Friday

Leave Your Broken Past...

It's that time again! Linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker and the hundreds of others who participate in the Five Minute Friday link-up. Okay...I missed last week. I was very busy with my daughter and grandson.  Times with my family are precious to me so I hope you'll excuse the slip-up.

The challenge...to use the word prompt of the day and write for five minutes flat..." no extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Unscripted. Unedited, Real."
I will admit...today I went over the five minutes.  It's soooo hard for me to do this in five minutes flat.  But I will still participate even when I go over because this has been a great discipline to get me writing again.

Broken
Go...

We live in a broken world. 

The evidence of the brokenness of this world is all around us.  Just turn on your television. Tune into the news...soon your head will be swimming with stories of crimes and all kinds of atrocities being committed, illnesses, tragedies, modern-day slavery, pain, and death. 



Yes...our world is broken. The brokenness surrounds us, in our cities, in our neighborhoods, in our houses, even in ourselves.  

We live in a broken world because we live in a fallen world. Our brokenness stems from the fact of a severed relationship between God and man....way back in the beginning...in the garden.  Sin entered the world at that point severing the perfection of the relationship between God and mankind. Sin...in the form of a choice...to desire to be as a god, to choose one's own desire and notion of what is good over obedience to God.  No longer would man walk in the garden with God, the one who truly knows what it is to be good.

But God is love and God is good.  

And so...from the beginning He had a plan and a purpose. He would send His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.  To be born, a baby, and grow into a man to walk this earth...fully human and yet fully God. Emmanuel...God with us.  He lived out his short life on this earth in perfection...in perfect relationship with the Father...sinless. 

Yet he suffered as we all do...he suffered pain, persecution, abuse, bullying, and more. He was even led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan...in ways that represent every kind of temptation that is common to man. 

And yet...HE DID NOT SIN.  He fought back with the very Word of God. He was and is the Word...the very bread of life.

And then He walked in the garden with His Father. 

In the garden, much different than that other garden so long ago. In this garden, He would be betrayed by one close to Him. He was taken and beaten and stripped and spat upon and finally...crucified on a cruel cross. He died and was placed in a tomb.


BUT HE DID NOT REMAIN IN THE TOMB!!  He arose from death to life.  There were hundreds of eyewitnesses to this fact.  He beat death, He beat sin, He beat Satan's hold over this world.  Finally... He returned to the right hand of the Father. 

Leaving us...but not as orphans.  We have the Holy Spirit to help us fight not only our own battles but the battles of the broken ones of this world. We have the Holy Spirit to breathe life back into our broken lives.

But do we avail ourselves to this gift?  The enemy wants us to believe that we are all still broken. That it is all helpless, that he has won. But the war has already been won by Christ...we have battles and skirmishes to fight out on this earth...but the ultimate victory is ours in Christ Jesus! Because  He rose we know that we who are in Christ will also one day rise with Him. 
So every morning I walk in my 'garden': my quiet place with God. Yes, "He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me that I am His own."  And because of this, I can trust all of my broken pieces into His healing hands.  Oswald Chambers said it best,
 “Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands and step out into the invincible future with Him."
I ask only to be broken by the things of this world that break the heart of God.To be moved to be used by Him to bring hope and healing into others lives as He has mine. 

How about you? 

Have you placed the brokenness of your life into the hands of Jesus?








You may also want to check this post on brokenness...Tears...Breaking the Dam of Hardened Hearts

Now it's your turn...

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...



Present...The Gift I Long For..Five Minute Friday

It's that time again…Five Minute Friday…linking up with Lisa-Jo and so many other amazing word weavers.

The challenge is to use the word prompt of the day to write for five minutes flat - no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking…just 'five minutes of free writing without worrying about getting it right."

Present...

Go...


Thinking ahead...
looking ahead...
planning and looking forward to the exciting adventures of tomorrow.

Dreamers dream...
Schemers scheme...
Planners plan...

Anticipating future events can be exciting. 
But what about the here and now? 

The present...

Being in the now.  Total awareness of who you are with and what you are doing.

Give me the gift of being present
Listen to my words.
Look into my eyes.
Laugh with me. Cry with me.
Feel with me.

Just be present.


If I could choose your gift to me, it would be...
the gift of your presence.

Just be present.

If we take the time to be present, every minute of everyday...
the dreams...
the schemes...
the plans...

those will become the present...
the gift we give as we live...

In the present.

Are you fully present?
...as you walk with your child
...as you talk with your love
...as you listen to the voice of God, read HIs word, walk in obedience....

As you live...each…day.








This is the day which the LORD has made;  we will rejoice and be glad in it. ~Psalm 118:24 

                                    Now it's your turn!   

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...



Did Anyone Ever Tell You That You're Beautiful? Beautiful...Five Minute Friday


It's that time again…Five Minute Friday! I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo and so many other amazing word weavers.

The challenge is to use the word prompt of the day to write for five minutes flat - no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking…just 'five minutes of free writing without worrying about getting it right." 
So here goes!  

Five Minute Friday: Beautiful

Go!


"Did anyone ever tell you you're beautiful?"   Those are the very first words my husband ever spoke to me.  I didn't know him from Adam at the time. I thought that was a little strange that he should walk up to me, say those words, turn and just walk away. Even so....a pretty good line, don't you think? Turns out he must have meant it because after 30 years of marriage to this man, he still tells me I'm beautiful!

I've not had very many people tell me that I am beautiful...

My mother was very proud of me and she always let me know it.  She loved my singing, thought I had just the right figure, and was proud of my accomplishments.  She was proud that I took my faith seriously and walked with the Lord from a very young age on...always bragging to her friends about what I was doing...sometimes to my chagrin.  Still...she made me FEEL beautiful.

My best friend in High School, Meg DeWeese, used to tell be I'd be beautiful if I was bald.  She was great for my self-esteem.  Our friendship is one of the most beautiful things that has touched my life.  She was and is real, genuine, amazing and beautiful!

God tells me I am beautiful too...

" How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news." I love to spend time with  others...especially young women, sharing the good news of Christ's love for us...His sacrifice for us as He took our sins upon His broken body and shed His own blood so that we would not have to suffer in eternity without the fellowship of God the Father.   He rose again to show us that we too can rise again and live in eternity in Heaven. The good news is that we  can walk in victory in this life and live it to the full.

Beautiful indeed!!!

I think the beauty that I carry inside me has everything to do with the beauty of my risen savior. I pray that His light will continue to shine within and without, so that others can see that they don't have to live in a broken, despondent state but walk in the beauty of the forgiveness, grace, and healing that is offered to them.

Did you know that you, too, are beautiful?  He has created you...beautiful. I urge you to walk in that beauty!   Own it!  It will rock your world.

Listen to the song that Nicole Nordeman sings, Beautiful for Me.
I see so many women walking in the deception created by the enemy of their souls...the lie that they are too ugly, too stupid, too plain to accomplish anything of lasting importance.

 It's time...time for you to walk in the truth and the beauty of the God who created all things beautiful!




Has anyone ever told you, you're beautiful?








p.s. If you enjoyed this post you  might also like this one:  Poise…And Other Time Tested Beauty Tips

Now it's your turn!

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...