Five Minute Friday

Five-Minute Friday: Begin

July 31, 2014 by Mel · 32 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

The rules: Write for five minutes. No editing, revising, overthinking, or backtracking. Just write. Then leave some comment love for the person who linked up before you…and anyone else because that’s the fun and the heart of the community! And this is the last week Five-Minute Friday will be hosted by Lisa-Jo…next week begins a new era and a new host.

Today’s prompt: Begin

Begin, begin. Where?

My heart isn’t even sure I have the words to begin again, not after the week and a few days we’ve had. Loss, heartbreak, so many tears…I feel like I’ve lost who I am…and my words…in all of it.

I know this is how it is, this grief thing. That when there’s a loss, it takes time. It takes a lot of tissues. And then it takes more time, even.

And then, maybe, there’s a whisper in my soul that says it’s ok. To laugh through the tears. To smile when it hurts. To find the joy, even when there’s pain.

It’s how to begin again…this life. The kind of beginning that says We love you so much, sweet baby. And now we begin this journey of forever missing you.

And we can only pray that there’s something beautiful, something that will always whisper of His promise that He makes all things beautiful in His time.

Not ours. His.

And so we trust that there will be beauty here. Somehow.

And until then, we lean on Him to make the ache just a little less.

And we breathe deeply and begin another day.

Because He’s Good.

Still.

Filed Under: being mommy, family, Five Minute Friday, just life, loss, miscarriage, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Hands

June 5, 2014 by Mel · 34 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

hands

Today’s prompt: Hands

I seriously can’t believe this is the prompt this week.

I’m not kidding when I tell you that my eyes filled with tears the second I saw it. The word, Hands.

You see, God gave me a gift this week. One He knew I needed…even when I didn’t know that.

He sent me a friend…a sweet friend from years ago. We’ve kept up as much as we could, but oceans and countries made that harder. Our lives were so separate…so alike, but that physical separation by miles isn’t always easy to bridge.

But she came for three days…and they were three of the most precious days. Days I will hold in my heart for a long, long time.

There were so many conversations. Some laughs. A lot of deep. Connections…sharing lives that had so many similarities but hadn’t been able to connect in the same room for so long.

What a beautiful gift.

She pulled away on Tuesday morning, and the tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched her go. And then I just breathed thanks…because God knows what we need, and He gives it in the most beautiful, unexpected ways.

But before she went, she left a sweet gift with me and my girl. Something from her life to wear on our wrists…a reminder to pray, and a reminder of our friend.

And so I did what seemed right at the time…I took a picture of our hands.

Just so I could have that little reminder of friendship. And of the way God brings people together in His timing.

Tonight, just before I left for praise team practice, I asked God something. Please give me a word that works…I’d love to write my Five-Minute Friday about this.

And He knew…and He gave it to me.

Friends. Always connected by our Father, even if we can’t be together. I love that He cares about the littlest things.

I’m so blessed.

Filed Under: blessings, Five Minute Friday, friends, just life, Maelie, remembering

Five-Minute Friday: Nothing

May 29, 2014 by Mel · 28 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: Nothing

I was up early this morning.

We didn’t have to be anywhere until 10:30 and I’d already squeezed two workouts into yesterday. It was truly a morning off, and I wanted to write.

I made the coffee, I gave myself some time to wake up, I read a few verses. And then I sat down, hoping the words might flow.

There were a few attempts, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t the morning for writing.

I had nothing.

And so I poured a cup of coffee and wandered to the back porch with my laptop, hoping for some inspiration. Even the cool, perfect morning (and the equally perfect caffeine) 😉 just didn’t do it.

Nothing. No inspiration.

Friends, it’s been a dry season…and it’s been pretty quiet around here, too. I can’t quite explain it or even understand why the words just aren’t there. There have been times it’s been frustrating, and other times it’s been a relief.

But mostly…well, mostly I just wish I could write.

I miss it. A lot.

And sometimes I feel like nothing when I can’t get the words out.

I know the truth…and so I tell it to myself over and over…that though it feels like there’s nothing, it’s a great big something. It’s just that my something looks much different.

And so I embrace it the best I know how…

…in a park date with my daughter, flower planting with a sweet friend, a mug of coffee on a perfect (if wordless!) morning, a visit from Indo friends, even sunshine and a bit of a sunburn.

None of those are nothing…in fact they are pretty incredible somethings.

And I’m whispering thanks…because He is good.

And because I know that someday the words will be back, too.

coffeemug-final

Filed Under: blessings, coffee, encouragement, Five Minute Friday, just life, where I am, writing

Five-Minute Friday: Grateful

May 8, 2014 by Mel · 9 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: Grateful

Mae&MommySelfie2

This little girl is going to finish PK3 next Thursday. Hold me, ’cause I hardly know what to do with it all.

I’ll never forget the first day of PK last August. It was an emotional day, one when the tears just flowed. I was honestly surprised that I cried, but when I think about it…well, it doesn’t surprise me anymore.

I get it now…how quickly the days go, how the months seem to fly, how they just grow so fast. It’s sweet and it’s sad, but it’s all good.

This thing called mommyhood…the beautiful gift wrapped in love and crazy and hugs, a bit more crazy and even more love…well, it’s wonderful. Sometimes it feels like a wreck, especially on the days when the temper tantrums abound…but at the end of the day, yep.

My heart just bleeds gratitude. And so much LOVE.

I’m so grateful that I get to raise this girl. I feel so lucky. And even more blessed.

Last week we were playing with my phone. Lately it’s been a struggle to get her to actually look at the camera and smile at the same time…but the first thing she wanted to do?

Mommy, let’s take selfies! (Yes, she knows that word…ScArY.) 😉

And so we took a string of them. Some smiley, some goofy, some sweet…and the quality of them is terrible because I didn’t take the time to adjust the flash, check the lighting, or even to wipe the smudged makeup from the corners of my eyes. I just snapped the memories, and to me…well, they’re perfect memories.

And that sweet afternoon lives in my heart forever, too…and I’m so grateful.

Grateful that He chose me to be her mama and that we get to spend our days together. The tears threaten to spill over when I think of the years that are flying, but I wouldn’t trade a bit of it.

Thank you, Father, for my girl.

I am so very blessed.

Mae&MommySelfie

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, family, Five Minute Friday, just life, Maelie, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Paint

April 10, 2014 by Mel · 22 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: Paint

Ok, so I really thought about making y’all laugh and writing about the ridiculous woodpecker who keeps pecking at our house and is leaving holes in the siding and taking the PAINT off.

I may or may not have totally chased him off with one of my boots today.

But, instead, I’m going to talk about what came to mind first and avoid the possibility of getting into trouble for chucking footwear at a bird. 😉

So, I’m really trying to be a more fun mama.

I mean, there are lots of moments of fun for me and my girl…goodness, we rode a motorbike together in Indonesia. And if there had been vines, I would have totally taken her vine swinging. 😉 And on a normal day, we have a great time. Dancing, playing, couch surfing.

Yes, yes we do.

IndoMotor But there are also way too many times when I just avoid the mess.

Oh, there are definitely moments of the controlled kind of mess…the kind when we cook together and I just wipe up the messes as they happen. Or when we play with glitter glue and I just spread the newspaper far and wide so I don’t have to deal with the sticky and the sparkle all over Eve.Ry.Thing.

But this week…well, it was different, kind of.

We’ve been talking about painting together…that thing that is just GUARANTEED to change the color of the dining room table forever. But we were walking through Target, and she found it. A cute little princess set with a brush and Real. Live. Paint. (As in, not watercolors.)

Oh boy…and Mel takes a deep breath and spends the dollar so her sweet girl can have an afternoon of painting fun.

She had a blast. She seriously loved it.

And the best part? The paint wiped right off the table.

Win. And here’s to a lot more afternoons of painting and making messes.

Because I’ve got a pretty fantastic girl…and I want to make all the memories we can.

melmaepool

Filed Under: adventures, being mommy, blessings, creating, Five Minute Friday, Indonesia, just life, Maelie, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Choose

February 27, 2014 by Mel · 30 Comments

Friends, it’s been too long, and I’ve missed this community of heart-sisters and friends. And so today, I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. If you’d like to jump in…grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: Choose

I made a choice tonight.

To come back to write for Five-Minute Friday.

I’ve taken several weeks off, and it has nothing to do with anyone in the community…friends, my sweet sisters, you bless me. And I’ve missed you.

But I’ve also been having a doozy of a time with writing.

I call myself a writer, but for some reason I have struggled…battled…to get those words out.

And so I ran.

Not too far and not too long, but I ran just enough that I could give myself an excuse. I didn’t want to go away, but the choice to stay felt too difficult.

And you know what?

That choice made me miss all of you.

Miss the Thursday nights we used to tweet late into the evening and then spill our hearts through drooping eyelids. Miss the laughs and jokes and comments we shared.

It made me miss my community. A place I find home.

And it reminded me that community isn’t because of ability or the amount of words we can splash onto a page or, even, how beautiful we can make them sound.

Community is about making the choice to show up and love, every single day. No matter what.

Friends, I’ve missed you. And I’m sorry I ran for a little while. I might not be back every week, but I’m not going to run anymore.

Because my community…my family…it means too much to me.

And I choose to be here.

Filed Under: blessings, community, Five Minute Friday, just life, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: See

January 9, 2014 by Mel · 20 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: See

I hear it a million times a day.

See, Mommy? Look at her beautiful dress!

Look, Mommy! I can jump! (Insert leap from couch to chair…something she’s technically not supposed to be doing…) 😉

I need the light on, Mommy…I can’t see!

Will you play princesses with me, Mommy? Look, here’s Rapunzel!

There are so many times in a day when my daughter asks me to look. She wants me to see.

Granted, she is three years old and at that age…the age that begs for attention and time and more attention. Pretty much all day long. 😉

And the truth is that, most moments, I’m more than happy to give it.

I want to be near her, seated on the floor criss-cross-applesauce, seeing the world from her vantage point…one filled with storybooks and songs, dancing and furniture leaping, and lots and lots of pony-and-princess playing.

And, often…Mommy, look. Here’s the next story in the Bible. Can we read it?

And so we sit down together and read from her Storybook Bible or talk about the last story, and I realize how blessed I am to see the faith in her heart as it continues to grow. She’s learning, she’s understanding…

She’s beginning to SEE.

And it’s beautiful.

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, Five Minute Friday, just life, Maelie, what I'm learning, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Reflect

December 5, 2013 by Mel · 29 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: Reflect

I talk about her a lot lately, this girl.

Maybe it’s because we spend our days…and most of our moments…side by side.

I truly feel like I blinked…maybe an extended blink, but a blink nonetheless…and she is nine days shy of three and a half.

A mini me in so many ways, even if she looks more like her daddy. 😉

But I am oh-so aware of the little mirror I have following me around…reflecting everything I do.

Oh, sometimes it’s awesome…when we dance through the living room together or surf on the couch. (Sssshhhh…don’t tell!) When we share chapstick and powder and wear bracelets together. Once in awhile we’ll sit down at the piano together and play. (Or, pound? ;)) And sometimes we even dress alike because we can.

Most of the time, I love that she wants to reflect what she sees in her mommy.

And, yet, there are those days, too…the ones when she pops out a word she’s heard me say, one that slipped and never should have reached her ears. Or when the impatience spills over and becomes a raised voice…and she returns it, sometimes even more loudly.

I don’t love that…because I know that the mommy she’s mirroring isn’t reflecting Her Father.

This mommy thing is hard…I dance through the sunshine and daisy parts of it, but sometimes there are tears, too…and not just from her. Fear that I’m messing it all up.

I have to give myself grace…and pray ever day that He’ll help me to reflect Him so she can, too.

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, encouragement, Five Minute Friday, just life, Maelie, what I'm learning, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Tree

November 14, 2013 by Mel · 40 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

Today’s prompt: Tree

We’ve lived in the blue house on Wisconsin and Charles for three years. And almost a half.

It’s home…and we love it here.

One of my favorite things about our lot is the side yard and the big oak trees there. I’m not kidding when I tell you they tower over the entire yard. (You can see one in this pic…the other is closer to the street.)

And it may sound a little silly, but when I think of the time we’ve spent here already and the memories we’ve made, some of my favorite ones actually involve those trees. Our first October back in the States, we couldn’t get enough of the falling leaves and were total kids one late Wednesday afternoon, even taking our four month old girl outside for some leaf-playing fun.

Still one of my favorite memories…and one of my favorite photos of the two of us.

Then there was the sweet 4th of July spent reading books in the shade and watching our little girl melt our hearts yet another time that day. We still smile over this one.

And we continue to make more memories…with swing sets and slides and snow-princess building and hide and seek. With frisbee throwing and chasing each other and being a family of three (plus two dogs) in our little place.

Under those trees.

Those trees.

Reminders of how very, very blessed we are.

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, community, family, Five Minute Friday, just life, Maelie, remembering, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Together

October 24, 2013 by Mel · 31 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo for Five-Minute Friday. And this week?

Insanely. Awesome.

I’m actually doing a live FMF in a room with a bunch of my sweet sisters who have all come together for Allume, an amazing conference that is already blessing my socks off.

So, grab a timer, set it for five minutes, and join me!

The rules: Write for five minutes. No editing, revising, overthinking, or backtracking. Just write.

Today’s prompt: Together

So here’s the thing.

This group…my community…we’ve been together for a long time. We’ve been together in the way we share our stories and our laughs, our tears, our prayers…

Our hearts.

Through screens and words and pictures.

For months I have looked forward to finally being together in real life with them…to hug necks and let the tears drip and let them know what they mean to this girl who has fumbled for community for way too long.

Now we’re together…in the same room.

It’s like a big, happy-dance-all-over-the-room dream come true…I kind of can’t believe that I get to be with each of you, letting you know just how much each of you mean to me.

The community that occupies a giant piece of my heart is finally an in real life one.

I kind of feel like dancing…

Anyone for cartwheels?

😉

Filed Under: (in)courage, blessings, encouragement, Five Minute Friday, friends, where I am

Five-Minute Friday: Begin

Five-Minute Friday: Hands

Five-Minute Friday: Nothing

Five-Minute Friday: Grateful

Five-Minute Friday: Paint

Five-Minute Friday: Choose

Five-Minute Friday: See

Five-Minute Friday: Reflect

Five-Minute Friday: Tree

Five-Minute Friday: Together

Mel

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