Motivate ~ Five Minute Friday

It’s been a while since I took this challenge on. Things just kind of took over but I’m going to try to make it a part of my week once more. Five minutes of edit free writing, just letting the thoughts flow. So, here goes with the prompt word MOTIVATE.

START

Motivate. What is that? What does it mean? What does it imply?

Action and choices being made. Doing something. Doing something specific, not just anything.

A song around here that we have heard (A LOT) lately is Do Something by Matthew West. My girls love listening to his music and this particular song is pretty powerful. It talks about getting mad at God for the way things are in the world, shaking a fist at God and asking why he doesn’t do something about it. God’s answer? I did. I created you.

Umm – I better get moving. And how do I best do that?

Lists.

Not kidding at all. I am a list maker. Right now, I have several lists that I need to combine. I like physical lists. I like being able to cross something off of it physically. That is what motivates me. Knowing I have made progress.

Lists also allow me to be more intentional. By choosing to write it down, I am making a choice about the place the action will hold in my life. There are several reasons something will make a list – needs done (like housework and dishes), educationally related (homeschooling and helping the girls learn), Godly living (church activity, spiritual living, encouragement of others, personal growth). Those are my big three reasons for putting something on the list and not in that order, necessarily. I need to include a place for things I want to do, just for me. Honestly, though, that falls off the list more often than I care to admit.

So, using my lists, I find a way to motivate myself.

What is your way of finding motivation? I am curious.

STOP.

Blessings,
At Home.

Play – FMF

Today’s prompt for Five Minute Friday is PLAY.

GO –

Fun.
Laughter.
Shrieks of joy.
Hide and go seek.
Toys.
Swinging.
Running.
Leaping.
Dancing.
Friendship.
Togetherness.
A cup of tea.
Relaxing chats.
Sharing hopes.
Sharing fears.
Reminiscing.

As we grow, play changes. Play is innately constant, though. Play is always a way to enjoy, share, and grow. Through play, we learn. We experience. We sometimes hurt but more often have fun. But play is a necessary part of life. As necessary as food and water and sleep. For without play, there is no joy to the rest of life.

Play is not only for youngsters and it does not always involved dolls or trucks. Play is something that happens when we share life with another.

So grab a cup of tea and pull up a comfy chair. Let’s play.

At Home.

worth – Five Minute Friday

Today’s prompt: WORTH
Be sure to visit the link-up.
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When I see the word worth, I think of value. Each person, each thing, has inherent value. The question that follows is – to who? To who does that person, that thing, hold value?

And where does that value come from?

Beauty?
Strength?
Usefulness?
Power?

Are these things really “worth”, though?

My gut reaction? No. Worth that comes because of beauty or strength or usefulness or power is not really worth at all.

Worth comes from being valued for what you are. Worth comes from being treasured by one who loves you. Worth comes from a confidence that stems from being washed clean, from being saved.

My worth comes from my savior. Where does your worth come from? If it is not from a savior who can save you eternally, do you need to make a change? You are worth that change. Do it today.

Worth.

STOP.

 

At Home.

Expect – Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday is a 5 minute free write where you just follow the flow of your thoughts. Sometimes it is a ramble; sometimes it is not. It is always a fun writing time. Join in!

GO –

Expect.

That word is loaded with meaning, isn’t it? It is full of assumption, plans, wants, needs, desires. It is full of human emotion. It is full of hope and disappointment. It is full of plans and cancellations. It is loaded.

For us, as the weekend of dance recital has now arrived, expect is definitely loaded.

I expect:

• lots of excitement
• lots of glittery and shine
• lots of hope
• lots of fun
• lots of joy
• lots of movement
• lots of tired
• lots of driving
• lots of showtime

And I expect to enjoy it all. Even the mundane tasks like waiting backstage and driving to and from the recital hall. The girls expect lots of stuff from this weekend and I am certain that none of us will be disappointed.

That is one of the good things about having a lot of expectations. There are lots of ways to have them met and the missing out on one or two is not the crushing thing it is if you only have one thing you expect.

What a simple way that we can see God’s blessings providence. The excitement of something we expect. Isn’t God good?

At Home.

 

 

VISIT – Five Minute Friday

Five minutes – no editing – just free-write and enjoy. Hosted by Kate at Heading Home, though next week FMF moves to its’ own home!

GO –

Visit.
Home.
Family.
Relaxing.
Big porch, cool temps, beautiful mountains.

Scars from forest fires.
Visit home doesn’t change.
Just the view changes.

People are the reason for the visit.
Seeing mom and dad.
Chatting in person.
Getting advice and encouragement.

Visit.
Talk.
Friends.
Break from ordinary.

Friends and laughter and joy.
Plans and hopes.
Joy and kids and toys and play.

Visits.
Love.
People.
Places.
Home. Near or far.
People make the visit.

END.

Random words today, huh? Hope you head over and read what other wrote.

At Home.

 

SING – Five Minute Friday

Today’s FMF word is SING. Five minutes writing. No editing. Hosted by Kate at Heading Home.
GO –

Sing.
Sing a song.
Sing out loud.
Sing out strong.
Sing of good things, not bad.
Sing of happy, not sad.

Sing.
Sing a song.
Make it simple to last your whole life long.
Don’t worry that its not good enough for anyone else to hear.
Just sing.
Sing a song.

This song is what I would begin my kindergarten music classes with at the beginning of every year. (Did you know I used to teach K-5 music? Loved the music part – singing with the kids, playing singing games, playing instruments, musicals, choir. All the fun stuff! Making music all day long was awesome!) I wanted them to learn to just have fun and make music.

I was missing my music teaching days earlier when this song came through my Facebook feed.

Dr. Brumfield was one of my instructors at UNT where I attended to get my Master’s degree and my national Kodaly certification. She is an amazing teacher, composer, researcher, and more. This song is just one example among many of her talents and abilities. And it certainly made me miss my choir students.

END.

enough – Five Minute Friday (on Saturday)

It seems like these last few weeks have flown by! I keep finding myself a few days behind on things, though I haven’t missed any deadlines because of that. Whew!

So this lovely Saturday afternoon, I am writing a Five Minute Friday post. Because I like the freedom of these prompts. They are fun and interesting to me. Five minutes of free-associations and thoughts. No editing required, though I do correct spellings and such as I go. Just can’t help it!

GO –

Enough.

It’s full. Stop before you overflow it!

Or maybe

Enough. I have been through the mill today and am exhausted.

Or

Enough. You have completed what you needed to and you were successful at it so you don’t need to continue.

Enough can have so many implications. Like so many other things in our lives, it all depends on how you choose to use it.

Enough is not met – can you help? Can you fill?

So often, we don’t see those who need to be filled. We miss that they need help getting enough. Of whatever it is. But so often  it is just being seen and recognized and given a smile or a handshake or a hug. That often is enough to change someone’s day, to change the direction they were heading.

Enough – how can I be enough for someone else?

Bravery. Step out. Act instead of think. Do it now.

I need to be enough. For others and maybe, in that process, my enough will also be found.

At Home.

 

Linking up at Five Minute Friday hosted by Kate over on Heading Home.

Friend – FMF

You know the way it works – I’ll write for five minutes on the prompt of FRIEND and then I’ll like it up with Kate’s blog Heading Home.

GO –

Friend
Supporter
Strengthener
Helper
Hope
Cheerleader
Comforter
Conversations
Chats
Encourager
Prodder

These are just some thoughts that come to mind when I think of my closes friends. And you know, nowadays, friends aren’t always someone you have met in person. I married my best friend on this earth. He is my constant, my strength, my rock, my support, my encourager. I hope I am the same for him.

I have several good friends that I attend church with. They help me keep my chin up and my feet moving forward. They also homeschool, or have done so, and they know what I may be struggling with and working through. In addition to the homeschool world, these friends know what I need in my spiritual life and they pray for me and check on me if I miss church or Bible study.

I also have several friend scattered around the world that I have never met. But they bless my life in ways I cannot even express. One chats with me several times a week and encourages me through comments and checking in and, I know, prayer. Others have sent me scriptures, commented on forums I am part of, comment on my blog, or a million other ways in which I know they are supporting me.

God places lots of people in our lives and not a one of them take the place of any other. Each is so special. I very much appreciate this aspect of God’s love and care for me.

END

At Home.

 

How to let go? (Abandon) ~ FMF & Blogging Through The Alphabet

I am combining two tasks this week. The word for Five Minute Friday is ABANDON and the letter for Blogging Through The Alphabet is H.

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We were on Spring Break this week and took some time. We abandoned all that we had been doing because we were physical, mentally, and emotionally worn out. We had abandon things. We went to a different place, relaxed, visited with loved ones, did some fun things, and recovered.

But in order to do that, we had to let go – abandon – what we were already doing. That is hard sometimes. I often tell myself that we have to keep on schedule; we have to keep going. We cannot stop. We cannot abandon the job. I have been given the job of guiding my children as they grow. I cannot abandon that!!!

But I often take that – I cannot abandon my job of guiding my children – to mean that I cannot stop doing the things that we are already doing. And that? That is wrong.

I can abandon, and should, many things. When something is causing daily grief? Abandon it and replace it with something that is better. When something is causing ache? Abandon it and replace it with something that brings joy. When something is causing a rift between family or friends or, worse, God’s people? Abandon it! Quickly.

We often think of abandoning things as bad. But how do we view letting go? Not as big a deal but just as permanent. So retrain your brain here – abandon/let go of the things that prevent you from doing whatever it is you need to be doing, whether it be guiding your children, helping others, or just carrying on daily with a cheerful heart and mind.

How do we let go? With joy, knowing that we are going to be refilling that space with better things.

At Home.

Visit Heading Home for the Five Minute Friday link-up.

Join the ABC blogging group hosted by A Net In Time and Hopkins Homeschool and link up your ABC posts.

My ABC Posts:

A – Always Learning
B – Be A Pearl Seeker

C – Crave

D – Degas books

E – Electrical Circuits

F – For Someone Else

G – Giraffe Party

H – How to let go?
I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Slow – Five Minute Friday

Today’s word prompt is SLOW. Visit Heading Home to read more and link up your own Five Minute Friday post.

GO –

“slow to anger”

This is the phrase that came to mind when I read the word slow. God addresses “slow to anger” in several places in the Bible. When you do a search for that phrase on BibleGateway, you get several. These include:

Nahum 1:3
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.
The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.

Nehemiah 9:17
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.

Psalm 103:8
The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

Psalm 145:8
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.

Proverbs 15:18
A wrathful man stirs up strife, But he who is slow to anger allays contention.

Proverbs 16:32
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Proverbs 19:11
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

I found this phrase one that sticks in my head and I wondered who it would refer to. There are two cases that I found.

One is God. God is slow to anger BUT he does anger when His children turn from him, disobey him. Thankfully, He is slow to anger because I am certain that my sins could anger Him if He were not the God that He is.

Second is me. Yes, me. I should be slow to anger. Look at all those Proverbs that talk about the man who is slow to anger. He is definitely getting the better end of the stick if he chooses to be slow to anger.

So, that is my goal. Again. I say again because I do often have to fight my temper and my anger. One of my biggest weapons? God’s word. Study. Read. Know. Apply. Repeat. Over and Over.

End. (I am sure I went over time because I didn’t watch the clock. I just kept on writing and thinking.)

At Home.