Five Minute Friday - Open

On Fridays around these parts we link up with Lisa-Jo and we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?   


1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here 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:

Open...

GO!

Ah, it seems that I am having another "opposite day" with the Gypsy Mama. She wants us to write about "open" when I feel closed off. Would that I could wave a wand and make it different.

I need to be open. I need to be very open - to change, to new ideas, to the path God is leading me down. I need to be open to receiving what He needs to give me for this next leg of the journey. It will not be easy, I know, so being open to His wisdom is going to be paramount.

I need to be open to trying new things - new foods, new social situations, new ways of thinking about my life. I am trying to surround myself with people who can teach me about these things and people who can just love and support me while it is happening. 

I need to open up my heart to the people around me and share the love that God has given me for all of them. It sounds easier than it is sometimes. But that is what I want - for the people around me to FEEL the love I have for them - not just know about it in their minds. What amazing things could happen if I opened up my heart.

God, open me up. I am Your vessel. Open me to whatever You need me to do for Your work. And bless those around me who are trying to be open to You as well. May the journey be smooth for them. 

In Jesus name, Amen.

Stop

As always, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo, the Gypsy Mama, and the rest of the gang for Five Minute Friday. Definitely go check out what other people are saying over there!

Five Minute Friday - Connected

On Fridays around these parts we link up with Lisa-Jo and we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here 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:

Connected…


Go

Connected? I don't feel connected at all. And that is the saddest thing. There are so many people who love me and want me to know/feel that. They want to be connected to me. Amazing that they do, but thankful for that. 

I know why I am disconnected and it scares me and pisses me off a little bit. My eating disorder is in full swing right now. I have deprived my brain of so much nutrition that it is not making sense anymore. It scares me and yet I feel powerless to stop it. Charles - dear husband of mine - has found a way for me to get help. I guess other people helped find the place, but Charles is the one who negotiated and finagled to make it happen.

I will start treatment for me eating disorder on Monday. I won't be inpatient, but I will be there 10 hours a day and it is about a 30 minute trip each way. So I won't be here - connected to all of you - as much. But we can stay connected if we pray for each other, right? I hope so. I surely hope so.

That's all I've got. Hope it was 5 minutes.

Stop

As always, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo, the Gypsy Mama, and the rest of the gang for Five Minute Friday. Definitely go check out what other people are saying over there!

Five Minute Friday - Color

On Fridays around these parts we link up with Lisa-Jo and we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here 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:

Color…


Go

Color. Wow... this time of year is filled with color. Usually I would worry about bringing out "clashing" colors into my living room, but not at Christmas-time. We have bright neon colors and traditional reds and greens. And I just love it!

Our Christmas tree is a hot-pink, pre-lit type. I wish we had room in our small foyer to put it there. My foyer is painted hot-pink (ceilings too). I love putting neon blue and green and purple ornaments on the tree and I love how it stands out. Maybe we should just paint the whole living room pink, too? Nah...

Hubby finally told me this year that he likes traditional Christmas decorations as well. So now we have the dark greens and reds of faux fir limbs and poinsettias filling the living room and kitchen as well. It is a little strange to have such traditional and non-traditional decorations together but I don't care. We enjoy them all. 

Color, color, color! Everywhere you look we have color! I have friends that are "minimalists", with bright white walls and just a few decorations and that seems to work in their homes, but it doesn't here. Hubby and I just love adding more color everywhere. We are glad when a season comes around to give us reason to put up more color - even colors that aren't supposed to "match". 

Do you have lots of color in your Christmas decorating?

Stop

As always, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo, the Gypsy Mama, and the rest of the gang for Five Minute Friday. Definitely go check out what other people are saying over there!

***

Due to several comments saying photos would be good, here is the hot-pink tree. This is what it looks like decorated. We have left it bare this year in honor of our first Christmas without Mama.

And here is a picture of Charles and I all dolled up for a date. We are standing in the hot-pink foyer. I cannot get a really good photo that shows all of the eclectic art in that tiny room, but there is much more than what you see behind us.

Five Minute Friday (and a Winner!)

On Fridays around these parts we link up with Lisa-Jo and we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here 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:

Tired…


Go


Wow, I don't know if "tired" was a good  prompt for me. I'm tired, alright, but not tired in a "I've just finished a good job and now I'm worn out" type of way. I'm tired of many things, though. 


I'm tired of all of the pettiness in my family. I'm tired of my husband's boss managing by fear. I'm tired of our children thinking we need to take care of them - well, one child anyway. I'm just tired.

Christmas was always a huge time of celebration for Mama and me. It was our special time. We love decorating together. We loved baking together. We loved singing along with John Denver and the Muppets together. It was awesome.

Now this is my first Christmas without Mama, and the thought of it makes me tired. The thought of more and more years without her makes me tired. Yes, I know I will see her again. Just the waiting makes me tired.

The depression that hounds me makes me tired. I wish that my body chemicals were not so screwed up. Then I might be able to face a day without coaching myself to want to get up and taking medicines. It is tiring to be tired all the time, you know? I'm not sure why this is my particular cross to bear, but it might be a good thing if I am saving somebody else from having to deal with it.

What I know for sure about being tired is that God has promised us rest. I won't be tired forever because He has told me so. And that is something to look forward to.

God's promises... always a good note to end on. 

Stop

As always, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo, the Gypsy Mama, and the rest of the gang for Five Minute Friday. Definitely go check out what other people are saying over there!

***

For the six lovely people who entered the giveaway for a copy of All is Grace by Brennan Manning and John Blase, we have a winner!

Number 4 is Angela Downs! Yea, Angela! Email me your address, Angela, and I will mail you the book!

I enjoy this so much that I think I'm going to have to start searching for the next book to giveaway. Suggestions?

Five Minute Friday - Grow

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here 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:

Grow…

GO

I remember... it has been eighteen years now, but I hear her voice just like it was yesterday: "Pain is growth and we should be happy about that." I remember smarting off to her that I thought pain was simply pain and nothing more. I got "the look" for that.

I know that God uses pain to teach me, to GROW me, but I am a sissy and I like to tell people that I am allergic to pain. Which makes it awfully hard to grow, I suppose.

There are plenty of opportunities to grow in my life right now. Not that that means I am in constant pain. It just means that there are many things that don't need to stay as they are. There are many things that I know God is telling me to work through to get to what He has for me on the other side. Good thing He plans to be there to walk me through it. I would not dare do this alone.

That reminds me of one of my favorite gospel songs:

Be with me Lord, I cannot live without Thee. I dare not try to take one step alone. I cannot bear the loads of life unaided. I need Thy strength to lean myself upon.

I love that song. Maybe I need to be singing it more through these present growth opportunities.

STOP

So there is my five minutes. Let's go over to the Gypsy Mama's place and see who is linking up over there.

Five Minute Friday - Unexpected

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just writewithout worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here 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:

Unexpected…

GO

I'm really wary right now of any word with "expect" in it. Evidently, I have disappointed some of my friends because I have done the unexpected. But what was so truly unexpected?

Five Minute Friday - Remember

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just writewithout worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here 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:

Remember…

GO

Mama, I remember your scent. You always wore Avon Cotillion perfume (except when David was around, because he bought you that Chanel #5). 

I remember you "drawing" pictures on my back with your finger. It tickled. Sometimes I could guess what you were drawing. Sometimes I couldn't. But it was so fun being close to you.

I remember within the last few years, you started to show your emotions more - good and bad. You would stand behind Daddy and pretend to wring his neck when he would be talking about a harebrained idea or volunteering you for some project you didn't want to do. It looked so funny to see our calm, placid Mama show frustration for the first time.

I remember how you would catch us off guard with jokes. You told them so infrequently and could do so with a straight face. You could get us with the punchline every time because it was so unexpected.

I remember that rolled up mattress that used to be beneath my bed. The thunder and lightening would come and either me or David would come get you. You would pull out that rolled up mattress and lay on it with us so that we would feel safe while the house shook.

I remember so many Valentines Days when you would put a heart-shaped sandwich in my lunchbox. It was always those special little touches that set you apart.

Mama, I remember. I always will.

STOP


Okay, now let's go over to Lisa-Jo's place and see what other people are remembering.

I Don't Wanna Play

I usually participate in the Five Minute Friday linky party over at the Gypsy Mama’s blog. Today, I just did not want to play. The topic for today is “relevant”, which stumped a few people, I can tell. I did a random sampling of the entries and most of those needed to define “relevant” before they could type coherently about it. That took up the better part of their 5 minutes right there. That’s not the reason I didn’t want to participate, though.

I have had a bad week. Just pathetic, really. Most of it I cannot tell you about because it involves other people’s stories as well as mine. And that is fine. I’m not sure I would want to tell you anyway. There needs to be a reason to rehash the yucky things in life, and I don’t have one.

Anyway, I just want to take my toys and go home. I want to yell at imaginary hooligans (I’m not sure we have real ones in my neighborhood) to GET OFF MY LAWN!!! And I don’t want to define or discuss “relevant”. I’ve been discarding irrelevant things all day long, so I’m headed in the opposite direction right now.

One of my now-seven loyal readers might be wondering what I’m doing here then. I’ll tell you. I want to talk about sporks. Well, one spork in particular. Yes, just one spork among sporks.

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

Five Minute Friday - Catch

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?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here 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:

Catch…

GO

Life seems to be catching up to the Countermans and demanding that we pay attention. It really isn't that fun. We are praying about some hard decisions right now.

And I saw today's prompt - "catch" and I felt that was what I am trying to do. I feel like there is an answer - a piece of Scripture, a wise word that I have forgotten - that is just being elusive and if I could just "catch" it, then I would know what to do and all this worrying would be over. I don't know if there is really anything out there to catch or if I am just being hopeful.

What I do know is that God is still with us. I do not feel abandoned in any way. I know He will walk us through this - He won't let us go through any dark valley alone. And if we fall, He will "catch" us. I'm learning that does not always look like I would want it to, but He does not leave me. 

I wish I could catch my loved ones like that - just prevent them from hitting the bottom. I know I can't - at least not always. But I'm sure you understand that when you love someone, you want to catch them when they fall. I will have to trust God to catch all of them too. 

I suppose today's prompt was timely, wasn't it? 

STOP


Now let's go over to Lisa-Jo's place and see what other people are "catching"!

Five Minute Friday - Ordinary

Want to join me in the fun of just writing and not worrying if it’s just right (or on time) or not?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.

3. Go all out encouraging the writer who linked up before you.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes:

On ordinary…

I'm not sure I know exactly what is supposed to be ordinary in my life. Most women my age got married much earlier than I did (age 37) and have kids of their own (I have "steps" that I claim as mine). Even so, most of those women don't have grandchildren yet - maybe one or two, if they do. 

I wake up thinking about our fifteen grandchildren and worrying about how life is treating them. There are more than fifteen now, I guess, because we have "adopted" many of their half-siblings (no ordinary stories there either). There are several teenagers in this bunch and nothing that they are experiencing is "ordinary" in my mind. Most of the stuff they deal with was not imaginable when I was that age. So maybe we are getting a new "ordinary".

It probably isn't that ordinary to have an 81-year-old father living with you or to have five little yappy dogs running the household, but that is what I've got. Wouldn't have it differently. That is part of my ordinary, I guess. The dogs love Pawpaw and Pawpaw loves the dogs, so it works.

I think I've read too many ladies' magazines. I think I have some pre-conceived idea of what "normal" and "ordinary" is supposed to look like in life. Time to get rid of those ideas, I think. This is my normal and ordinary. It is filled with God's blessings in unusual but very evident ways. So once again I am redefining what things are "supposed" to look like in life. I'm getting used to that process now. 

"Redefining" is becoming ordinary to me. :)

Stop!


Wow. It is still hard to just write without over-thinking or backtracking, but I'm glad for the practice. Come join us over at the Gypsy Mama! Try a Five Minute Friday of your own and link up!

Five Minute Friday - Growing

We write for five minutes flat on Fridays.

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?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Go a little overboard encouraging the writer who linked up before you.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Growing…

Oh, I so did not want to write on this. I saw "growing" and I just about opted out of today's link party. Then the negatives came to my mind: my waist and hips are GROWING. My debt is GROWING. I just... *sigh*

There have been other things that denote growing. Brother Dave, one of my spiritual advisors who has known me for years, reads my blog and says that he sees me growing. And its about time, too. The bratty little mess I was when I met Brother Dave and his family needed to grow - upward and onward.

It's just that the type of growing that is happening to me right now is not the fun or comfortable type of growing. It's not like I'm discovering new crafting skills or learning how to cook (Hubby, read = not going to happen). I'm growing spiritually and emotionally and there are growing pains that come with that. Have I mentioned that I have diagnosed myself as being allergic to all kinds of pain? That includes growing pains.

I think I've missed a little of the point of Five Minute Fridays today. I've been backspacing and editing. Trying to avoid what I'm really thinking. But this is what I've got today.

STOP


Come join me over at the Gypsy Mama. Link up your own post or just see what five minutes looked like for others. (they probably won't be as negative as I'm feeling about the subject matter today!)


Today is also a rare occasion that I am posting twice. I have joined a special writing project called "What We’re Worth: A Community Collection". You can view my contribution to the project here and you can read about the project here.  At the bottom of that post is a link you can follow to find all of the community essays on this subject. Please go visit. And if you can, leave some comments on the posts you read. It will be nice for the people who made themselves vulnerable to get a little love.

Five Minute Friday - Joy

Today's Five Minute Friday is a little bit different than the usual. It is special because the group of friends that gathers over at the Gypsy Mama for FMF is getting ready to send a good friend back to the Lord. Her body is failing her, but her spirit is so ready to join Jesus. And we are happy for that. Please, please go over and read a little bit about Sara. She is an amazing person who has filled many people's lives with joy.

So here's how it goes:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.

3. Go a little overboard encouraging the writer who linked up before you.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Joy…

(gratuitous pic of my nephew who brings me joy!)

Start:


The first thing that comes to my mind right now are all the different songs that have the line "The joy of the Lord is my strength" in them. One is rattling around in my head right this minute. What a beautiful thing to have guiding me in the wee-small hours of a morning. 


I think how lucky I am that I am finding community (most of it online right now, but God will take care of the "in person" too) that understand the joy of going home to the Father. How happy I was six months ago when Mama passed away that she got to be with her Savior. A little jealous - I'm longing for heaven too, but it's not my turn. 


Another memory that just came to me was riding on the "Joy Bus" when I was little. We would go pick up kids whose parents where not going to take them to church. We fed them doughnuts and milk. And we sang all the way. The song I remember singing most on the Joy Bus went, "love is something if you give it away - you end up having more". Thank you, Mom and Dad, for making sure I had those memories and an upbringing in the Lord.


Joy is something deep that comes from the Lord. I wish I remembered more often to hook into it instead of getting all caught up in worldly cares. I'm going to have to take Sara's advice and "choose joy". She will live on in  many people that way.


STOP


So that is my five minutes. Won't you please join us over at the Gypsy Mama? There will many five-minute posts to read  about joy. What a wonderful subject to start the weekend with!