Hidden-Five Minute Friday posted on Sunday

The past couple of days have been very busy and so here I am on Sunday morning posting. I was annoyed Friday morning that I didn't have enough time to post before heading out to my CSA to help with some harvesting, but once I got there and was faced with the morning's task I thought, "This is perfect!"  Then on Saturday morning, during my meditation and reading I came across the perfect verse, so here I am today on Sunday to post them. I hope you enjoy the read and are challenged in some new way. I know I have been.

They were nowhere to be found. 

Look! Can you see them?

Look again! 
Once on our knees we started to see the tops of a few of them. 




Most were hidden in the dirt and under some monster size weeds. I hate those darn weeds! They block our view. They can take over and they steal life from the real treasure we're trying to grow. However, while weeding in the potato beds a few weeks ago I discovered when you pull out those monster weeds that are so close to our delicious veggies, sometimes the veggies came up also. Here our carrots were ready and so it was okay, but in potato land they weren't.

2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (NIV)

STOP!

To see what other hidden treasures people have found, check out www.katemotaung.com

Help! Five Minute Friday

Let me preface this by saying I had an oops this morning. I thought I set the timer for five minutes and after I was engrossed in writing, I started to wonder why the bell wasn't chiming on my phone, so I stopped to check it and discovered I had accidentally set it for eight hours and five minutes and I was at seven hours and fifty one minutes left. Eek! So I wrote more than five, but cannot tell you where I had reached the five minute mark in my writing. I hope someone enjoys the read.

"Many hands make light work." my grandmother would always say.

Another proverbial saying used is "An idle mind and idle hands are the devil's playground."

Helping hands make a difference! Helping hands help. They don't hurt.

Visualize for a moment. Earliest memories of each of us as babies reaching for mom or dad's finger to grasp and hold onto. Later, grasping to steady ourselves as we walk. Then, picking flowers or toys to play with. As we get older our hands are reaching, holding typing, patting, washing driving, etc., etc.

How many times are we helping? Hopefully more than we can count. There is such power when we do. Tuesday I helped four or five others harvest over twenty baskets of wonderful, fresh smelling onions. We pulled, clipped tops off, tossed in the baskets and finally unloaded them from the truck to the washing station. What a job! What a glorious feat, to know these will help feed over five hundred people in our CSA (Community Shared Agriculture). I cannot imagine doing this without others' helping hands. It's empowering to know that a task such as this can make a difference in our community. It also gives me hope for the planet to see and know others value coming together to gather and feed.

We love our farm, fresh produce! We love our CSA and our community! Such power in many hands uniting together to sow, hill, cultivate, fertilize, harvest and store. Mom moms was right. What a difference when everyone helps!



STOP   Check out what others are saying and how they help at www.katemotaung.com

To learn more about our CSA check out www.farmproject.org

The Pelican- written July 12, 2016

He sat perched on a rock

Basking in the hot Aruban sun

Withdrawn from the others

His long grayish, brown bill

Nestled upon his dark plumage

Every now and then he would blink

The others glided across the sea

Before plunging bill first, straight down

Scooping up their fill again and again

They plunged while this one remained perched

I wondered why he rested so far from the others

I questioned if he was older or an outcast from the flock

He stared at me motionless and I thought

So this is stillness on one happy island

Basking in the hot Aruban sun

Observing, not reacting to curious bystanders

Perhaps readying himself for a later hunt

What Lies Within Our View

While on vacation I read Pico Iyer's "The Art of Stillness". It inspired and moved me deeply. After the second chapter, I found my own thoughts flowing through ink onto a page. This is what I came up with.

July 10, 2016

Little snapshots every day, page by page make chapters of a life

Monotony is there; laundry, work, cleaning always needing to be done

Sun rises, makes its debut in the rear of the house

Birds chirp and tweet outside

Summertime by seven or later, sun rests in front of the house

Yet clouds are different, temperature changes and

God's words remain the same on each page

As the Morning Star, He is constant and blue skies always return

Sometimes sadness seeps deeper

Tender areas we expose with those we're most comfortable

Grief then hardens like calluses on bottoms of our feet

Yet tokens from those who love us give relief, comfort, and protection

We are strengthened and encouraged by joy in great love and sacrifice

And so the monotony can fade like bright colors to dull backgrounds

As we are drawn into sweet vibrancy of fellowship

We are sustained by our King's constancy and others' love

The earth and we age older, subtlety of mood changes

Everything evolves and then we step back to view

We understand, we are grateful and amazed

How great Thou art

Leaving this legacy, this beauty behind

Yes, sit still, make notes, turn the i-phone off

Get lost in stillness and movement all at the same time

May His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven

May God's kingdom live on in me

Amen

Create- My Five Minute Friday on Sunday

This morning my pastor asked us for words that we would use to describe God. I automatically think of Him as creative and resourceful. He doesn't waste anything. 

When I set the timer for five, I felt led to write about God as He created breathtaking beauty and diversity. Whenever, I travel to beautiful places I am overwhelmed by what He spoke into existence and has lavished us with. 

Here are just a few word pictures for you to enjoy.

What power, grace

What skill, patience

Control

The majesty of such a King

To speak and have sparkling,

 turquoise waters flow

Life of every form and color

Decorating the landscape

Intertwined and thriving

What have we to compare?

What can we, the created speak

and have happen?

Could we create such radiance and swirls?

Such drama as lightning and thunder?

Dancing in skies of darkness?

The hooves of mighty horses

galloping on a beach, laughing at the wind?

What can we compare?

STOP

To see what others have created, check out www.katemotaung.com

Build- My Five Minute Friday

Building blocks, building towers

I watch children build

It takes them tinkering and experimenting

again and again to realize what does

and does not work

Bigger blocks need to be

 on the bottom

Smaller on top

If the foundation is weak or destroyed

forget it

Bridges and towers come tumbling down

Jesus prepared a foundation for us

May we build upon His name, His truth

And with His wisdom and strength

And let all other pieces fall where they will

The solid rock, all else shifting sand

Stand! Stand on the solid rock and

watch where He will take you

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV 

STOP

To see what others are building check out www.katemotaung.com

Protect-Five Minute Friday

Be mindful, be intentional

Put your helmet on before you ride

Lock your doors, close your windows

Keep valuables hidden or in a safe place

Take care, care enough to know, to learn

And then apply what you've learned

I carried two boards wrapped in plastic upstairs. I uncovered them and picked up each bowl one at a time. I formed them two or three weeks ago. They were dry, so dry. My teacher said, "They're too far gone. They can't be trimmed  now. Were they wrapped?" They were wrapped, but not securely enough. 

My heart sank.

Proverbs 4:23-27New American Standard Bible (NASB)-"Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead, And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil."

STOP

To see what others are writing check out www.katemotaung.com