The Right Time to Write (#fmf)

It has been a couple years since I’ve done a Five Minute Friday! Not exactly sure what happened except that I lost my words. They stopped flowing out of me. And it was scary to lose my words! 

Who am I when I can’t write, when I can’t express the depths of me in old familiar ways, when I lose all of my opinions and cares and become silent? Pain and sheer levels of turmoil, chaos and burnout stored within my heart and mind choked out all flow of words. That pain undeniably cried out to be healed and I couldn’t ignore it any longer. It needed to be cleared out of the way before my words (and my life) could flow freely again! But in order for the pain to be healed, I had to find a different way to speak. 

Slowly, the words began to slide out but they came out in art. Art journaling took the place of blogging as color, doodling and collaging together spoke my truth. Through the pages of my art journals, the deepest and rawest parts of me were being revealed, nurtured, loved, counseled and slowly nursed to a level of health and wholeness that I never knew existed. All that was made wrong was slowly being set right. Years of perseverance, strength and determination to find healing finally led to freedom and transformation. This transformation is finally leading me back to the written word once again! 

But who am I after that journey? How does that journey impact my writing? What do I even want to write about? What is worth saying in a world where everyone has something to say? Where can my voice make a difference? Where can my words bring hope? 

I don’t know the answers to these questions right now, but the right thing to do is to show back up today, to pick up the pen (keyboard?), to remain open to rediscovering my written voice and to offer up my heart and my words to the One who has led me into shalom. My words are back and now is the right time to unleash them once again! 

Five Minute Friday (#FMFparty) gives writers a word prompt every Friday. We are encouraged to write whatever comes to mind about that word in just five minutes. No editing, no perfection, only writing from the heart. To find out more, visit Five Minute Friday. This week's word is "RIGHT”.

Creative Corner

Lately, art has been more powerful and relaxing than writing. It's where I can ponder, meditate, and focus on positive things. It is also fun making things for others and having a different form of encouragement and appreciation to snail mail to my friends. This type of art break is to me what a coffee break is to others--it's relaxing, the calm in the midst of chaos, and a few minutes to simply breathe, refocus, and pray before continuing on with my day! Can't beat that! :)

The Mystery of the Ocean (#fmf)

What is it about the ocean that draws us into the beauty of it? Is it the vastness of sky and sea, the strength that unfurls with each wave, the breathtaking colors of the sunrise over the ocean, the simplicity yet complexity of nature, the joy of finding unique shells, smooth stones, sea glass, or sharks teeth, the curiosity of creatures big and small that fly, dive, burrow, glide, or swim, the serenity that comes when life stops for a few minutes as we notice all the beauty that surrounds us?

We visited North Topsail Beach a couple weeks ago and the pictures below are from that vacation. As we walked along the beach one evening, Psalm 36:5-6 and Psalm 139:17-18 kept coming to mind as I looked across the ocean and as my feet shuffled in the sand.

God’s love is meteoric,
His loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
His verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.   Psalm 36:5-6

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.   Psalm 139:17-18

Not even the ocean can contain the love, the surety, the ways, and the mind of God, nor could the grains of sand under my feet, ahead of my feet, or behind my feet compare to the sheer amount of thoughts God has toward me alone. It's too mind boggling at times but maybe that's where the true beauty of the ocean lies--in all of the mysteries that we will never be able to fully see or comprehend. True beauty lies in the moments that call us to “Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10)--it's like God's personal invitation to let it all go and savor the mysteries of the ocean.

Five Minute Friday (#FMFparty) gives writers a word prompt. We are encouraged to write whatever comes to mind about that word in just five minutes (although, I usually go longer bcs FMF helps fuel that spark in me to write). No editing, no perfection, only writing from the heart. To find out more, visit Five Minute Friday. This week's word is "OCEAN".