Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We lie down in our words and make snow angels.We try to remember what it was like to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
Be brave, come & join #FiveMinuteFriday. Your words are necessary! (<—Tweet this!)
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
OK, are you ready? Give us your best five minutes on:
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Empty…
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GO
Sometimes the week wrings you out good and proper.
College students complain about colds and being forced to stay in bed and I try to keep my laser beam eyes from looking at them directly, because as all moms know, a forced day in bed is every mother’s vacation.
And most moms don’t get time off for colds.
So the week can steam roll over our best intentions not to lose tempers and find us curled in bed hiding from the whine heading down the hallway. In between I sit with jeans rolled up and rest my feet in the bath tub next to her small self. The water eases tired heels and she thinks it’s funny to find my toes tickling up next to her chubby thighs.
I can hear the boys tuning into another episode of Top Shot outside our blue and white bathroom.
I wash and rinse and repeat her hair and my week, wrap her in a bath towel and carry her back to the changing table.
The moon is full tonight. I remember to notice. Upside down I am. We look at each other, both pale and me the tireder tonight. Is it really Friday already? I look back over a week of checked off lists and all I can see is how many items are waiting to crowd onto my note pad next week. But there is time still. There is always time from the God who spoke it into being.
I try to remember to hold it carefully in my hands.
These days that aren’t mine.
STOP
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OK, show me what you’ve got.
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these days that aren’t mine. . .
I need these words in bright red lipstick sprawled across my bathroom mirror…
thank you for this prompt!
all for Him,
Nikki
I need to read a little slower. I could have swore you said you sat on the tub with your jeans rolled up, the water eased your tired heels and your toes tickled your chubby thighs. I thought to myself…”I wonder what deep meaning is in that?” Then I thought “wait that just doesn’t sound right at all” THEN I re-read it slow and found all kind of things I misread. Oopsie.
Perfect portrait of a week (after I reread)!!
Blessings
DUDE! Laughing so so hard right now reading this. I mean, really, if ever there was a disturbing mental image – that is so it. But what’s even funnier is that you so graciously gave me the benefit of the doubt and went looking for the deeper meaning.
Oh my heart, I really needed the chuckle.
Many thanks and happy Friday – from me and my chubby thighs! ha :)
:)
I desperately want to hold on to this truth and never let it go… “There is always time from the God who spoke it into being.” I know and I forget, but I know. I do not have time to do everything, but I have time to do the God things… and what is most important to God is what I want to spend my life doing.
I found your blog, just a short month ago, and my words here, short and few, cannot convey how your sharing your life with us, has anchored and strengthened my heart as I walk out even the messiest of days… Your genuine devotion to God and your family reminds me to focus in on the beautiful gifts and to find joy in the moments fleeting…
Thank you… and blessings to you…
Hey Michele-Lyn, oh thank you for that encouragement. It’s so nice to know we all have our messy days and perfect is simply an illusion. Thank you for saying hi.
“There is always time from the God who spoke it into being.”
yes, why do I live as if there won’t be time for what matters? God gives enough time, when we seek His purposes for how to accomplish what He has called us to.
Thank you, Lisa-Jo!
I have been told that there is a time that mom’s get their own time back – that there is a time when every minute of the day is someone else’s. I look forward to that time :)
I just wanted to thank you for being honest. It’s easy to write about the times where we feel we are soaring through life. It’s harder to admit that we can’t get it all done, even though we desperately want to. It’s harder to admit that we let the kids watch TV, and maybe even more than they should. It’s harder to be real, but all the more fulfilling for the writer and for the reader. Thank you.
Oh yes, my kids have watched the entire first season of Top Shot in under a week. True story. Amen.
Joined in this week after my blog being “empty” for weeks. Thanks for the inspiration. Your post and picture are beautiful.
Oh I love to hear when a writing prompt is able to lure folks back into the joy of writing – you’re so very welcome here!
I needed to hear your 5 minutes this week. What a week it has been and my checks on my checklist have been almost non-existent between a fussy wee one and a stomach virus. Everything seems to have gotten away from me this week to say the least. Thanks for the opportunity to just sit for a moment and be reminded that I don’t have to make time for it all because I know the one who created time. By the way I am looking forward to meeting you at Allume Social- hope we can make that happen!
It’s SO happening! And one of mine was home sick for FIVE DAYS this week – oh yes, it is totally all cap-worthy. FIVE DAYS. And then the hubs came down with it too and I turned in my mommy card and ran off to hide in the mountains. The end.
The husband and I had a virus. I called my mother in law in the wee smalls of the morning on Tuesday as I lay curled in the fetal position and the little one wept bitter tears in her bassinet. How do you reapply for your mommy card after that? Oy. Doing much better now though!
Time. Takes trust, courage, faith and the willingness to anticipate and watch for His presence for today. Thank you everyone.
My empty canvas on paper for words, and my drafting table for my water coloring and sketches stayed undisturbed and motionless for weeks lately. Frozen in time.
Fear fought to be the final word. Finally His love broke through with questions.
“What is the chief end of man? Who are you worshiping and what are you seeking for? Man’s praise or to praise me and to enjoy me forever?
A blanket of peace as I’ve been reminded that I’ve been uniquely created to bring Him delight in my own unique and God ordained way. The panic button, choke hold of insecurity has begun to ease up. Fretting failure or success is not so much my focus today.
Each stroke of my: pen, pencil, and or brush will carry with it a word, a song, a beat and holy beat of worship and praise. To my audience of ONE.
Oh beautiful. Yes. Thank you for that reminder of where time stands still.
Thanks so much for hosting this meme…It is a challenge but I always tell myself that I do have time for it! SMiles for your weekend.
You CAN!!! :)
Empty
I am feeling empty today, kinda breathless and tired. Wanting more sleep, needing to do so much, feeling torn in so many directions., Eat chocolate. Sounds good. Drink Diet Pepsi, not so good. Wishing that I felt more energized, not so empty and void. It rained all day yesterday, today it is cooler but beautiful outside. Need to learn a monologue for an audition tomorrow. Sit under the trees and memorize. I have a rehearsal tom morrow too. I like rehearsal I go in tired and leave feeling so energized. Energy. Seems to be a word the keeps cropping up in this writing. I am empty of energy, energy void. One more minute to write. I am going to re-energize myself today by being nice to myself. Sleep if I want to sleep, walk if I want to walk. Maybe eat that chocolate.
“Empty” (empty swing) It all goes so fast and which baby was it that I joyfully propped up in the playground swing? All of them. My children. My friends’ children. My grandchild… soon there will be two new grandchildren to put in the swing for the first time. Empty? Oh, no. Full — overflowing! with the happiest memories and plans! The swing might appear empty but indeed it is full.
Do you teach college? I teach college composition in the fall. And I love it. But you’re so right; Moms don’t get time off for colds. :) The days can so easily become a blur. Wash, rinse, repeat ~ that made me smile. Part of the reason I write is because it makes me slow down and consider these fleeting moments we’re given. It is truly my heart’s desire to continue learning how to keep a slower pace on a simpler path.
Thank you for writing.
oh, this rings true. i just had my husband put a lock on our bedroom door so i could have an inch of space for myself. the years are short but the days are long indeed.
thanks for being a lovely and honest hostess.
The chair beside me is empty, the one in front of the untouched little boy’s lunch. A truck is “vrooooming” up and down the stairs, the driver refusing to eat (again). Why is it these things that seem so trivial when I put them in words can leave us feeling this empty? I guess I’ll go play trucks and let him fill my arms, if not his belly.
Empty-Definitely what I’ve been feeling like lately. ‘When it rains it pours’ has been our life since last week. One thing after another, and it would be so easy to take my eyes off God and wallow in our problems. I wake in the morning and feel like I’m rushing around from one thing to the next, and there isn’t enough time in the day for everything. But I can’t not make time for God, the only One that can keep it all in perspective. The only One that can give me peace and hope for the future.
“Teach me to number my days, O Lord.”
Thanks
can i just say how much i love this idea??? i love this idea!!!!
giving voice on a chosen theme is such a social and potentially political move. Anything that allows people to tell their truths in that moment is special.
very, very cool my friends.
Ok, here goes. First time. Empty. My 1 – 3 o’clock “quick” meeting yesterday lasted until 10:30 last night. By hour 6 I was feeling tired, by hour 7 no longer even hungry and by hour 9 – empty. I had nothing more to contribute, my brain had shut off, my contact lenses were sticking to my eyelids and no amount of drops were soothing them. I rubbed my face, held up my head in my hands and felt “done”. Then the text from hubby saying Jack’s got a fever of 101 and where was the children’s tylenol? Well I’d just thrown it all out because it expired. Our kids don’t get sick! So, next “can you pick some up on the way home?” So, I get home at 11 o’clock, tiptoe into the boy’s room and feel his burning head. Wake him up, give him the medicine and try to relax on the couch. I’m done for the day, I’m tired, I want to go to bed. Next thing out of the room is Jack. “I can’t sleep. Can you lay down with me?” Not hesitation. I’m never too empty for that. He doesn’t do it often, so when he asks for me I jump right in next to him.
Oh so fun that you joined in today! Yes, we’ve been that kind of running on empty week as well! Next time we do Art together in the morning I think we should treat ourselves to a coffee date after!
Anytime!
I’m such a dork! This is my 1st attempt at 5 min Friday and I linked to the wrong post, but I can’t delete it. I’m sorry! If you can tell me how to correct it, I will link to the correct post :) This is such a fun idea! Thank you!
Hey Joy,
Dorks are totally welcome here – I am a card-carrying dork myself :) I can just delete your link and then you can enter it again.
Ahhh, THANK YOU! That would be awesome!
“…steam roll over our best intentions…hold time carefully in our hands…” great words, full of hope. So true.
Empty is just the way God wants us.
This is my second Five Minute Friday. I think I’m hooked! Thank you for these prompts.
My very last post only 4 days ago spoke of an “emptiness” I went through…I thought I would struggle with repetitiveness here, it’s amazing what your heart will pour our in 5 minutes if just given the chance….
Thank You…again and again!
Trying to hold them carefully too…not always easy.