Five Minute Friday: Joy

I haven't participated in Five Minute Friday in a LONG time, but I thought today might be a good day to have some fun with it because Lisa-Jo chose a great word--joy. I love the word "joy." I try very hard to bring joy into my own life as well as the lives of the people around me. 

Joy is so important, and so, today, I give you five minutes on joy.

START

I remember clearly the day I chose joy.

They were standing around me—well, two of them were standing; one was probably in a baby carrier or lying on the floor or, quite possibly, in my arms. All three, very young, and I stood in our little dining-room-turned-family-room-so-we’ll-have-more-room, simply surveying the scene.

I’m sure there were toys scattered about—building blocks that hurt when I stepped on them, beanie babies, dolls, and books. Lots and lots of books.

I’m sure there was laundry lying around, too. That never-ending job that has always been the bane of my motherhood. The piles that never seemed to get put away.

I’m sure the kitchen nearby was a complete disaster, too, since we didn’t have a dishwasher, and I usually didn’t get around to really cleaning up breakfast until lunch was well over, or maybe even until Daddy was just about to come in the door from work.

I’m sure if you had walked into my house that day, saw the chaos, heard the noise, you might wonder if I had lost it as I stood there grinning.

But, truthfully, I gained it that day—the day I looked around and said, “This is so good.”

STOP

Linking up with Lisa-Jo's Five Minute Friday today. Head on over there to read more reflections on Joy.

Five Minute Friday: Remember

Hello there! It has been ages since I took part in Lisa-Jo's "Five Minute Friday" party, but that's about all the time I had today. Five minutes. Besides, I've been wanting to play along again--for some reason I think some of my bests posts are written in five minutes.

Is that so wrong?

Anyway, thanks, Lisa-Jo, for hosting this fun party every week. And thanks for the prompt. It was fun!

Remember.

How could I forget? The first time I laid eyes on you, your age mystified me. As I traversed your fields, alleyways, byways, I had a sense of being there before. Of belonging. Of home.

And I wondered if you had remembered. Had you remembered the reason you were still standing? Had you remembered the ancient wars? Had you remembered the vision and the dedication of your great poets?

Did you remember?

It was He who gave you the land of my heart. He who clothed you with greens and purples and blues. He who ran His finger over your hills and called them good. He who blessed you with rain and wind and clouds so that beauty would be your name.

Remember the days of sunshine and warmth. Remember the carefree hours of new friendships and old words. Remember the blessing of love’s first blush, red and fragrant.

Remember the old and the new.

Look up. And remember.

***

Linking up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama today.

Five Minute Friday: Roar

It's Friday already? And Monday, the first day of a new semester *gulp!*, is coming.

So soon?

Anyway, it IS Friday, and I've been working a little this week, and my hubby and I are going out with friends tonight, and my time is short. Which is why I love Lisa-Jo's "Five Minute Friday" posts. 

Today her word was "Roar," and at first I didn't know what to do with that. We don't exactly have lions around here. But as I thought about it for a little while, I realized that we roar quite a bit around here.

See what I mean? Here's my attempt at 5-minute writing about "Roar."

START

“Remember the time when? . . .”

“Yeah, and remember when you did that? . . .”

“Oh boy, you really got in trouble the time you . . .”

We sat around the dinner table last night telling stories on one another. Reminiscing.

College girl was home, along with a friend of hers. A friend who was in need of some healing.

And so we sat, an hour and a half, laughing and telling stories and laughing some more.

Roaring, in fact, with the laughter that comes from shared experiences, stupid stories, children growing up. 

A joyful time.

We told a new story from just this Christmas that will surely go down in family lore. (Grandpa, we didn’t know you had it in you!) But still, we laughed and remembered and loved.

Roaring laughter is the best kind of laughter. It brings us together. It helps us remember. And it heals.

Oh boy, does it heal.

STOP

I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo's Five Minute Friday post. Head over there to read more!

Five Minute Friday: Tired

Well hello, Friday. I'm happy to see you again, my friend. Shhhh. Don't tell the others, but you're my favorite.

It has been a while since I've taken part in Lisa-Jo's "Five Minute Friday" party, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to write today.

A friend's Facebook post this week has made me think so often about the days when my girls were babies, sleeping so sweetly in their crib after a long, long day. I wrote about it earlier this week, and then today's prompt from Lisa-Jo made me think of it again.

I hate that I have so many regrets about the mom I was when my girls were younger, but there it is. I do. Have regrets. Don't we all?

I guess I'm just processing some of those this week.

GO

I have never been so tired as I was in those days. The days I remember well with a mixture of joy and shame.

Did my weariness lead me to be that crabby mom, that tired mom who justified her temper because of her exhaustion?

That tired mom who counted down the minutes, seconds, until bedtime and who took so little pity on her young ones in that moment.

That mom who, after a couple of hours of peace, would sneak into her daughter’s room, brush the hair from her face, and just stare at the wonder of God’s handiwork.

Was it exhaustion that finally compelled me to pick up my sleeping baby, bring her close, nuzzle her neck, and breathe deeply the scent of my offspring?

And was it bone-weariness that caused me to hold her, heart breaking, love swelling, until the tears fell?

One exhausted mom. Shame-filled, hope-filled, prayer-filled.

One sleeping baby. Resting, dreaming, forgiving.

STOP

Head on over to Lisa-Jo's for more Five Minute Friday posts.

Five Minute Friday: New

Source: lemontreecreations.blogspot.com via Shelly on Pinterest

Wow, I haven't played Five Minute Friday in a long time! I've kind of missed it.

And today, because my life has suddenly spun out of control, five minutes is about all I can give.

I love Lisa-Jo's word for this week--"New"--because it really seems to fit my life right now. So, without further waste of words, here I go.

START

New.

New job.

New office.

New clothes. (Of the teacher variety.)

New schedule.

New rhythm to my days.

New learning-how-to-do-this.

New students.

New technology.

New adjustments for my family.

New dinnertime routines. (One less person at our table.)

New friends.

New colleagues.

New lesson plans.

New thinking.

Everything feels new to me right now. I am a bit like a newborn foal, legs splaying in all directions, trying to figure out how to walk, even run, at this new pace. My head feels foggy, spinning, discombobulated from all I'm learning right now.

It's all new, but it's also all good. Because what hasn't changed is so much stronger, so much greater, so much bigger than what has.

STOP

So can you tell what's been on my mind this week? *sheepish grin*




If you want to read more "New" posts, head on over to The Gypsy Mama. She's got about a hundred links or more for your reading pleasure.

Now tell me . . . what's NEW in your life?

Five Minute Friday: Home

Oh boy. Today's FMF is going to be a challenge. How can you write on a topic like Home for only five minutes?

Let's give it a try and see what happens. Here goes.

START

"Home is where the heart is."

"There's no place like home."

"Welcome to my home."

All cliches about home. But what is home really?

Is it a place? Physical, snuggly, warm?

Is it a memory? All wrapped up in happy thoughts and a slightly abstract picture of reality?

Is it a longing? A feeling of not yet, but also not now?

I'm reading the book of Exodus right now, and I can see that Home is none of these things. Those poor Israelites, wandering, wandering, wandering toward home. Grumbling, complaining, questioning toward home. Wanting more. Looking back in abstract. Wishing for something else.

But the "something else" can not be attained here, now. The "not yet" hasn't arrived.

And so I grumble and complain my way through my days sometimes, with a feeling of uncertain longing for a Home I cannot see. Not yet. Not now.

Until Someone comes to guide me there.

STOP

Well now, that's certainly not how I thought this would go. And that's the fun of Five Minute Friday.

Thanks for joining me in my journey today. (And be sure to come back later because I have a new recipe to share with you. Woot!)

One more thing . . . head on over to Lisa-Jo's to read more Five Minute Friday posts. You'll find a lot of great takes on this topic!

I'd love to keep in touch. Why not sign up for email updates from me? Or you can follow me in a reader? It's easy! And it's right over there ------->

Five Minute Friday: Backwards

B called a little while ago and said, "I'm still waiting for a blog post."

Doesn't he know it's the first day of summer vacation? What with all the sleeping in and late breakfasting and dog walking, I've been BUSY.

But posting today is definitely something that's hanging over my head I want to do, so I'm starting out with Five Minute Friday. I love this Friday link-up at Lisa-Jo's place. If you haven't been over there, you should. So many interesting takes on one word, written in just five minutes.

Here's mine.

START

Thinking about what's "backward" is pretty much thinking about my life right now. Doors I thought would open have closed. Doors I thought were closed forever have suddenly opened. Maybe that's topsy-turvey, but to me it seems so backward.

And then there's my life that seems to be moving backward in a strange way. We have spent so many years filling up this house with kids, and now they are growing up, leaving, or getting ready to leave. Throughout the year last year there was one less plate to on the table when, for so many years, we had been adding plate after plate after plate. Now the plates are being removed, one by one, and it feels so very backward.

And then I think about my faith, which is also backward. Emptying in order to be filled. Losing in order to gain. Denying in order to claim. Becoming weak to be truly strong. In the world's eyes this is very much backward, but in the only Eyes that matter, this is very much in order.

If that's the case, maybe it's also in order that my table slowly empties. That my laundry load lightens. That my house, so loud at one point, is quieter today.

A backward life is not an easy life, but I'm trusting that God got it right.

STOP

Five Minute Friday: On Forgetting

Since I've been doing this "31 Days Closer to Your Kids" series, I have not been taking part in Lisa-Jo's Five Minute Friday. But I have missed it so much!

So today I decided to bless you bore you honor you (?) with two posts. This one's more for me than for you, so look away if you want. But I kinda like it.

START

Some days I wear my anniversary band on my left hand (it’s usually on my right) and my family will ask, “What are you trying to remember?” The switching is my little way of remembering a task: phone calls to make, registrations that need to be filled out, papers turned in.

It’s little. It’s unremarkable. But it’s my way of not forgetting.

Today I think it would take a handful of rings to not forget all that I want to remember.

The way you used to jump on my bed in the mornings, dark hair flying all around you and smiles filling the room.

The way you sang “What Can Wash Away My Sin?” at the top of your lungs with your dad as he shaved in the mornings.

The times you used to hide underneath my covers and I’d say, “Where’s Julia?” while I made you into the bed, hearing you giggle like crazy all the time.

Even more recent memories.

Like dropping you off at the camp bus.

High school graduation.

Concerts, plays, recitals.

A lifetime of memories that I’m so afraid I’m forgetting. Because forgetting is a fear of mine. Forgetting is worrisome. Forgetting is becoming more and more common as my brain is filled with not-so-little girl things.

Oh, give me more rings to switch around on my hand so that I won’t ever forget the happiness of today.

STOP

Go check out the other Five Minute Friday posts at The Gypsy Mama. You'll be glad you did!

Five Minute Friday

It's Friday! There's a lot on my plate today, so I'm grateful to Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama who makes it easy to put up a quick, yet thoughtful, blog post.

Today's Five Minute Friday topic is Distance. So let me check the little clock up in the corner of my computer screen and I'll be back in five minutes.

*Start*

When I think of distance all I can think of is my family. A close-knit family, growing up amidst the tall corn fields and black dirt of Illinois.

Yet today, we are all spread out. Nine hundred miles to the closest of my relatives. Twice that to my parents.

Does distance separate us? Yes.

And no.

We do not let distance come between us. Christmas has become a priority. Cousins still hang out happily, connecting instantly, and tell us they still want to have "cousins Christmas" every year . . . as they said, "Even when we have husbands." (!)

Other times we make being together a priority too: weddings, graduations, even orchestra concerts as my mom will attest to. She's coming next week just to see her granddaughter play in the orchestra--something she's never been able to do, being 1,800 miles away.

Distance can be spanned. We can be as close as we want. And for my family, even being a thousand miles apart, we are right next door.

*Stop*

I Am Loved

Today is Friday, and since I just got back from a trip and I have nothing prepared to give you just yet, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo's Five Minute Friday. And her topic today is perfectly appropriate for me: "I feel the most loved when . . . "

So here we go.

*start*

I just got back from a trip. Four exhausting, but fun days in New York City with my oldest and two of her friends.

Walking into my home last night I realized, I am loved.

When one girl hugged me longer and harder than she usually does.

I am loved.

When I noticed that all have pitched in to make the house ready for my arrival—dishes done, beds made, everything picked up.

I am loved.

When my husband smiles and says, “I’m so glad you could do this.”

I am loved.

When my puppy won’t leave my side for a minute.

I am loved.

When I hear, "Thank you so much for taking us, Mom."

I am loved.

When my youngest leaves for school this morning, hugs me hard, smiles deep into my eyes and says, “I’m so glad you’re home.”

I am loved.

Love is not the stuff around me or the trips I am able to take. Love is not the feeling of mushy-gushy warmth. Love is not experiences.

Love is home. Love is where I live.

*stop*



Thanks, Lisa-Jo, for a great prompt and for hosting Five Minute Friday! I'll be back later with a few thoughts from our trip.