Five Minute Friday: Story

Five Minute Friday is an idea birthed by the lovely Lisa-Jo Baker. The goal is to sit down at your computer and just write for 5 minutes on the word of the day. Today’s word is Story. If you want to join in, just write your post and link up to her website. Make sure to read the person post before yours.

So here I go…

 

 

 

 

 

START

We all have a story to share. Some of our stories will bring us to tears, while others bring much laughter and nostalgia. Our story is who we are. It reveals our past, our present and gives hints to what our future will bring.

Our personal stories tend to play out much different in real life than they do in our imagination. I know my story looks nothing like how I pictured it as a 16 year old girl. By now I thought I’d experience pregnancy and childbirth, instead I’ve experience infertility and miscarriages. BUT what I didn’t think would be a part of my story was adoption. And how much more beautiful is that?!

That’s the beauty of it though. We can never anticipate how our story will be written. We can only live out our story with the faith that in the end it will all be a beautiful mess that we can pass down to our children, grandchildren, and those we meet along the way. Our stories are our testimonies to how God works in our lives. Whether we see Him in the pain of a season or see Him in the joy determines our outlook on the tapestry of life. What a beautiful piece of work God is doing in your life!

Today, think through all of the milestones and not-so-milestones of your life. How has God knitted that all together to create a beautiful story? Now share that with someone and witness the gift that brings to you and your listener.

STOP

Five Minute Friday: In Between

These little shoes have little feet to fill them.  Those little feet are on the other side of the world, where my heart is.

We are living in the in between of not being parents and being parents. Every morning I wake up and wonder what our daughters had for lunch and if they are laughing and playing with their foster mom. Every night I pray that they are sleeping with full bellies and healthy bodies. Knowing who my daughters are, but not being able to care for them is just plain hard.

The in between stage for the majority women is a well defined 9 months. When people ask us how long we will wait, I go into a rehearsed speech of why it could be 7 months or why it will more than likely take at least a year for them to be in our arms and then explain that there is always the chance it may never happen. Every time my heart hurts when I speak those words.  I do not do well in the in between stages of life.

It’s here in the in between that I have found a deeper need, no a desperate need, to hold on to the One who holds time in His hands. He is the Only One who will be able to hold me in this season of longing for our daughters, to having in our arms and have our hearts filled with their presence. He is who I cry out to every morning, afternoon, and evening to be near our babies and to be near me.

I have found something special here. My loving heavenly Father is nearer now than ever.

In my in between.

Today I linked up again with Lisa-Jo Baker & her Five Minute Friday community. Every Friday a one word writing prompt is given and for five minutes you share your heart on what that word means to you.

Did you read my post where I shared my heart on the loss of our first referral? You can check it out here.

Five Minute Friday: Rhythm

Rhythm.

Can I pause for a moment and say how I will never spell rhythm correctly the first time and I’m lucky if I spell it correctly the second time. English language, you baffle me sometimes.

There has been a rhythm to my life lately that has felt foreign. Life has surprisingly sped up in a season where I was anticipating a slow down. The longer I live this grown-up life, the more I realize my perceived need to control the cadence of my life with little regard to the freedom I have to dance in good plans of Christ.

Adoption does that to you, people. It makes you feel crazy and steady all at the same time. There are days you wonder if what you’re doing matters or if it will come to fruition and then the days come that are filled with a joyful music that bring peace, expectancy, and hope. It’s a matter of finding the rhythm of life in the already, but not yet time of being united as a family.

I long for the days I didn’t feel so tightly wound and wonder how do you loosen up when the answers are coming?  The steady pace of life I crave to step into seems impossible after a long season of running and gathering, with no end in sight? How does one find the beat again?

Daring to be quiet and let the Word of God pour over my heart without worrying about what the clock says.

Sitting on our red adirondack chairs talking about life and dreaming again with my loved ones.

Planning a schedule that gives fluidity, but also structure so the Master of the Rhythm can teach me how to sway again to His rhythm that brings life and peace.

For those of us who feel harried and out-of-rhthym, let’s go to our Creator who sets all things in place for His good purpose.

STOP

Today I’m joining Lisa-Jo Baker  {for the first time}and a wonderful community of ladies for Five Minute Friday. Join us?