Thirteen-Five Minute Friday

Greetings everyone! This is the first time we have had a number for our one word prompt. It stirred a lot of different emotions in me. Wondering what other's experience is with this. Here's mine.

Thirteen

It's the day I was born on. To celebrate one of my BIG birthdays several years ago, there were thirteen of us. 

It's a birthday I will always remember as it was the last one my dad was able to celebrate with me. He died the following month. It was also the day when some family members whom had not spoken in years put their differences aside to come and celebrate with me. It got them talking again until the next rift tore everything apart.

 It was the party my best friend missed because she was hospitalized due to complications during her almost sixth month of pregnancy. 

It was very bittersweet.

STOP

Ecclesiastes 9:7 " Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works" (NASB)

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Way-Five Minute Friday

Hope you have all enjoyed your weekend. To find a verse for this week's prompt, I typed in the word and scanned until something caught my eye. It's probably not the first verse any of us think of when it comes to the word "way", but one I'm sure we can all relate to at some point in our walk with God. Hope you are encouraged.

Way.....

Exodus 14:11- Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt ?"

My friend, Dee was leading by at least 4,000 points. I hadn't even rolled the 500 I needed to get on the board. Roll after roll, I'd get a one or a couple of fives, but then kept losing it all. She commented to me, "It's no fun if I'm here playing by myself." I just couldn't get on the board until I rolled at least 1,000 points with three pairs. I had a long way to go to catch up to her, but staying in and finishing the course meant me winning in the end by 4,000 points. 

Each time you roll the dice, you don't know what you'll get. I not only rolled a set of three pairs at least one or two more times, but also a set of triplets, yielding 2,500 points. Farkle and life are funny that way.

STOP

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Done- Five Minute Friday

I'm early today. I couldn't help but chuckle when I read the prompt for this week with all the wrestling I did over a BIG decision to be made.  I hope you can find some encouragement and relief even after something is a done deal.

Done.......

"You just gotta pull the trigger and let the chips fall where they may," my friend Matt said to me.

Easier said then done because there's no "undo" button for some of the choices we make. I hate making BIG decisions because I don't want to make the wrong one and have to live with the consequences.

Yet I think back to my younger days when I was applying for college. I was a candidate for a special HEOP grant program which meant more financial aid for college, BUT I would've needed to give up my summer after high school to attend an intensive prep program before beginning classes in the fall. I didn't want to do that and so I passed on the opportunity.

STOP

Sometimes I hate that timer! I wanted to finish the story, so here's what happened. 

After having second thoughts, I changed my mind and went for another interview with the program directors. It was too late. The door was now closed. They did not accept me into the program. I got to have my final summer before college to do what I wanted to do, but I also paid more money in the long run and had a harder time transitioning to college life in the fall. 

What encourages me though, is that God's plan for my life was still fulfilled. I was able to graduate from college and become a teacher. I chose a harder route, albeit I still arrived at my final destination.

With a BIG decision I needed to make this week, my Pastor said to me, "Whatever you decide, the kingdom of God is not going to fall because of it."

I would so prefer that God opens or closes a door to make decisions clear as crystal, but He does not always do that. Sometimes it is up to us and we just have to let the chips fall where they may because none know what the future holds. Once it's done, it's done.

Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose." (NIV)

To see what others have done with this week's prompt check out www.fiveminutefriday.com

Vacation-Five Minute Friday

Ah! The word we all long for. The trip of a lifetime we yearn to take. Sometimes it means using our imagination. Each and every day, we can take a little vacation and leave our worries behind.

Vacation......

I can have it. I can find it. I can create that space and place in my mind. Recalling the view through the white netting of a hammock, tied between two palm trees on a white sandy beach with clear, turquoise waters just beyond.

Adventures in going nowhere, I can take in my mind. Five to ten minutes visualizing in Aruba on one happy island. I leave my worries for the moment behind. Perhaps when I return to reality I can at least feel more relaxed. I might see something different. I might not.

STOP

Matthew 6:28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (NIV)

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If... Five Minute Friday

I had time to handwrite my response to this week's prompt this morning, but am just posting now.

If...........

Even if we do all the right things, life still happens

Even if, can bring hope or gloom and doom

I can have plan A, B, and C, and something totally unexpected could come in 

from left field

Even if I could see five to ten years down the road, would I really want to?

Even if I knew the exact time, manner, and day of my appointment with 

death, what would or could I change?

Even if I live another hundred years, how will those years be lived?

If this was the last day of my life, am I doing what I love and love what I am 

doing?

STOP

Today we helped celebrate my nephew's high school graduation. The food was great and it is always nice to visit with family, but one of the highlights was painting with my niece, downstairs in her artsy space. Thanks so much for sharing your time and space with me, Rebecca! Love doing that kind of stuff. It was fun!

To see what others did with the "If' prompt, check out www.fiveminutefriday.com