FMF: Mighty

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! Today's post is on...yup...you've guessed it...."MIGHTY". (you guys are so smart!)

Throwback to 4 years ago (almost 5 years now..yipes!)

Okay so when I first hear the word "mighty" the immediate image that comes to my head is "Mighty Mouse".  Does anyone remember him?  You know, the little mouse that had great strength.  I'm afraid some of you may be aging me at this point...but just to validate my young age (hee hee) we used to watch it in color on a vhs that my parents stumbled upon and found it worthwhile enough to share with my generation.
 ANYWAYS, getting way off track here....so thinking about Mighty Mouse and his size brings another thought to my mind, one which my mom always told me when I was young, and that is this, that "you are small but mighty".  At the time it was more a reference to my tiny size due to being a figure skater, and my ability to be successful in athletics despite my small frame.  However many years later that phrase has new life as I face chapters of my life called "being a wife" and "being a mom".

I can't recall how many times in a day or a week I am plagued by the thought, "you're just a mom", or dread being asked the question, "so what do you do?", only to have to answer, "I'm a stay-at home mom" as images of a Leave-It-To-Beaver type mom fills my head and I cringe at the stereotype that I never wanted to be, and in reality aren't. (phew!)

So many times I undermine my strengths, gifts, and the roles that I've been called to serve in...especially that of motherhood.  But I'm so grateful for friends and community that remind me that being a mom is nothing small, and nothing to be looked down upon.  Being a mom encompasses more roles than I ever could have imagined; it is challenging, rewarding, fulfilling, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, and most of all it changes you.  It changes you from ordinary to mighty...and not because it swells your head with all of your accomplishments, but because I can see that in my weakest moments Christ is right there with me, giving me the words to speak, the love to share, the patience and endurance to not give up, and the vulnerability to keep my heart wide open to these little ones who sometimes fling so much emotion and hurt my way.  He is there with His strength, and He makes me mighty.

STOP (Yep....I went 15 minutes this time....sorry...what can I say...it's late...I'm a night person...I like to talk..I tend to babble and......wait a minute....there I go...DONE!) :)

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Join in the Five Minute Friday Party with Lisa-Jo Baker (who just came out with a wonderfully new book called "Surprised by Motherhood" that will be released on April 1st. Go to Amazon now to pre-order your copy!)
How? Just write for 5 minutes on the given topic and link it up here.

The only rule is that you must visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them in their comments.  (Yay! Building community!) :)

FMF: Joy!

Sadly I missed out on the Five Minute Friday Party last week because (not-so-sadly) I was away for a family overnighter, but great news, I'm back for this one!  So here goes, five minutes of unedited writing on the topic of Joy.

Ready...GO!

This topic couldn't be more fitting for this week because lately everywhere I turn I have been hearing the words "joy", "celebrate", and "free".  I've been thinking a lot about these things lately and about how we were created to be joyful, and to celebrate this gift of life that we have been blessed with.

So many times we can confuse joy with happy, when really the two words are as different as night and day.  Happiness is more of a feeling that is driven by our outward circumstances and situations, whereas joy is an inward state of the heart.  It is a strength that sustains throughout difficult seasons and spills out carrying us over to the other side.

So how does joy equal strength, and what does it have to do with celebrating and being free if it isn't happiness?  Well for me joy brings strength because it causes me to change my focus from the present circumstances, and to look toward God and His faithful promises.  These promises bring hope because they shift my perspective into an eternal one instead of a here-and-now one.  When I look at eternity, and more specifically eternity in Heaven with my Savior, I become free from the effect of the cares of today, which are fleeting and momentary (as the Bible says) and am strengthened to carry on in celebration of what lies ahead.

STOP! (Okay...so I went 5 min over again...so-o-o-o-ry! Still a newbie here) ;)

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Join in the Five Minute Friday Party with Lisa-Jo Baker.
How? Just write for 5 minutes on the given topic and link it up here.

The only rule is that you must visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them in their comments.  (Yay! Building community!) :)

FMF: Willing

Well here we are again, I'm back for my second edition of Five Minute Friday where we write for five minutes of unedited time and then link back later to encourage our sisters who are writing with us.

(Incase you couldn't tell by the title) Today's topic is: WILLING

Ready.....Go!

"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".  We find Jesus telling His disciples this in the Garden before He is led away to be placed on trial and later crucified.  His soul is in anguish, doing the real work of denying His will, and His desires, and pleading for another way if it is in His Father's will.  His disciples are tired and lack the understanding of what is about to take place, and in exhaustion struggle to stay awake and pray with Jesus.  Jesus encourages them to pray that they would not be led into temptation because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

How many times do I find myself in this exact same place, needing to hear these words from Jesus in my weary soul?  Too often I have a willing spirit to do those things that I am called to do, or to respond in the way that Jesus would, but I find that my flesh is just as weak as anyone else's.  My spirit wants to do great things, and being one of those people that are "blessed" with a strong will (it wasn't a blessing for the longest time believe me...but it is now), I find that I can start out with a bang and push myself quite a ways, but sooner or later my flesh kicks in and the negative thoughts start rolling out, the exhaustion setting in, and eventually weariness and laziness begin to take over.  At these times, more than ever, do I need to hear these words from Jesus, to pray that I wouldn't be led into temptation because my spirit is willing, but this flesh of mine is oh-so-weak.

So right now I just want to pray for myself and you that we will have fresh strength from our Father to run with endurance in what He's called us to do.  I ask Him for new thought patterns to replace the old well-trodden negative thought patterns, and His ability to step in where our ability is limited.  Thank you Father that where our flesh is weak, and our spirit willing, we can run to you for Your strength which is greater than our flesh, and even more amazing; thank you that you still willingly choose us despite all of our weakness.

STOP. (I can't lie...I went over on this one...so sorry FMF friends!) ;)

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Join in the Five Minute Friday Party with Lisa-Jo Baker.
How? Just write for 5 minutes on the given topic and link it up here.

The only rule is that you must visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them in their comments.  (Yay! Building community!) :)

Five Minute Friday: Choose

So here I am sitting at my computer for five minutes straight finally choosing to participate in a little thing over at a wonderful Blog spot called Five Minute Fridays, where we write for five unedited, unrehearsed, unbridled minutes of time.  I've read these posts now for two years, and have always been challenged to participate, but never have until now.

So today I will make a choice to overcome my fears of failure and my annoying perfectionist bent that can get in the way and stop me from doing so many things in life, and today I will choose to be brave and wear my heart on my sleeve.

My children seem to be able to do this so easily, that is choose to live life free of fear.  They can say or do almost anything without the slightest concern of what people will say or think.  It's funny how as we get older though we seem to forget that we must choose daily to live in this freedom.  It can so easily just become a part of us until we feel that we can't help it...that's just the way we are.  But today, I am reminding myself that I do have a choice every day and every moment.  I can choose to conquer fear with faith, I can choose to walk in God's strength and not my own, I can choose love over hate, forgiveness over bitterness, and giving over receiving.

Today let's join together and in every decision be reminded that we have the power to choose.

Crystal

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Join in the Five Minute Friday Party with Lisa-Jo Baker.
How? Just write for 5 minutes on the given topic and link it up here.

The only rule is that you must visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them in their comments.  (Yay! Building community!) :)