Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We set a timer, throw caution to the winds and try to remember what it was like to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
{One of my favorite FMF posts linked up from last week was this one by DKARamblings}
Want to play Five Minute Friday? It’s easy peasy!
1. Write for 5 minutes flat on the prompt- no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Meet & encourage someone who linked up before you.
OK, are you ready? Give us your best five minutes on:
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Gift…
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GO:
I rock her to the music in her cosy odd little hallway room with its dark wood paneling. I rock her and she watches me, clutches the bottle in one hand and strokes my cheek with her other one. It’s intimate. We watch each other. Our hearts fill up. We eat these precious minutes before bed.
I lean closer till only a whisper separates us and say it straight into her blue eyes, “May you embrace your womanhood, Zoe.”
The gift of the thing.
I want her to get it with both hands.
Not my story. Not the backwards shuffling toward understanding who I was made to be. Not the regret and frustration and misunderstanding of the beauty of womanhood. Not the ridiculous fear of being wife and mother. Not for this daughter of mine.
No, “Zoe,” I say. “Open your hands, darling, it’s the most wonderful gift. This being a girl and a woman.”
“Open your hands and let Jesus show you what a gift you are – just as you are. He doesn’t make mistakes. You are woman and it is a wonder.”
My girl-child, she blinks at me. I know she’s listening. I say it out loud to remind myself to keep reminding her. Everything the Father gives is a gift. No gift less than any other. And womanhood, may she savor unwrapping it.
And may I be there to enjoy every layer.
STOP
OK, show me what you’ve got.
And once you link up, a little extra encouragement from me should pop up in your inbox!
Subscribers, you can just click here to come and play along.
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I love the way you embrace your children, their futures, their present, the way you show them Jesus. That is a gift, my friend. Beautiful.
i want my daughters to know the same. they are gifts.
I love the way you speak of womanhood here. It sheds some light on some wrong thinking I still have… that I did not know I did.
I pray that my eyes will be opened even more, to the gift, so I might show my girls. I pray they would walk in confidence, knowing who they are in Him.
Thanks for this… and for the community here.
I love that you prayed this over your daughter… That you claim it for her and want her to claim it for herself. I feel like that is part of what God is singing over me lately. And I too want to join The Father in singing it over my girls.
Hearing this over and over again from her earliest years will help shape her thinking as she grows old enough to understand. She won’t even realize how she arrived at this lovely point of view :).
I’m so glad you chose this prompt…it got me to FINALLY write something that’s been on my list, in a fraction of the time it would’ve taken otherwise.
xo
What a beautiful gift to pass on to your daughter! Making me think…
Oh, friend, this got me today. As my youngest daughter prepares to turn 5 in a few days and loves all things frilly and Girly and princessy…and also loves to make others happy, often at her own expense, my heart echoes these words for her, and my other daughter. I, too, came at it backwards….still looking for it many days. Thank you, once again, for putting words to my heart’s voice.
What a beautiful thing to instill in your daughter.
I think you are enjoying every layer and it is beauty to behold for these eyes that see through your words.
GIFT
Heavy. Expectation. Conditional. Why does such a joyful, child-like word, feel heavy in my heart . . that’s not right . . or maybe it’s my right . . what I have known. When someone gives you something; they want something in return, perhaps something you don’t want to give, perhaps a part of you. This has been truth. It’s caused pain.
BUT, I’ve learned new words, new meanings in “Gift.” I’ve learned that it isn’t the “things” in life that I recognize as gifts, that makes them so, but rather, the moments themselves that I am able to take real gifts in. ingest them. Because God has created all this world and everything. EVERYTHING in it a gift for me to receive. No strings attached . . and sometimes “gifts” don’t look like “Gifts” they’re not what I expect or even enjoy; for now. But at some point I get it. I see how it contributes to who I am and who I can be.
With that I say “Thank you”
This is beautiful.
Thank you!
Love this. She’s such a cutie. My youngest is 1 soon. aaak. how that first year flies. Thank you for the ever encouragement to embrace every single day…as a gift.
Yes…helping our daughter to unwrap and savor the beauty of womanhood…well done. blessings and have a wonderful weekend.
So beautiful. “Not the backtracking.” I know the heart behind this thought. Beautifully written.
I’ve been thinking of your writing on “Gift” for the past hour or so since reading it. I so desire the same thing for my daughter, who is eight-years-old and yet it feels so hard. I feel like the media (TV, music, advertisements), which translates to acquaintances and even her Mother’s hang up’s (me) are against her. Not knowing her Father has been a blow as well. I want so much for her to know, deep in her being who she is. Who she was created to be. That she is worthwhile just.the.way.she.is. No matter what!!! I want to give her this. Not just in my words but in everything I ever give to her . . . . and yet, it feels so hard.
Love posts that make me think. I have a son, and the same thing needs to be done for our sons as well as our daughters. I believe that men being how God created them to be will allow women to be who they were created to be. So many times women go outside who they are supposed to make up for what men were lacking to do. I think it is a “trickle down effect.”
This post was beautiful! Thank you for sharing, and thank you for hosting Five-minute Firdays and providing the opportunity to write and link-up–I find myself looking forward to every Friday! =)
The word that keeps coming to my mind as I read this is embrace. Embracing the gifts – no matter if they feel like gifts or not, but to take hold of them, really look at them, and give thanks to God that He wastes nothing, that everything has a purpose, that blooming is possibly always.
What precious words to speak to your young daughter. A wonderful reminder for all of us to not only speak this to our daughters but to ourselves as well.
I love and miss that intimacy of nursing your baby, who strokes your hair (in my case). That eye contact and innocence…just a beautiful experience. And yes, all that you want for them in those moments – to continue unhindered, innocent and reliant on the one who gave us life. Love this picture. Thank you.
This line is my favorite “Everything the Father gives is a gift. No gift less than any other. ” As always, reading your five minutes is always such a pleasure :)
Dear Lisa Jo,
I enjoyed reading your post. You probably don’t know me. I’m just one of the 150 people who participates in 5 minute friday. I never thought to pass on a gift like that to my two girls. That’s brilliant!
Your posts always take me back in time to when my girls were babies. You make it so real! I remember the things you talk about happening when my kids were little. They are 18 and 13, so those things don’t happen anymore and I would be worried if they did. Lol
New things happen now. I love talking to my 18-year-old on the phone about how things are going in college. It’s almost like talking to a grown-up that you’ve known forever. I can’t wait for you to experience that. You’ll love it! You know, I would pick her up from high school and we would have these great talks on the way home, as she drove. That was awesome, too. If you stand your ground now, and establish that you are the mom and they are the child, by the time they get into high school, you can have a great relationship with them. Notice I skipped over middle school. Lol!
My daughter has just turned 11, we are beginning the unwrapping. Thanks for the reminder that I have been given a gift by being here to watch the unwrapping. Thanks also for the reminder of my responsibility to call it a gift to her even in the struggling moments. I long with you for her to see what he made her right up front, no backward shuffling. Thanks.