September 27 2017

Accept (Five Minute Friday)

This prompt was a hard one. But you probably figured that out because it is so late. I have had to learn to accept the things in my life that I cannot change. I may not like them, but I accept them. One of the things I accept is that I will never be thin. It just isn’t in the genes. I’m not giving up trying to lose some of the weight I always seem to carry around, but I accept that I will never be a slim, trim 120 pounds. I doubt I’d look healthy if I ever got to that weight. I know I have some unhealthy habits, but who doesn’t? I am proud that there are some, like drinking alcohol and smoking that I have never had to deal with.

I seem to be fairly good at tackling good habits one at a time. But then when I tackle the next thing the one I thought I had mastered seems to slide. I don’t have to accept that. I can try to build healthy habits slowly and only add new ones once I can maintain the old ones. It is a long slow process, but I know if I accept what I cannot change and get to work on what I can instead, I will get there slowly. Is there something that you need to be willing to accept for you to move forward in your life?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Accept
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | Comments Off on Accept (Five Minute Friday)
September 16 2017

Support (Five Minute Friday)

When I got the prompt word for today, I didn’t know what to write about so I did what I usually do and searched the internet for quotes to help support my efforts. Quotes are overabundant on the internet. I found a few that I just can’t resist sharing tonight.

 

“Supporting another person’s success won’t ever dampen yours.” Toby Mac

“He reached down from heaven and rescued me…He drew me out of deep waters. Psalm 18:16

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Isaiah 43:2

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Sleep in peace tonight. God is bigger than anything you will face tomorrow.” Dave Willis

“Do not be afraid or discouraged. The battle is not yours but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15

“Love asks me no questions and gives me endless support.” William Shakespeare

“Someone in your life needs to hear they matter. They’re loved. They have a future. You can tell them.” Toby Mac

We all need our friends and family to support us. However, even if they are all dead r gone from our lives right now, the things they have said to us all our lives will still be there to support and guide us in all we do. God is there to support us as well.

Times get extra tough and we need the strength and prayers our loved ones can provide. Take a minute right now to pray for someone who is on your mind or in your heart. Go ahead, we will wait. You needn’t get down on your knees to pray, save those knee for another time and just pause where ever you happen to be and think your prayer heaven-ward for God to hear.

Do you have a favorite quote that gives you support in times of trouble?

Please, won’t you share it in the comments below to lift all of us a little?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Support
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 2 Comments on Support (Five Minute Friday)
September 8 2017

Work (Five Minute Friday)

When I think of work, I think of the job I have had for the past eleven years. It is probably the most difficult job I have ever had. This was not a job I asked for or applied for. I didn’t go looking for it, but it found me.

I had been a stay at home mother after graduating with my teaching degree and deciding the classroom was not the place for me. I had poured myself into running the house and doing so with as little money as we could get by on. Think clipping coupons, cooking meals at home and shopping for most clothing second hand. Eventually, hubby mentioned that it was time to cut way back on volunteer commitments and find some work that actually paid me instead. I gradually gave up most of my volunteer commitments. In December 2005, as I turned in the last issue of the quarterly genealogy journal I had been doing for the past five years in to be printed, I mentioned to the woman who owned the print shop that it was my last issue and that hubby wanted me to start working at a job that actually paid. She asked if I was good at computers. I told her I was decent and she told me that she would keep my phone number and keep me in mind if they ever needed someone to do some data entry. I told her that was fine and thought no more of it.

Fast forward to April 2006. I had just gotten home from taking my fourteen-year-old son to high school after he had been home for two weeks following his run in with a car, resulting in a broken leg which required surgery to insert a titanium plate to repair the damage. He couldn’t ride the bus, so I was driving him to and from school for the foreseeable future. When I sat down to figure out what to get accomplished around the house for the day, the phone rang. When I answered, it was the lady from the print shop asking if I could come in and help them out with some computer work. I told her I could and when she asked me when I could start, I hesitantly asked if the next day would work. She said it would and suddenly, I had a job and one last partial day of freedom from the working world. I needed that day.

I always figured it was God’s plan for me to have that time to nurse my son through his first two weeks with a broken leg and to be able to take my mother for her cancer treatments years earlier. I was glad hubby hadn’t pushed the finding a job thing earlier and had thus allowed me to do these things for my family. But God was clearly telling me that hubby was right and it was time to work for pay again. It isn’t my dream job, but I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up. I have gained confidence in my ability to learn new things, and I have learned loads in the time I have been there. I may fuss and fume some days wishing I could quit the job, but I can’t help but feel like this is still God’s plan for my life. He tells me my work here is still not done.

Alright, Lord. I’m not crazy about the idea, but I understand. I tell Him to please let me know loud and clear when he has a different assignment for me. I also ask that it be a job I can wake up each day looking forward to and love and that it be one that will take me through until retirement. I also mention to Him that it would be great at this stage in life if the next job hubby or I get just happened to come with health insurance, because we all know that eventually, not having it will catch up to us, and hubby and I aren’t getting any younger. Affordable care coverage isn’t affordable yet either, so we have no choice but to save some back each month to cover what we must and pay the fines when we file our taxes. I don’t mind working but that doesn’t mean I am not eagerly awaiting the day when I can retire and get back to all the things that having to work full-time keeps me from doing now.

Has God ever found you a job? Tell us about it in the comments below, please.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Work
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 1 Comment on Work (Five Minute Friday)
September 1 2017

Neighbor (Five Minute Friday)

Your neighbor may be the anchor in your neighborhood. When we lived in our little house, our first house as a married couple, we had neighbors who we considered an anchor. This couple was in their eighties and could tell us about when the big church across the street was built and what a mess the cutting of the stones made in the form of excess dust in their homes. This couple took excellent care of their home and yard. They cared about what happened to the neighborhood. When the house we ended up buying went on the market, they made sure their new next door neighbors would be a good fit for the neighborhood by introducing themselves to anyone who came to see the house. We thought they were so friendly and just an adorable old couple. He was tall and thin, she was less than five foot tall and not thin, but not fat either. They made such a cute couple. They had been married for over sixty years and were obviously completely devoted to each other.

They made us want to do a good job taking care of our yard so it would look good next to theirs. We loved chatting over the fence with them. They had friends over all the time and spent a lot of time on their screened-in carport. When it snowed, Orville would get out his snow blower and clear his driveway. Then he would do the one on the other side of us because she was an older single lady, her parents had been friends of theirs. If he still had enough energy when he was done with both those driveways, he would often clear ours too because he knew we were busy working and raising the kids. He was just that kind of neighbor. His wife, Opal, would share starts of her plants and freely give advice if asked on how to take care of various garden plants. It seemed they had lived in their home well over fifty years and had watched with interest as many of the houses nearby were built. Some might call them nosy neighbors, but we thought of them as protective of their home and those nearby. We felt safe knowing they were on duty watching over the goings on around their home. When they grew older, Opal was the first to go. Orville was never quite the same after she died. He seemed sadder and moved slower. Not long after, Orville also passed away and the house went on the market. The new owners planned to rent it out, what a shame. The neighborhood was never the same once these wonderful anchors were gone.

Are you an anchor in your neighborhood?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Neighbor
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 4 Comments on Neighbor (Five Minute Friday)
August 26 2017

Guide (Five Minute Friday)

When I was growing up, it seems I heard “Let your conscience be your guide.” all the time. That served me well because a little guilt goes a long way. When I became a parent, I had to consider what I did and what sort of example I was setting for the little ones. Sometimes knowing I was setting the example for them changed the course of action I decided to take.

When I need guidance now, I pray about what to do and wait to see what guidance God gives me. Sometimes the guidance comes in the form of a phrase or verse. I try to let the Word guide my writing.

One of the most reassuring verses I have found is Jeremiah 29:11. It calms my inner perfectionist and helps me to simply say, “Thy will be done.”

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Guide
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 3 Comments on Guide (Five Minute Friday)