecutions that most of us wouldn’t even wish on our enemies.  Through it all, he remained faithful.  Nearing his death, he was able to say firmly that his race was done and that his prize was waiting for him.  Oh to have Paul’s confidence.

The race of life is full of hurdles, setbacks and distractions all designed to throw us off course.  By God’s amazing and unlimited grace, it’s never too late to continue racing.  We can get back on track right this very moment.  No need to wait for a Monday or until after this big test or that last hurrah.

There’s a prize awaiting us too.

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Linking up with this five-minute Friday community today.

 

Effective blooming takes time.  This goes both ways—positive and negative.

A negative example:  Ananias and Sapphira.  Far from couple of the year, they stuck together doing their own thing.  They tricked their community and thought they would fool God too.  United, they determined to lie about a number.  Sounds so simplistic, right?  That lie led to their deaths and their story is etched forever in history as it’s recorded in the Bible.  They weren’t living and giving their best right up to this moment.  No, they had slowly spiraled out of control until it led to their demise.  Sapphira had a chance to save herself, but thought it more important to carry on the charade.  Their blooming moment was their undoing.

A positive example:  Ruth.  A foreigner in both ethnicity and spirituality, she earnestly charmed her way into her husband’s heart and his family.  Though widowed young, Ruth determined to stay with her new life and her new mother-in-law.  She persevered, though the odds were against her.  She was willing to relocate to unfamiliar territory without guarantee for her future because her devotion to God outweighed her fears.  She was diligent in her work and soon won the heart of a new husband.  Her history contains legacy as she is recorded in the lineage of Jesus.   She bloomed gradually and never really got to experience the full effect.

Blooming is a process.  It’s not instantaneous.  You cannot plant a seed now, saturate it with fertilizer, sunshine, water and love and see results within minutes.  All those good factors must be shared out over time.  It’s easy to forget this or become easily discouraged when we don’t see immediate impact.  Just because we don’t see an instant reaction to our prayers does not mean that God has stopped working or is ignoring us.  He is carefully working behind the scenes or below the dirt’s surface.

When the time is right, not according to our faulty clocks but in His divine time, we will bloom.

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I’m linking up with this five minute Friday community.

No one could have predicted this would happen.  Stage lights flooded the stage as the band played through the worship set.  It was the last night of music of the week-long event.  The first song went well.  The intro for the second song began.  The worship leader was giving a verbal preamble before the singing started.  As the pianist played along listening intently for the cues, dread crept up.  The worship leader seemed to be giving an intro into the third song.  Except that the entire band was playing the second song.  And then he said the unthinkable…

…Join us as we sing ______________

*GASP*

It was the wrong song, set in a completely different key.  And the only one who was panicking was the pianist.  An avid sight-reader, she cannot play by ear.

Dear God, Oh God, Oh God! was the prayer her heart repeated.  She couldn’t play one chord for an entire song.

Lost in transposition hell.

A small whisper came to her rescue.  The guitarist behind her could sense her panic and began to call out the chords.  C#… A… E… G#…  This musical genius, whom she’d only just met hours earlier, saved her big time!

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I wish all my lost moments went as gracefully as this one.  I wish I would only stumble along for a few moments, and regain my confidence when Someone would reach out and direct my steps.  But that’s not always the case.

There are times when I get lost following good directions to the letter.  But if a step is missing, or the count is off, then it’s very easy to veer off the path though no fault of my own.

Then there are the times when I get lost all on my own.  Ignoring sound advice, choosing my own way.  Being cocky and believing that I know better.  Most times I don’t.

In both cases, I’m thankful that God is the best searcher and rescuer out there.  He never gives up on looking for me and finding me.  When I’m willing to follow Him—His ways, His steps, His directions—I  cannot get lost.

Nor be lost.

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Linking up with this five-minute Friday community today.