Five Minute Friday: Fly

"Mom, when I grow up, I want to fly. I'm not going to fly on an airplane, I want to fly with wings. I just really want to fly."

This is an ongoing conversation in our house. My sweet girl dreams of flying. As I kindly suggest maybe she could become a pilot or a astronaut, or go in a hot-air balloon, she just looks at me (as if she's humoring my suggestions) and then reminds me that she wants to fly on her own. Do I tell her its impossible? Do I tell her people can't fly? Do I dash her dream of flying? Nope, I just tell her, "maybe someday". Who am I to tell her she can't fly?! I want her to continue to dream big to shoot for the stars, to strive for something great. And so I encourage her to study hard, be a good listener, be a kind friend and dream big!! Who knows, maybe someday she really will fly!!

Five Minute Friday: Truth

"But the voice of truth tells me a different story. The voice of truth says 'Do not be afraid'. The voice of truth says this is for my glory. Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth."

I probably butchered those lyrics, but this is what I immediately thought of when I saw the word "Truth". The other thought that comes to mind is how hard it can be to tell the truth. I am not a confrontational person. I am go-with-the-flow, don't-rock-the-boat, kind of person. I don't want to cause conflict, I don't want to hurt feelings. Wether it be big things or small things, I have a hard time speaking truth when it may cause some discomfort. So, rather than speak truth, I keep things to myself and assume others can read my  mind or that they should know that I am hurt or bothered or disappointed.

Five Minute Friday: Tree

Psalm 1 references how a man who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on His word will be like a TREE firmly planted. The thing with trees is there is way more than meets the eye. The whole support system of a tree is hidden from view, it stretches deep underground and spreads out in the form of roots. When the winds blow and the rain comes, the tree stands tall because it's roots are sprawled out, deep beneath the ground.

Our house is surrounded by trees. They are everywhere! Apparently, whoever lived here originally had quite the green thumb. Too bad the subsequent owner/owners let them go crazy! We have 4 trees on our patio and while they provide great shade for both us and our neighbors, they drop sooo many leaves! Our planter is probably covered with a least a foot of leaves and our cement is stained with the dark colored berries. Our front yard has some huge trees that also provide great shade but are growing out of control, towering high over our yard and house.

Both the unseen and seen parts of trees are cause for LOTS of work. Pruning, choppping, raking...it seems the work is never done. It seems to me that our lives are a lot like all these trees. We have unseen roots that have shaped us and made us who we are. Hopefully our "roots" keep us grounded and keep us from falling when storms come. What is visible to the outside world is sometimes messy and needs upkeep and often times, takes a lot of work! If we are firmly rooted in Christ, we can dig deep and grow tall.

How's that for random?!

Five Minute Friday: Grace

Undeserved, unsolicited, unending

The gift of a 2^nd chance. The slate wiped clean and the past forgotten. How often we take grace for granted and don’t recognize it’s value and importance in our lives. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes about “costly grace” in his book, The Cost of Discipleship. The idea is simple…so often we take advantage of God’s grace. We make poor choices, we choose the wrong, we deliberately sin, knowing that God’s grace has covered it all and that we can start anew. We cheapen His grace by our lack of gratitude and living as one SAVED by such grace. When we truly understand the cost of the grace offered to us, we choose to live differently. We remember His death, his suffering, his pain…and we choose to live in gratitude.

Grace. A favorite of one I hold dear. A gift freely given and undeserved, yet I can claim it as my own. Grace. A new beginning…the old has gone and the new has come and we never have to turn back to what once but instead look forward to the future filled with hope and excitement because His grace has saved us and has made whole what once was broken and incomplete.

Five Minute Friday - Together

When I think of "together", I think of my sweet little family. Maybe that's because there's no one else I'd rather be with. The nights we all get to be home together, those are my favorite. Dinner, bathtimes, bedtimes filled with stories and sweet prayers for those we love, catching up with my better half, watching a show, enjoying a glass, crawling into bed to snuggle up to my better half...wouldn't trade those moments for the world!

It's when we're all together that I am reminded of how perfect we are for each other. He knows me so well and understands me without words needing to be spoken. He pours into our family endlessly and makes the times together matter...whether it be building Lego houses and contraptions or coloring masterpieces, he takes time to make "together" count. He wraps up the baby after a bath in a nice clean towel, turns on the light saber, carries on a conversation, and gets the jammies on with great intentionality and love. I look at this gift, this better half, I have been given and I find myself so thankful for being together...as a family, as a couple, as a team. Everything is definitely better when we're TOGETHER!

5-minute Friday!

Team 365

Yesterday I embarked on a journey that I hope and pray will become habit forming and life changing. Thanks to facebook, I discovered that there was going to be a group of women committing to read through the New Testament between Sep. 24th and Dec. 31st. The plan was to use the One Year Chronological Bible. A group was being formed that would provide accountability, insight, feedback and support over the next 3ish months. The mention of this group came at the perfect time as God has really been stirring in my heart about a lot of things.

I have never been good at consistent time in the Word. I've started various reading plans and plans to read through the Bible but I don't think I've ever gotten past Leviticus...or if I have it is because I have skipped that book but then later stopped reading anyway. I am the type of person who needs a plan, to know what I "should" be reading. I always liked reading through Proverbs as there is one chapter for each day of the month (and they were short). I have come to a point where I am realizing that if I truly want to shift my thinking when it comes to finances and time, then I need to make sure that God is 1st and that I am truly seeking Him and focusing on Him.

So, I just began yesterday and still have a ways to go, but I am excited about this! I am excited to be in the Word, to have a plan, and to have accountability. My prayer/hope is that this would be habit forming and life changing. I want to hear from God each day and really tune in to what He has for me. So, the plan is to sit at my table each morning during Hudson's 1st nap of the day and do my reading, journal/reflect, and then share with the group. It's only day 2 but so far I've enjoyed reading what others have gained from the reading as it's usually something I didn't notice or gravitate towards. :)

So begins my journey...

Present

"You must be present to win."

The above quote seems like such a given, but how often are we truly NOT present?! I've been thinking a lot lately about how much I hate iPhones. How does 1 little machine steal so much of our time and attention?! How does 1 tiny rectangle suck so much of our time and cause us to be disengaged?! I've had this sort of distaste for them since they were 1st introduced in our family. I used to get so frustrated with my husband when we'd be out and about and I'd look over and find him on his phone. But then a year or so later I got my own phone and became equally as guilty. To top it all off, Hope now has her "phone" (one of our old ones) and falls right into line with her parents. I hate it!

I often wonder what this generation of kids will be like as grownups. Will they be able to make meaningful/lasting relationships? Will they engage in true and deep conversations with those around them? How many milestones or moments were missed by their parents b/c there was a phone between parent and child? When they think back to time spent as a family, will the phone be a primary image/memory?

So how do we unplug? How do we truly become PRESENT in each moment and with the people we love? Do we set time limits? Do we set a proper place? How do we as parents model for our kids that connection is important, that face-to-face time is always more important that Facetime? How do we teach them to give people our un-divided attention? 

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what the answer is but I know I definitely spend WAY too much time on my phone. It may only be for a minute or two here and there, but those are minutes that my kids deserve to have. I don't necessarily think they need to be done away with all together, but limits need to be set & boundaries need to be placed. . . for the grown ups and the kids!