This post is part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt with no heavy editing. Today’s prompt is “escape.”
In a few days my family is escaping still-hot Orlando and heading to the mountains of North Carolina. My daughter’s golden birthday (turning 21 on the 21st) became a good excuse to get away as just the 5 of us. It’s been a long time since that’s happened. The last time we all went anywhere together for a few days was my 60th birthday, almost 2 years ago. But we had my eldest’s son and my husband’s mother with us that time.
Our little family’s first trip to North Carolina in 2003. Dad is taking the picture.
This time, it’s just us.
None of my kids are married, and my son shares custody of our grandson, so it was fairly easy to make arrangements to go. A couple of missed shifts at work will be a bit of a financial hit, but both my working sons didn’t want to miss the opportunity.
The last time we went on a trip together was around the country in 2012.
Every once in a while, you just need an escape. If you have the financial means—and we’re very grateful we do at this point in our lives—getting away can be soul-saving.
We’ve been dealing with a lot of loss the past several years. From my father-in-law’s sudden passing 2 years ago, to close friends moving far away, to the sudden resignation of our lead pastor that threw our beloved church into turmoil, to many little stressors in between, we’ve been wrecked.
The mountains are calling, and we must go.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
This post is 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 prompt is “quick.”
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1:19-20, NIV).
We all want to be heard. That’s a very common and universal human trait. But sometimes, putting words out there can be scary. There are many times when I will type out a comment on someone’s post online and then backspace, backspace, backspace. I just know that what I said will cause someone to say something in return that is unkind.
I don’t need that kind of negativity. Better that I leave my thoughts unsaid online.
When Jesus’ brother James wrote his letter to the scattered tribes, he wrote to them about their behavior. He wrote about not just hearing the word, but doing it.
I am often guilty of not being an active listener—listening carefully, asking questions, not just waiting for my chance to give my opinion. That’s not humility. That’s thinking that what I have to say is more important.
It’s like when I’m driving down a road with a double yellow line and someone decides to pass me going way over the speed limit.
They certainly weren’t caring about me or anyone else on the road. They were self-important and just wanted to get where they were going more quickly.
I am determined to not be that kind of driver in conversations, just running over people’s words to get where I want the conversation to go.
This post is 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 “owe.”
have been an Oakland A’s baseball fan for a very long time. From the championship years of the 70s to, well, today. Not saying that I’m ending my allegiance today, but just that today looks a lot different from years in the past.
This year, I’ve considered for the very first time finding another team to root for. The pain, anguish, and disappointment of this year year has almost been too much for me to bear.
My husband asked me recently why I’m staying loyal to them. What have they done for me lately? Well, nothing. But that’s not the point, is it? I don’t stay loyal because I owe them my loyalty. Yes, I grew up with them. But I stay loyal because they’re my team.
I am not a fair-weather fan. I have celebrated with them and I will stay with them when ownership is running the team into the ground. It’s certainly not John Fisher I give my loyalty to. But those guys on the field? It’s fun to watch Esteury Ruiz swipe bags, Ryan Noda make amazing between-the-legs flips to get the runner out at first, JJ Bleday run, stretch and dive to make catches in the outfield, Tony Kemp leap and roll to make a play wherever he is playing.
I don’t give up on my team when they disappointment me, whether it be for the first time or the 50th. It won’t be like this forever.
And God doesn’t give up on me. I’m sure I look a lot like this 2023 Oakland Athletics team to Him sometimes.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! (1 Chronicles 16:24, ESV).
This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a 1-word prompt and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “chapter.”
With a nod to Charles Dickens for the use of his classic first line of A Tale of Two Cities, so far, almost halfway through, 2023 has shaped up to be … pretty much like every other year. There have been some pretty low lows, but some blessings mixed in. Overall, it’s been plain to see that God is good. He always has been, and He always will be.
Our last couple of months have encapsulated that. We’ve experienced severe disappointment, but we’ve also laughed, built relationships, and seen beauty. We’ve gotten to enjoy time with our grandson, who is growing way too quickly, and walked with our daughter through an unexpected breakup. We celebrated our 32nd anniversary in the mountains of North Carolina and attended the memorial service of a friend taken by cancer, leaving her 3 daughters orphans. We witnessed our eldest son earn his brown belt in taekwondo and said goodbye to dear friends who moved thousands of miles away.
It’s like two tracks on a railroad. Joy and sadness are side by side, and when you look at them in the horizon, they appear to touch.
We’re moving on to the next chapter in this sometimes frustrating, always interesting, not-yet-finished book of our lives that God is writing. We don’t know what the next chapter will bring. We’re just turning page after page, trusting that the author—who really is a master storyteller—will not let us down.
The good thing about this kind of book, unlike some long-standing series where eventually the author really has to move on, is that we get to spend eternity with the Author getting to know Him and the characters in our story even better.
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. No heavy editing allowed. Today’s word is “view.” Check it out.
I’ve just spent the last three days at the beach. By myself.
I’m an extrovert who gets my energy from being around people. So even before I left I thought to myself Is this a good idea? But I went anyway. I didn’t have big plans, I just wanted to be somewhere other than home, and try as I might, organizing something for the whole family was draining me.
So, I spent the big bucks and got a room with an ocean view at a hotel about an hour and a half from home. I planned on working, but not being on any kind of schedule. I’d get up when I wanted, work when I wanted, go to the beach (when the temperature dipped into the 80s), and figure out what else as the days went along.
Things at home had been a bit stormy, not because of anything anyone had done, but just because of some things my husband and I are digging into that are hard and for which we haven’t yet seen the beauty.
So I wanted beauty.
But I didn’t expect the storm
Now, I live in Florida, and summer thunderstorms are normal, so I’m not quite sure why I thought they wouldn’t come here at the beach, but last night, a large thunderstorm came right up on me.
But today the clouds are wispy again. People are enjoying the beach—it’s a cooler 79º as I write this, and I’m getting ready to head back home. I will miss the view I’ve had, but I’ll be glad to get back to my peeps.
About 4 years ago I wrote this reflective piece that I wanted to share here. It helped me gain perspective for what I’m returning to: a storm not yet passed us by, but an encouragement to find the beauty in the midst of it all.
In the past several days I’ve had a Redbud friend whose husband had a brain aneurysm and is unresponsive in the hospital and had to be medically paralyzed so his body could heal and he wouldn’t fight the ventilator.
And another Redbud friend who has a 5-year-old son who had to start chemotherapy today for a cancerous tumor.
And we will say goodbye tomorrow to our friend Elizabeth who passed away after triple bypass surgery.
And I think, life sucks, man. And my kids know I don’t even use that word. I don’t like the way it sounds. It’s ugly to me in the way it’s used. But somehow it seems fitting.
And then I see rain falling in the sunshine.
I look out my front window in the morning light and see a steady but soft rain coming down surrounded by sunshine.
It reminds me that my tears, like that rain, can fall even if there is an unshakeable joy in my life. I know that my Redeemer lives, but that there is heartache in this life.
I know that God is in control and that He is good, even if the outcome of my circumstances isn’t what I hoped for.
I hope in God.
The author and perfecter of my faith.
My circumstances aren’t perfect and they never will be.
The people around me aren’t perfect, and they never will be either.
But God is perfect, and since He’s the one in charge, I can rest.
And you know, that rain falling in the sunshine is beautiful, if I can look between the drops and see His grace and mercy like the rays of the sun.
Compelled 