Five Minute Friday: Focus

Joining up with Lisa-Jo for this week's Five Minute Friday.  Here are the rules:


1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..
Oh and Ahem, if you would take pity and turn off comment verification, it would make leaving some love on your post that much easier for folks!
OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::
Focus


GO!

Focus.  Focus. Focus!

I tell myself this several times a day.  It seems that in a multi-tasking world just accomplishing one job completely without starting another is something that eludes me.  And I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone.  How many times have you gone to your computer with a specific task in mind and then as soon as it boots up, your e-mail opens automatically and there's something pressing (or not so pressing) that needs your attention.  Then you deal with that item, go down (if you're lucky) just a few rabbit trails and shut down the computer only to go back to the spot you were when you thought of that task you needed to do on the computer.  Aarrgh!

This is just a little example from the minutia of life, but it is also applicable to the larger scale of life.  If our lives don't have a focus then much of our time can be wasted going down little rabbit trails (days without focus that turn into weeks, months, and sadly even years).
What is your focus?
What takes up most of your time?
Do you feel good about this use of your time?
Or do you feel regretful?
Will you feel regret when you come to the end of your days?  "I should have done _____" or "I should have done ____"...

In the passage where Jesus states that He is the Good Shepherd in John 10 there is a great verse that helps me focus on the larger picture:
  
John 10:10 (NKJV)  

¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

If our lives are focused on what the Lord has for us and our days are lived out seeking after His purpose for us then our lives should be full.  Because if we have life in Him then we will have life more abundantly. What is His specific purpose for you? For me?  That can vary and can change depending on who you are, but the top two commandments don't change depending on us:

Mark 12:29-31 (NKJV)
²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

STOP!

Five Minute Friday: Beyond

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..


Beyond

Ephesians 3:20-21 ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Go:

My last post was over a month ago.  It's been a whirlwind of activity since we arrived back in Canada on June 19.  God has shown us exactly where He wants us to be.  Super-Awesome got the job with the northern ON university he had interviewed with on June 26th.  He starts August 1!

We took a house hunting trip last week and were able to find a house, make an offer, accept a counter-offer all in one day!  The house inspection, seemingly unlikely to be had at such short notice, happened while we were still in town and went well.  There are always little things, but the house on the whole is great.  And great for our family!  And we get it the second week in August!

We were blessed to meet a number of new families from the group of Christians we will be meeting with weekly and are so thankful for their warm welcome.

Five minutes isn't enough to tell you exactly how amazingly God provided but, He did, beyond what we could imagine, or think to ask Him for.

Stop!

FMF: Delight

Joining up with Lisa-Jo today.

On Fridays we just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. It’s such a relief, I promise.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & leave an encouraging comment.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Delight

Go:

Delight is knowing you have a washing machine for the 3rd day in a row that your son has had issues with/in his bedding.

I am NOT kidding.

I could have gotten frustrated and even angry because it was the  3rd day in a row, and today may be the fourth...  and I did call Super-Awesome with a hint of frustration in my voice at the beginning of the call but by the end I was understanding that these days of "trials" remind me of what I do have.  I have a little boy who is healthy and active.  We have a bed for our son to sleep in, though the flimsy mattress cover to protect it from these "issues" is held together by duct tape, since said healthy & active boy likes nothing better that to play with the mattress cover...  that we have two sets of sheets to cover that bed, so that we can rotate out the nasty and replace with the (hopefully, if mommy or daddy is on the ball) clean dry ones.

You may be thinking... is she nuts?  Delight in a washing machine and sheets?  I spent Wednesday volunteering for Compassion International and manned a table with numerous children who live in abject poverty, but whom Compassion is helping to be released from poverty. Hearing Shaun Groves  speak, seeing those photos, and remembering my trip to Ecuador (ten years ago) and reading letters from my sponsor children, help me to delight in my washing machine and sheets.

Stop!

From Shaun Groves' World Dictionary:  Kenyan for Washing Machine

Five Minute Friday: Open

Joining up with Lisa-Jo, The Gypsy Mama for the final Five-Minute Friday of 2011.  Here are the rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Most important: visit, comment, encourage the person before you. OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Open...


Go:

An open door.
 
That's what comes to mind when I think of open.  We are praying for God to clearly show us what our next move is.

One clearly open door.  Super-Awesome is in the process of applying for a new job as the current one will be ending on June 14th... that's just a little over 6 months away.  There are several possibilities and while no interviews or offers have resulted yet (at least two applications have yet to be submitted), we are praying for one clear open door.

God brought us here with only one door opening and while we aren't guaranteed it, we are praying for another single open door this time as well.  I pray to be open to whatever next adventure God has in store for us.  We know God has a plan for us and while we still don't understand the purposes and reasons why we are where we are, nor where we are going next, He does.  We are thankful and prayerful.

Stop!

Five-Minute Friday: Unexpected

Joining up with Lisa-Jo and many, many others to write for Five Minutes...  Here are the instructions lifted directly from her blog, The Gypsy Mama:

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.
For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.
For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Unexpected…

Start:

Unexpected is driving down the street in the "South" and seeing as if for the first time a tree that takes your breath away.  

 A tree that you have inside of you, metaphorically. 

A tree that speaks to who you are (if a tree can do that?).  

 A tree that a few short weeks ago looked very  different, and I frankly didn't notice. 

Now everyday, I make a point to drive past it, even on the days that I don't have to drive past it when Super-Beautiful does not need to go to school. 

(The view from behind Super-Beautiful's school...)

I drive past because I don't want to miss its beauty.  

I don't want to miss its symbolism.  

I don't want to miss this taste of home, the true north strong and free, right down the street from me here in Central Virginia, my current home and I give thanks each time I see it because God is amazing.  No one ever said maples couldn't grow in Virginia, but seeing this one in all its glory was unexpected.

I'm so blessed and thankful that I can see this for the short time it has left in its glorious splendor.

Stop!

 

Five-Minute Friday: The Hard Love

Joining up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama

Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing or tweaking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my right side bar}
3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard. {And if you love us, consider turning off word verification for the day to make it easier for folks to leave you some encouragement}


Start:

The Hard Love

Today is good Friday and epitomizes the Hard Love.  God sending His only Son to die for us.  What love could be harder than that... to lay your life down for a friend, and even for enemies...

Love is a decision, not just a feeling (Paraphrasing Andy Gullahorn/Jill Phillips here).  God loved us so much that He provided us the only way to come to Him, through His very Son.  He had to decide before the dawn of time, before that first sin was committed to have the Way to save His creation, us.  Hard, hard, hard...  But such love!

He is perfect, holy, just, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and if there was any other way He would have found it.  But...  there was no other way.  His Son was The Way.  The Truth.  The Life.  Praise God.

Stop

Five-Minute Friday: If You Met Me...

Welcome to Friday!  The pizza's on the stovetop waiting for the phone call from Super-Awesome to say he's on his way home and I have at least 5 minutes to type.  I'm joining up with others for 5 minute Friday, something I haven't done for several weeks.  Trying to get back into the swing of things.

Here are the rules:  Got five minutes? Let’s write. Let’s write in shades of real and true and unscripted.
Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Go leave some comment props for the five minuter who linked up before you.

If you met me...

Go:

If you met me, you'd probably notice my dark framed glasses first.  I'd hope you'd notice my smile second.  But some days the smiles don't come as quick as usual.  I feel grumpier than usual lately and I'm not sure why.  Probably a number of things...  Yesterday was my dad's birthday and he died over a year ago...  that's probably part of it.  But not all of it.  I'm in a different country and have been for about a year and a half and although I feel more acclimatized, there are still days that I miss good ol' Canada.  I don't really feel like I fit anywhere perfectly.  This is probably a good thing, since I'm to have an eternal perspective and am to simply be a sojourner here on this earth...  this move has made this more real to me.  I have to remember who I am in Christ and then I can smile more easily...  and find my joy in Him.

Stop.

That didn't come as quickly as some other posts, but there it's out... out... out...

Five-Minute Friday: When I look into the mirror...

It's Friday again... and this is my first post of the week!  I had family from Canada here and we had a wonderful time together.  Everyone is sad that they had to go back home, but regular routines need to be reestablished now :)

So Five Minute Friday... and check out this snazzy new button: 






Here are the rules from Lisa-Jo's site:

1. Write for only five minutes.
2. Link back here and invite others to play along.
3. Go salute the five minute artist who linked up before you.

I have to say when I read what the prompt was, my stomach dropped...  I so do not want to write about when I look in the mirror, but I know this is an exercise in growth so here goes...

Go:


When I look in the mirror, I often just turn around or sigh in disgust.  I know... silly or ridiculous, but I have an issue with my looks/weight... doesn't everyone?

When I force myself to look longer than the second it takes to check that there's no streak of jam or hot sauce on my cheek, I see my mother's eyes and my father's cheeks and jaw, my Grandpa's curly hair, my Nanny's ears, my Oma's chin...

When I look at the whole I see me... who I am, but remember where I came from.  The genes that melded together and that God chose to pair to create me.

I think I'll be able to look without sighing next time.

And of course, there's the blue and white dishtowel tied around my neck proclaiming my Super status.

Done!