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Worth The Risk

Feb21

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt, with no heavy editing, and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “risk.”

 

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On March 2nd, my husband and I will be celebrating 29 years of marriage. I am thiiiis close to having been married longer than I was single. That’s a really weird feeling.

Before we began officially dating, I had what I now identify as dating anxiety. Whenever I would be out on a date—rare though that was—I would get clammy hands, my heart would race, and I would feel nauseous. Classic anxiety symptoms, right?

So when David, came along, I vowed to treat our relationship like any other friendship, hoping to forestall those same feelings. One need not get anxious with a friend, right?

Right. That worked for a little while, but, you know, he was cute. And kind. And funny.

But still, I didn’t know if he would be worth the risk.

But we talked about my anxious feelings, and I could be more open with him than I could with anyone else ever. And eventually our friendship blossomed into romance. I had some anxious moments, but because I could be honest with him and say, “Hey, I’m feeling anxious right now,” I was able to deal with those feelings and let God heal me from them.

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29 years of marriage later, I can say definitively that it was worth the risk. He is my best friend. I can still tell him anything and he’s still cute. And funny. Just with a few more (OK, a lot more) gray hairs.

 

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No Experience Necessary

Feb14

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt, without heavy editing, and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “experience.”

I have a college-aged son who is looking to graduate in December. He is currently looking for internships for the summer, but is running across a lot of positions where he has to have previous experience. Well, when you’re a college student looking for work in a national or state park, experience is hard to come by. (If you have any connections, hit me up!)

 

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It can be discouraging when you’re looking for a job, but when you’re talking about a relationship with Jesus, it’s a really good thing.

He doesn’t ask us to be religious. He doesn’t expect us to have our act together (whew!) He wants us to come as we are.

“Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Yep, that would be the kind of experience we all have, wouldn’t it?

There’s a song playing on Christian radio these days called “Church (Take Me Back)” by Bryan Fowler, Michael Cochrane and Micah Kuiper. The words are very poignant when you’re talking about someone who has wandered away and just wants to get back to the faith that is in their bones. A place they can call home. A place where they are known.

“It’s not a trophy for the winners
It’s a shelter for the sinners
And it’s right where I belong.”

They just want to go to church.

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That’s how it should be with all of us. Church is not supposed to be a haven for the righteous. It’s supposed to be a hospital for the wounded.

Can we just get back to that? Can we be welcoming of everyone who walks in the doors? Because they’re not looking for a place where they have to be perfect; they’re looking for a place where they can be accepted. People just need to heal. Let’s give them that chance.

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Talent Shows

Feb7

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for 5 minutes on a one-word prompt without heavy editing and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “talent.”

It’s easy to think of talent only being true of those who can sing, or play an instrument, or dance. Shows like “America’s Got Talent” perpetuate that idea, don’t they? We say people who can paint, or act, or write or take great pictures are talented. But there are more areas where talent is evident. Like, say, a talent for making people feel heard. Or a talent for organization. Perhaps someone has a talent for home decorating. Or knowing the right thing to say at the right time.

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Yes, people are born with certain skills that help draw them to certain activities. That would be a natural talent. But even those need years and years of practice to perfect. I am told that I have a talent for writing, but I didn’t just sit down one day and write the great American novel. In fact, I haven’t yet sat down and written the great American novel. I write, yes, and I read. And I read, and read, and read.

And I took English classes. And literature classes. And writing classes. I ask for feedback. I go to writing workshops. I hang out with other writers.

And I write.

FMF buttonLike these short, 5-minute Friday posts. I write. And I try to find other outlets in which to write. Thankfully, I have a paying gig to write.  It’s what I do. It’s what God gave me the skill to do.

A singer sings. An actor acts. A painter paints.

And I write. It may not be flashy and showy. It’s not something the majority of people in the country are going to see. But it’s what God gave me to do.

 

Maybe talent shows need to broaden their definitions.

 

Life That Is Light

Jan31

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt without heavy editing and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “life.”

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:-5, ESV).

In Him was life. And that life was the light of all mankind.

When I focus on Jesus, I have life. When I focus on other things, well, sometimes that life can get sucked out of me.

Like, recently, well actually for a long time now, meal planning and grocery shopping have sucked the life out of me. Why do they want dinner

If it was just me in the house, my eating-out budget would be way bigger than my grocery budget. Just sayin’.

Part of my angst with this issue is that I have to prepare different varieties of each meal because my husband is a vegetarian for health reasons, and my daughter, though she eats most things I make, is still a bit picky. So I can go through recipes and think, ooh, that looks good! and then realize, nope, has meat. Or nope, she doesn’t like pork chops.

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Now some of you might be thinking, don’t cater to the pickiness! And I try not to, but I also want to make things that people are going to like. Why purposely make something like pork chops if I’m the only one gonna eat ’em?

But doing the planning and then going to the grocery store, yeah, life sucking.

But maybe I’m looking at it with wrong eyes. How did Jesus approach food? How did he handle the physical needs of those around Him?

Well, I would like to have faith that my refrigerator would just refill itself like the baskets of loaves and fishes, but I don’t think that’s what God wants for me.

Keep my eyes on Jesus. Do what He has called me to do without grumbling and complaining.

But can I say that I’m happy I’m going on a retreat this weekend and don’t have to cook?

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2020’s Direction? Be a Blessing

Jan10

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt and see what happens. Today’s word is “direction.”

Each year for the past 3 years I have asked God to give me a word for the new year, something that can help focus my attention on something I need to improve, or something He just wants me to be intentional about. First it was “obey,” then it was “trust,” last year it was “let go,” and this year, the direction He has given me seems to be the word “blessing.”

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What I am garnering in talking to Him about this is that He doesn’t want for me to just focus on all the blessings that He so generously has given me, but rather on being a blessing to others. I see that as sometimes happening in very practical ways.

For instance, I order health and home products from an online company and a couple of friends usually add to my order. This month, I used some reward points to get an item for free. The free item ended up working out best to be the one my friend ordered. So instead of just equaling out the cost and both of us saving, I made the decision to give her the benefit of the free item all her own.

Might not seem like that big of a deal, right? In a sense we’ve both earned the points because we both order, though my portion is usually bigger than hers. But I actually struggled with the decision for a few minutes, until God reminded me of the word He had given me just a few days before. I repeated it to myself, something I figure I’m going to be saying often, over and over: “Be a blessing.”

(Adding just a few minutes past the prescribed 5): The working definition I’m going with for “blessing” is this: To bring people closer to God by providing for a physical, emotional or spiritual need. That’s not a dictionary definition. It’s not one I’ve read anywhere, but it seems to be one that works with what I have learned about blessings. It’s not just the #blessed that people post online about all the things that they have; it has more to do with our relationship with God.

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I will be looking for opportunities to be a blessing this year, and I will also be looking to see how God is drawing me closer to Him through those around me.

Happy New Year!

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