Tag Archives: 5-minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Opportunity

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Today I’m joining in the five minute Friday conversation through the Gypsy Mama.  I have five minutes to write, start to finish on a selected topic.

“We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.

GO

I’ve heard it said, many times, that “Opportunity knocks.”
Maybe for some, but for me, most of the time, it kicks down the door.

I’m not talking about incredible, money making opportunities or things of that sort. I’m referring to the everyday opportunities that I do not always notice. The kind of opportunities that happen all around me as I’m living life.

When I’m on my computer and my child comes and sits next to me asking, “Will you read this book to me?” That is an opportunity to engage and be fully present with my child. Sadly, I do not always take it, but when I do, I don’t ever regret it.

When I’m in a hurry to get somewhere and cannot be bothered by traffic lights or people and inevitably there is someone moving slower than I would like them to be in the crosswalk. What a beautiful opportunity to, slow down, take a breath, maybe even lift a hand in a friendly wave while smiling and thank God that I have a car to drive and am capable of doing so many things that bring me happiness.

When a friend stops me in the store with an obvious burden that needs to be heard and I am in a hurry to get in and get out. I can stop what I’m doing and listen. I can be genuine and kind without being there for an hour. This is a great opportunity to show through my actions how important relationships are.

When someone lets me go ahead of them and the long line of cars behind them in the drive-thru at Starbucks, it provides an excellent opportunity to pay for their coffee and ask the Barista to tell them, “Thank you! Happy Thursday!” (or whatever day it is.)

How many opportunities do I come across throughout my day to be generous, compassionate, attentive, forgiving, accepting, encouraging, supportive, present, loving and soothing? (just to name a few.) I don’t want to miss those.

Many opportunities are just as important for the provider as for the receiver.

STOP

Related posts by beautiful and talented bloggers:
Opportunity: Leanne Penny
You’ll Find Me in the Closet
Beautiful Things: Five Minute Friday
Uh, You Better Answer That. (Five minute Friday)
Opportunity: Always Alleluia
A constant pursuit: fmf (opportunity)
Pruning Princesses: The Opportunities we give our kids
In the Tangles: Five Minute Friday – Opportunity has a fat backside
Reading List: Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Identity

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On Fridays over here a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write. Just five minutes. Unscripted. Unedited. Real. Your words. This shared feast.

GO

Before reading today’s topic I was up on my soapbox talking about raw beauty. When seeing the parallel between my post and the topic I was excited.

I wish I could say that I find my identity solely in Christ. I want to. But that wouldn’t be entirely true. I’m better than I once was, but I’m not there yet.

So where do I find my identity? (Let’s name just 5)

My writing.
My relationship with my husband.
My children.
My work.
My family.

When those things fail me or make me feel less than valuable (which they inevitably will), I run back to the arms of the Father, thanking Him for being my refuge.

I want to do that even when everything is great in all of the other areas! I want to read my bible more and view it as a letter from my Savior. I want to look forward to being able to study His teachings and promises.

And though I long to be in His presence, sitting quietly while soaking up His splendor, I do not seek out the truth in His word nearly enough.

I, at times, make myself an island, hiding behind my computer screen and getting lost in online reading, writing and picture editing.

My identity has been one of confusion and change. However, more and more I see myself settling into the place of my Lord and finding great fulfillment and peace in His sovereignty.

STOP

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

Five Minute Friday: Real

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It’s Friday and you know what that means!
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
Here are my best five minutes on: REAL

GO

In a world where so many things are not real it’s nice to come across the things that are.

So much of our lives are lived online, it’s rare to connect with a real person…well…ever.
If I wanted to, I could avoid ever talking to, interacting with or seeing another person.
Virtually everything we need can be done online.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that I can order anything (including groceries), attend church, video conference, write letters, sign petitions, support ministries, look through photo albums of friends I haven’t seen in years, instant message and so many other things, anytime of the day, without ever changing out of my pj’s or leaving the house.

However, it makes me all the more aware that I must make a conscious effort to build real relationships. I must be deliberate about real compliments, real “Thank you’s” and real “How are you doing(s)?” Or, no matter the intention, it is lost in translation from keyboard to screen.

We can get almost anything we want now, as long as we have the cash or credit to back up the desire. The thing that we can’t get, no matter how much money or time or resources we have, is the ability to be 100% authentic or… real.

It takes time, awareness, sacrifice, investment…but it is so worth it.

STOP

OK, are you ready? What does real mean to you?

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

3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

 

Five Minute Friday: Community

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Let’s spend our five minutes of writing today, sharing about community. Fight it, love it, hate it, hurt or healed by it, we were certainly built for it.

Set a timer and just write. Don’t worry about making it just right or not.
Go all in with your words.
Are you ready?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

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

GO:

This topic is quite fitting today as I sit in my pj’s, wanting to close the blinds to the outside world. My last entry was about my beautiful friend, Elliot, who is fighting a deadly form of ovarian cancer.

I have been amazed by how many of us have connected through her story. Women who will never meet, all praying and coming together as a community to support and lift up our friend as she walks through the most difficult time of her life.

It instantly connects us. That’s what community does. We are all here for a common purpose and therefore all connected.

If she needs to crawl, we will crawl with her. If she walks slowly, taking many breaks along the way, we too will walk slowly, breaking frequently. If she wants to scream, we will scream with her. When she cries, we will cry with her. When she laughs, we too will laugh.

That’s what community does. We lock arms and we storm the gates of heaven with our pleas and our praise.

That’s what we do, today, as women and sisters, daughters and mothers, wives and friends. That’s what we do for each other. For you, my sweet friend, Elliot.
Please join me in praying for Elliot today as she begins a stronger form of chemo in hopes that it will combat this aggressive form of cancer.

STOP.

Five Minute Friday: Good-Bye

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Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.

We set a timer, throw caution to the winds and try to remember what it was like to just write without worrying if it’s  right or not.

I wrote for 5 minutes… and then proceeded to look through pictures for about 2 hours.
As the words began to flow from my heart to my hands faster than I can type, my eyes began to sting as I felt the tears well up. “What is wrong with me?!” I wondered.

I realized as I was looking through years of pictures that it had all gone by so fast. Things that I remember as happening last week, were in reality, last year. How did I not see it in the moment. Those precious, fleeting moments…

There never seems to be enough time. When it seems that we should be saying, “Hello.” we are already saying, “Good-bye.”

Our good-bye’s are seldom “good.”

It is always bittersweet and at times involves tears and a lot of dark chocolate post parting.

There is never a time in the day when I don’t think about “My Bella.”
Not a moment passes when I am not wondering what she’s doing or if she had a great day… does she like a new boy? Is she remembering to accentuate her incredible eyes with the makeup she has been so anxious to apply, instead of caking it on? Is she being told how incredibly beautiful and gifted she is? Does she know how much I love her? Does she have any idea what a treasure she is? How I adore her? The prayers I say for her?

There are times when I miss her so much that my heart actually hurts inside my chest.

I have a new understanding for the word heartache as every time my little girl leaves, she takes an irreplaceable piece of my heart with her.

How fitting for the topic to be “good-bye.” Friend or foe, I know it’s capability of relief and also that of sorrow, all too well.

The following pictures were taken hours, sometimes minutes, before my Bella and I said, “Good-bye.”

On the airplane from Cali to Bama for visitation

At the Wiggles Live Show

Halloween fun

She's home from her summer visit in Bama

Milkshake in Brevard, NC

Happy Birthday!

At our house in Cali before she left for her summer visitation

Spreading Christmas cheer at CHOA. Bella wanted everyone to have an "I Am Loved" pin. She even handed them out in line at Starbucks.

Her first role as a fairy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Sunday that is usually our day of "Good-bye"

Birthday

Summer visits make my heart happy

Silly faces

Crazy face!

Pouty face

Donated 12 inches of hair to "Locks of Love"

My heart

Five Minute Friday: Light

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Every Friday I link up to The Gypsy Mama for Five Minute Friday. It is a time when I can write uninhibited and not spend hours editing and tweaking. It’s fun, you should try it. On this good Friday, the prompt is “light.” Ready?

Light
by Joy Cannis

Light dispels darkness.

The light of the world paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that I did not have to live in darkness, but He still left the choice up to me.

When I let that truth sink in I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

I began praying more than 10 years ago that God would make me a light in a dark world. That I would so shine before others that they could not help but ask what was fueling the flame.

It has been a process…a journey.

I remember the first time someone asked me what was different about me. I was at work and talking with a co worker who was rather ruff around the edges. She had never been nice to me or opened up to me about anything.

On this particular day, that all changed. After a discussion lasting only a few minutes she asked, “What’s different about you? Why are you always so… happy?!”

With a smile I said, “Believe me, I’m not always happy. This has been one of the hardest years of my life. But I believe in a God who is faithful even when it doesn’t feel like it. It’s easier for me to rest in that and praise Him for what He has already done. There is no denying His track record.”

This led to many more conversations about God and all of the many things that go along with believing in Him.

I would love to tell you that we had this magical moment where we knelt down, a bright light shown down on us and because of something I had said, she professed her faith in Jesus. It didn’t happen that way. She and I are still having conversations.

Our relationship keeps me seeking when every day life as a believer feels mundane. I wish it never felt that way, but I will not apologize for saying that it does.

I can’t see her heart. Maybe she does believe? Maybe she has surrendered her life to the One who loves her enough to die? Only she and God know the answer to that.

What I can see is what happens when I obey and trust. God has called me to be a light in the world. Only light can bring more light. Some people will misunderstand, maybe even become annoyed by the fact that I am a card carrying, Jesus lovin’ gal who is sold out to Christ. That’s okay. We all have to walk our own path.

If asked, I will say to them, “How could I not emulate the one who saved me from myself? Who met me at my lowest point, in my darkest hour. He wasn’t waiting for me to show up at a scheduled time on Sunday, looking like I had it all together. He found me. Don’t ever underestimate the places He is willing to go to find those He loves. He is the Ultimate Rescuer.”

Today, this day that marks one of the most important moments in the life of a follower of Jesus, I will remember that He was beaten beyond recognition. I will acknowledge the crown of thorns that was pushed into His head. I will confess that I might as well have been the one holding the hammer that drove the nails into his hands and feet. It was my sin that held Him there, caused the Father to turn away and ensured He took His final breath as payment for my transgressions.

by Joy Cannis

It is I who put Him there and I am the one for whom He died.

Gifts for Free

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GO

Image

Winter has passed, New Life is emerging

Life: A 25 year old female took her own life Wednesday by jumping from a balcony almost 30 floors high. Her body lay just 10 steps away from our church. With one decision to assign a permanent solution to a temporary problem, the gift is gone.

Prayer: The ability to stay in constant communion with the God of the Universe. His direct line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. How often am I utilizing that gift?

Praise: Lifting my voice in uninhibited adoration of Creation to the Giver of Life. The ultimate gift giver loves the sound of our praise.

Laughter: Opening my mouth and letting the sound of laughter flow freely and without repose. Using my words and actions to invoke happiness in the form of smiles, laughter and undiluted joy.

Retreat: When I am able to find time away from the noise of the world.

Love: Without conditions. Without getting tired. Strongly, Deeply, Purely, Boundlessly.

STOP