In Between (Five Minute Friday)

Credit

 I’m in between the end and the beginning. A necessary ending and a new beginning. I’m excited and scared. I looking toward the hopefulness of pursuing dreams and seeing them realized. Sure, I’m scared. But I’m also excited and feeling alive for the first time in a long time.

And isn’t most of life lived in the in between? In the “already, not yet?” That has been my experience. Great loss in the midst of extreme joy. Hatred of sin and incredible love for people.

We’re always waiting for something. I’ve found that pattern in  my own life. Always thinking that the next big thing will make it better. Solve our problems. Fill our void. We’re always in the middle of a hard time, just coming out of one, or waiting for one to happen.

And what I’ve recently discovered (yes, it’s taken me so long) is that if we don’t really LIVE in the midst of the in between then we’ve missed most of life. So much of life is neither happy or sad. But grey. So much of life is the in between.

God, please teach me to embrace all life’s seasons of in between.

 

Want to join out community of writers and be encouraged? Visit here.

Bloom Book Club: Bread and Wine

Credit

I just recently finished Shauna Niequist's Bread and Wine. I relaxed with the book all through my staycation, relishing the beauty of her words and their glorious truth. But it took me two weeks to finish the last chapter and a half because I did not want the book to end. Seriously, I loved it so much that I vowed to read it again soon.

Much to my surprise Bread and Wine was chose for the Bloom Book Club's summer session. I highly encourage you to join in reading this wonderful book. Right now DaySpring is offeing a book club special so be sure to by your book here if you choose to join Bloom this summer.

Be sure to let me know in the comments below if you'll be reading Bread and Wine with us. Here's to your own love stories of life lived around the table.

Listen (#FiveMinuteFriday)

Credit

Why? Running, running. Too much to do, not enough time. Why stop? Why breathe? Moving forward, moving, moving. Not stopping. Not still. Never listening.

Break. Fall. Desperate need. Broken. Drowning. Lost. Confused. Need to, must, stop. Never breathing, never resting, never listening got me here…

That story again and again. All of us have been there. The world shouts, “don’t stop. Don’t breathe. Don’t rest. You might be left behind. “

But our need, our desperate human need is to stop. Be still, listen. This need placed in us by God himself. So that one way or another we would stop and listen. Either willingly of by force.

And we would find all this running and achieving doesn’t satisfy. But instead leaves us desperate and empty. In need of stillness. Quiet. Listening to the father’s still small voice. And when we stop to listen to Him we are finally…

At peace. 

Follow the link above to join us for 5 Minute Friday.