My mom used to dance in the mornings.
A happy, shameless jig in her PJs right there out in the driveway as my dad drove us off to school. She’d dance and wave and grin and I could feel the love well up from my toes to my nose. It spilled out of me – this being someone’s daughter. Loved. Cherished. Celebrated.
She’s been dead now 18 years to the day since I turned 18.
I am a motherless daughter.
And I’m sharing about it over at (in)courage today.
Join me for more than five minutes? Just click here.
Then come back over, flex your fingers, and let’s play Five Minute Friday.
Where we throw caution (editing, revising, and worrying) to the winds and just write. Without wondering if it’s just right or not.
For five minutes flat. The rules are easy.
- Write your heart out for five minutes and show us what you’ve got.
- Tell your readers you’re linking up here and invite them to play along.
- And most importantly, go visit, read, and encourage the fellow five-minuter who linked up right before you.
{Pretty please turn off word verification for the day to make this easier!}
Oh and there’s always a little fun something-something in it for one five minute artist. Last week I got to give away this All Things Are Possible Water Bottle to random winner Abby@Fan the Flame.
This week DaySpring’s Love Letters from God Flower Pot is up for grabs.
OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes for the prompt:
Motherhood Should Come With…
GO:
Motherhood should come with a cape, a tutor, a counselor, a massage therapist, a lifetime’s supply of chocolate, Kleenex, and therapy. Or girlfriends who’ve already been there, done that. It should come with a choir that bursts into gospel praise and chorus as the sound track to the every day moments that so few get to witness – first breaths, steps, loves, and words.
It should come with a manual. A thick one and also a Cliff’s Notes version.
It should come with a sense of humor.
Motherhood should come with a twinkle in the eye and a warning. A warning that you will never be the same; that before it’s over your heart will have cracked into a thousand tiny splinters of love so profound your body can barely contain what your soul is experiencing. That you will hurt in ways no one could prepare you for and ache with a vulnerability no one can protect you from.
And that as hard as it is, you would sign up to do it all over again without a second’s hesitation.
STOP
OK, your turn.
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Mandy Scarr
Oh my gosh!!!. this is sensational…LOVE it.
that photo makes me melt. and makes me really want to hold your baby girl
Happy Mother’s Day, friend. You’re amazing.
Thanks Sara! (holding her as I type this and agree it’s highly recommended
)
PRECIOUS pictures! And yes, I’d sign up all over for it again too . . . heartbreaks and all for this unending love – our only treasures we can store up for heaven.
Oh, that picture of her lying on you. Oh, that just makes me want to go curl up with my son. I held him like that so many times. And loved it.
Thanks for hosting us again, Lisa-Jo.
Nice lead in for today’s fmf challenge. After spending all day with three young children, it’s nice to have my blog which allows me to exercise my brain a bit differently.
Happy Mother’s Day to you, Lisa-Jo.
I left you a comment on the incourage link.
I reread it and it made no sense.
Your link got me….about your mama.
Your Selah.
A grandma gone…a mama absent…
A continual loss of memories-to-be-made-together….
My husband just came in to check on my too-loud-tears.
Our Selah.
“To Pause and Value”
“To Stop and Listen”
I’m not sure I’ll make it to 5-minute-Friday after reading that…
But such a beautiful post…thank you.
Thank you Kara. Yes it’s been a strange and painful journey. But oh I can’t even begin to tell you how much the Father God has loved and comforted me on the journey. And then given me the gift of the most amazing mother in law!
That picture just about un-did me. So precious, her lying there on her mama with her ruffly bottom.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Yes, that teeny bottom and those ruffles are totally swoon worthy, I agree
And worth my friend Natalie climbing the couch to get shot of!
My first time to try.
I love that photo. My husband used to lie like that with my oldest all the time. (She’s 26 now.) And the chocolate. Yes, yes. Forever chocolate.
Lovely post. I love the idea of a Cliff Manual. Each of us mothers should write one when we’re done, yet each motherhood experience is completely unique for each mother. To be learned.
Blessings to you as a mother!
Rachel
I’ve read the book “Motherless Daughters” when I lost my Mom 17 years ago, I still think about her everyday. This write, will be a tough one, will come back later after a cup of tears.
Yes, definitely a sense of humor! And I really like that warning that all will never be the same…and oh, so blessed.
New to Five Minute Friday this week–great prompt, and I totally agree about the massage therapist.
Oh, Lisa. What a beautiful woman. I know you miss her.
And what an honor God has entrusted you with three to keep her alive.
Happy Mother’s Day to you…
this is beyond lovely. you have an amazing way with words.
i hope you have a beautiful mother’s day!
Thanks so much for hosting! I love 5-minute Fridays!
Lisa-Jo – it just occurred to me that all these fabulous Fridays, all these great prompts, the much-needed respite from my obsessive-compulsive side, and never once did I stop to comment on your insightful, well-written posts! Or to thank you for this idea. It has blessed me so much. So, here it is – thank you for doing these Five Minute Friday prompts. And I really enjoy reading your inaugural offerings. You are an amazing writer. And, from the pictures and peeks into your life I get on your blog, an amazing mom, wife, friend and child of God. Keep up the good work. And love, love, love that baby girl (which I know you do). I have two boys then a girl (about the same age spread as yours) and I know how much I am blessed by them. It hardly seems fair to get this much, does it? Smiles -
Lisa-Jo ~ Thank you so much for sharing your heart, being brutally honest, and for allowing me to be along for the journey. Those are some lucky children you have, my dear.
this is exquisite…when you started this five minute prompt you quoted your mom saying something about when you stop thinking and just flow writing that’s when the really stellar stuff comes…this is you and the heart of a writer that just shines in these prompts!
I was also delighted to find that I had won the giveaway last week! It’s a sweet reminder that the Lord is making all things possible in a season when I need to trust Him so fully…we move in a month (for our overseas transition…overseas isn’t a month away but our intensive training is) so, depending on when I would get it, I’ll let you know where to send it!
thanks for all you do and being a mama in May, with me, whose earthly mama is in Heaven…i can’t wait to get over to (in)courage and read about that! hugs, abby:)
I really loved every last word of what you wrote. You have such a way with words and your pictures are always so touching. I really enjoy the 5 Minute Fridays, but I fear that I’m participating wrong. So, I have a question and in asking this it will probably reveal my OCD tendencies and okay, well, my big ugly worry wort too. I’ve never been good at turning off my freakishly weird need to edit what I write. I simply don’t know how to do it. I’ve been worried lately that I am cheating at the whole 5 min. writing prompt. See, I read your post and find out what the prompt is, then I think it over through the morning before actually sitting down to write/type for my 5 minutes. I just have to think about things before I sit down to write them. Is this okay? Thank you for ALL of your very insightful and touching posts. I just love your blog!
Gypsy Mama,
This is my first time visiting your blog. I hear about your “Five Minute Fridays,” and decided to see what this type of writing is all about.
I enjoyed reading your take on Motherhood. Although I’m not a mother, I’m sure that it has to be a life-changing experience – mentally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. There seems to be no getting around that.
Well, I’m thinking about taking this challenge for next Friday – maybe. However, since I am a major proof-reading and editing queen, I am not sure if I will be able to resist the urge to re-do “mistakes.”
I’ve said enough. Take care, and you are welcomed to visit my blog if you want.
-L. Rose
I so enjoy your posts! I’m not a mother, yet, but I am one of five and have a wonderful mom. I’ve seen what she’s done for her children, and now grandchildren, and I am so thankful. I know she would be in agreement with you, as well, and she would “sign up to do it all over again without a second’s hesitation.” Happy Mother’s Day!
Love this today, it is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your memories. I too, would sign up to do it all over again.
LOVE IT!
have a fab mother’s day dear!
Motherhood should come with a lifetime of kleenex…that’s what I wrote! Yes, I was thinking of user manuals and chocolate, too, but I just wrote about the kleenex.
Love the pictures! There were times with each of my guys that the only way they’d go to sleep was to lay on me like that. My youngest (age 4) did that the other day and it was heaven! (although he got quite heavy after a few minutes) I miss those moments sometimes.
I joined in yesterday for the first time, and then realized that I totally missed the prompt! I thought It was just on Motherhood, but then after visiting a few links I realized it was more! Oh well… I still wrote for 5 minutes, and loved what came out. But sorry it wasn’t quite responding to your prompt! HA!
I’m so incredibly late linking up this week, but I absolutely could not pass up the prompt on this one, so thank you for always challenging us and yet supporting us through Five Minute Friday as well. I LOVE it.
xoxo.
I’m relpying to your comment @ 16balls –
I would *heartily and GLADLY* come on over to be your mentor…I’m not sure I’m qualified, but I would happily bring along a bottle of bubbly to smooth out all the edges of stuff I’m still figuring out!
Blessings on your last week of diving dirt!
Love you, kindred spirit!
LIB
WOW! Loving this concept. Am going to have to start doing this.
~Kimberlee
{Accuquilt Giveaway}