Friday, October 21, 2011

Five Minute Friday - Beyond

If you are popping over from Amy Sullivan's place, welcome! For those of you who here with me regularly, I've got a guest post up on Amy's blog about Anonymous Service if you want to go check it out.


Today is Friday, so we are doing our usual writing exercise. On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.
We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
Won’t you join us? You can play too. It's so easy!
    1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
    2. Link back to Lisa-Jo's blog 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:

Beyond…


GO

Beyond... I often say that I need to visit the Land Beyond the End of My Nose. My natural instinct is not to go beyond my own self-interest and selfishness. But when I do visit the Land Beyond the End of My Nose, I often find wonderful things.



Last night... I felt awful, physically and otherwise. But I had been given FREE tickets to a one-woman play about Molly Ivins, a liberal Texas firecracker if there ever was one. And I knew my very liberal husband - though being a Yankee by birth - would so enjoy it. I wanted to be home, but I decided to think about him for a little bit.

HE LOVED IT!!! It was awesome! I loved it! It was so funny and really caught the spirit of that amazing woman. I didn't have to dip into our meager budget or make a lot of plans. I just accepted what was given and my husband - who is so overworked (and underpaid in my opinion) just laughed and laughed.

And boy did he need the laughter. He woke up this morning refreshed. Because I looked beyond myself long enough to find something that he would like. How easy is that?

I have a feeling that the cross I am to bear through life has much to do with getting BEYOND my own self... dying to self, as Jesus said... most who meet me at first think I am loving and giving, which might be true to a point. Those who live in this house with me know that I am very self-centered. But as I trust my God to complete a good work in me, I am able to see beyond...

STOP

Now wasn't that easy? (Not really - writing without self-editing as I go along is still hard for me, which is why I love participating in this exercise!)

Come join us over at Lisa-Jo's place if you want to see what other people have to say about Beyond

10 comments:

  1. I have a feeling that the cross I am to bear through life has much to do with getting BEYOND my own self...

    well, now, isn't that the truth? :)

    so glad you and your husby had a good time last night.

    and isn't it also true that those who know us best and love us most get the worst parts of us? there's grace, friend.

    (first time stopping by from 5mf.)

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. just read your post over at Amy's. i have a friend right now who has GREAT NEED. . . and i have felt helpless to know what to do. you have just provided the answer, for i feel sure in my heart that THIS is what will minister most to her right now. so thank you for sharing your heart and for sharing a very practical way for me to minister.
    and i love your FMF posting as well :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Living beyond the end of our nose.....

    I love that....and I must confess, I need to start doing just that....more and more.

    Great post....(which was accompanied by a gentle push from the Holy Spirit)

    Thank you, both~
    ~Stacy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love this - love the post at Amy's, too. Good stuff, Carolyn. Thank you. And now I'm trying to figure out how to participate in Charity's invitation. Somehow i missed that it's a weekly one...hmmm...still trying to figure my way around all of THC's many interesting projects and people.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Mary Kathryn, so glad you got to stop by! Grace, indeed.

    @Hope, I'm glad the postcard idea helped you. It certainly was a blessing to me.

    @Stacy, glad the Spirit was nudging you today. We need to meet more often, just past the ends of our noses! ;)

    @Diana, thanks for the compliments! TCH does have a lot for us to participate in, doesn't it? If you go over to Charity's site, there is a tab under her header that says "There and Back" and if you click on that it will take you to much more detailed instructions on how Charity has set that up. It's a very interesting project - it just takes more energy than things like Five Minute Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for your visit to my small part of "Beyond."

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dropping in from the Gypsy Mama's . . . really enjoyed your post. I love that your husband laughed and laughed and felt so refreshed in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, visiting from Amy's :) Enjoyed your post at her place today. I won't look at postcards the same again. Encouraging story. Nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. @RB, it was about time I got over there. I am "subscribed" now so that I can keep up.

    @Andrea,welcome! I believe that laughter is underrated as a medicine, truly.

    @Lori, so glad you stopped by. Glad you felt encouraged. That was what I was aiming for! Nice to "meet" you too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ahhh, yes . . . going beyond our tightness around us and learning to let go! Your words touched me!

    Writing on "beyond" with you!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for joining me here.

Moral support, prayers, and witty comments always appreciated.