Alone but Not Lonely

I'm linking up today at The Gypsy Mama for 5-minute Friday. It's been a while since I did this, and I like having the writing prompt--saves me having to decide what to write on! And it's lovely to visit the others in the link-up and see how they interpret the prompt.

Hop over and visit others' blogs, and maybe write a five-minute post of your own?

What to do:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. 2. Link back and invite others to join in. 3. Go and comment on the post of the person who linked up before you. This is the one rule of this community.





Today's prompt: lonely.

I could be lonely right now.
I'm home alone, in a house that's quiet except for the ticking clock and the sound of cars going by outside.
But I'm not really "lonely". I think of lonely as a negative thing--alone, and not wanting to be. Sometimes we want to be alone. Even I like being alone sometimes, and I'm an extravert.

But I'm not lonely.
Sometimes I kind of feel lonely, even when I'm not by myself--missing my mom and dad and siblings (I still haven't fully gotten used to living eleven hours away from them). Missing my friends--all my closest friends live far away from me now, and I hardly ever see them.

Missing family and friends or not, I always have the comfort of my husband. With him, I'm never lonely. He's the best of both worlds: my closest family, and my dearest friend.

And more than that, I have Jesus. I know, there's no physical presence there--I can't reach out and touch him. But I know that the Holy Spirit lives in my heart, and I know that God is everywhere, all the time, so I'm never, ever truly lonely.

But there are so many people who don't know the amazing presence of a God who loves them, who desires to be always near them. I think it's those people who are truly lonely. And what's sad is, they don't even know what they're missing. That "God-shaped vacuum" C.S. Lewis talked about--they have it, and don't necessarily even know it.

I'm thankful that, although I may be alone, I'm not ever truly lonely.

Rest (Five Minute Friday)

I love these writing prompts, thanks to Lisa-Jo.  It's like what we did in my writing classes starting freshman year of college--receive a word or phrase or idea, and just write on it for a few minutes.

Today, I'm writing for five minutes on this word:

REST.

Image Credit:  Dr Joseph Valks on freedigitalphotos.net

Resting is somewhat of a paradox for me.  I feel like I'm rather a lazy person-- I tend to waste time doing unproductive things like Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook or browsing Pinterest.  But I have a hard time really resting-- doing nothing at all, or doing something calming and productive, like reading a good book.  (I'm trying to get back into that habit, and have picked up Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts again, with great blessings resulting.)

My husband kind of needs to help me rest.  He makes me stop doing the dishes, stop cleaning house, and sit down with him and talk.  Or watch a movie.  Or just take a nap.

The best rest is when we're snuggled in bed together, with an extra blanket over me (I'm always cold at night), holding each other tight.  I feel like the world is perfect at those times.  And I'm completely calm and relaxed.  Something about my husband calms me like nothing else ever has.

But the real rest I crave is that from Jesus.  Jesus, who said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

That's the kind of rest I want--the rest that comes from turning my worries and troubles and stresses over to Jesus.  And taking on my shoulders the peace that comes from knowing he is my Savior, that he loves me unconditionally, that I have nothing to do for my salvation because Jesus has taken care of it all.

And it's so restful to know that even when I don't use my time well, even if I have a hard time resting physically, Jesus is so willing and glad to take from me the burdens that cause me unrest--and give me a spiritual rest, which is more refreshing than any other.


Linking up here, with Lisa-Jo Baker.

Woodworking and Marriage

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::

Join…

When I was little, I used to watch my dad work with wood in the garage.  He's entirely self-taught, and over the last twenty-five years or more his skill has increased to the point that now he's made a bunk bed and a cedar chest, several steps up from the bookshelves he started out making.

Often when he wants to make a very sturdy, very high-quality piece of furniture that will stay together for a long time, he joins the pieces of wood together using what are called dove-tailed joints, instead of nails, screws or glue.  The ends of the pieces of wood are cut in a pattern that looks a bit like the sides of a zipper, so that they fit together snugly and don't move.  Each piece of wood supports the ones on either side of it, like fingers woven together.

I see my marriage relationship like those pieces of wood with the dove-tail joints.  My husband and I are two separate entities, but we complement each other, we fit together perfectly, and we support each other and make the other person stronger.  When we were married, God joined us together, two people becoming one in his eyes.

"Two are better than one," it says in Ecclesiastes.  "What God has joined together, let no man separate, for they are not two, but one," Jesus said in Matthew.

My husband and I, joined at the heart, soul, mind and body, have a joining, a union, that will last our whole lives: a work of art, designed not by humans but by God, that will hopefully be a testament to him and his majesty for many, many years.

Linking up today: Lisa-Jo Baker, finding joy, Consider the Lilies, Your Thriving Family

Stretching My Spirit

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give me your best five minutes on:::

Stretch…

Most mornings when I wake up, I stretch--my arms above my head, my back, my legs.  It's a way of readying my body for a new day, transitioning from sleeping to wakefulness.  It tells my body what my brain already knows: It's time to get up, start moving, start the things that need to be done today.

What if I stretched my spirit, too?

I confess, my spiritual habits have been lacking lately.  I do devotions with my husband every single morning--I read the Scripture passages, sometimes nearly a whole chapter, he reads the devotion, and we pray together.  But I haven't been reading my Bible on my own much recently.  And my first thoughts in the morning aren't always prayer.

This morning my husband and I both woke up feeling way better than we had when we went to sleep.  So my first thought was this morning, "Thank you, Jesus, for helping us feel better!"  I was singing the Doxology in my head when I went to make breakfast.

But it's not always that way.  I wish it were.

Exercise of the body takes discipline.

So does exercise of the mind--or of the spirit.

It will take discipline for me to remember to stretch myself spiritually each morning, and throughout each day.

But I know that's something God wants me to do.  So when I pray and ask for his strength, his courage, and his help to do so--I know he'll answer that prayer.  God wants me to be closer to him, and I know he'll help me as I seek to approach him more and in a deeper way.

Stretching my body feels so good every morning.  I know stretching my spirit will be even better.

Linking up today with:

Lisa-Jo Baker (of course, with FMF); Your Thriving Family; Consider the Lilies; finding joy; Susan Godfrey

A Connecting of Two Hearts

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give me your best five minutes on:::

Connect…

Last weekend I had the opportunity to re-connect with family I hadn't seen in a while, and connect them with my husband who hadn't met nearly 2/3 of the group.

This weekend, I want to connect with my husband.

Oh, yeah, we live together.  We see each other every day.  Eat meals together.  Sleep together.  Talk, pray, laugh, watch movies together.

But sometimes (is it just me?) I feel like we're missing something.  Not really seeing each other, not really listening to each other.  We look and we hear, but the sights and sounds don't make it from our heads to our hearts.

I wrote once about wanting to know my husband better.  That's not so much to do with head-knowledge as it is to do with heart-knowledge.  This weekend I want us to connect at the heart.  To really dig deep into what the other one is thinking and feeling.

Don't get me wrong...my husband knows me so well.  And I know him, more intimately than I thought I could know anyone.  It's amazing to me, sometimes, how he reveals his knowledge of me through a word, an act, or a touch.  It's like he can see into my soul...or at least read my mind.

Every day, and this weekend especially, I want us to connect on that level.  God made us one...one flesh, one mind, one spirit...and I hope we can remind each other of that.  And renew the connectedness that makes our relationship so sweet and unique.

Linking up today:

Finding Joy; Your Thriving Family; Lisa-Jo Baker; Susan Godfrey; Consider the Lilies

God's Love: Beyond Imagination

 From Lisa-Jo Baker:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..


So that's what Five-Minute Friday is. :)
Today's prompt: Beyond.


My heart stretches beyond my body, beyond my house, beyond the city and state I live in.
Because I know God's love stretches beyond anything that seeks to restrict it.


I want my love to go as far as his does.
Well, I'm not God, so that probably won't work.  But that's okay.  I might not be able to encompass the entire world with my love, like God does, but that doesn't mean I have to keep it all inside, either.


I can pray.  Prayer is something that goes beyond distance, culture, race, tradition.  It goes beyond the confines of land, crosses oceans, climbs mountains.


And it does that because God's Holy Spirit goes beyond all those things, too.  By the power of the Holy Spirit living in me, I can pray for those whom I will never meet.  My love can go great distances through my prayers... because then, my love will be God's love going out to those for whom I pray.  When he hears my prayers--and he will, he always does--he will send his Spirit to be with those people.  Most of whom I don't even know, and probably never will.


And then my love will be instead God's love.  Which is the best kind of all.


And instead of my imperfect, sinful, often selfish and misguided human love,
it will be God's all-perfect love
going beyond imagination
beyond human boundaries
beyond what I in my prayers can even ask for.




Linking up today...
Your Thriving Family; Consider the Lilies; finding joy