FMF: On voice

My youngest using his voice.

 On voice.
My daughter sings with a lovely voice with the Nashville Children's Choir. My father-in-law has lost his voice due to a tracheostomy. And as a wanna-be-author, I am trying to find my voice. Speaking up for those who do not have a voice.Singing with a lovely voice. Learning to communicate without a voice.

Our voice speaks. Our voice needs to be heard. We want to be heard. We want to communicate. We want to interact. Some voices are high. Some are low. Sometimes we can hear the voices but we do not understand what is being said.

Voices. Unique. A way to give thought. A way to interact. Voicing our opinions. Voice: it is important.

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Whew! I haven't participated in Five Minute Friday in awhile. (Click HERE if you are interested in participating or reading other entries.) This was a hard go. But I am going to play along and hit publish after five minutes of writing with no editing. Publishing as is! Yikes!  Obviously, I need to keep practicing this exercise of writing for five minutes on a topic.

Happy Friday friends. What would you like to voice today?
--Kathleen

Abrasive, admirable GRIT

When a picture has nothing to do with a post!

Grit. Has the definition of sand, gravel or abrasive particles and also firmness of character or indomitable spirit, pluck.

How I admire those who have courage to keep going and moving into unknown territories. Doing things of courage. Innovative.

Yet, another definition is abrasive. And, at times, when we have pluck it appears that we are abrasive to others. Usually unknown or uncared about. Instead of worrying about being nice and pleasant to others and doing just what everyone else would, someone with grit, with pluck, picks up and moves forth, speaks out. It is not pleasant and can be abrasive to  others.

Perhaps that is our choice to be washed over and smooth and polished stone that is pleasant. Or gritty. Someone who is overcoming the circumstances. Plucking themselves up against the sand the gravel, the unpleasant things in this life.

To overcome the grit, the abrasive things in this life we need to have a little bit of pluck. Which may be unpleasant to others but sometimes it causes us to admire them. For overcoming. We all need pluck, grit in this life.

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I love 5 Minute Fridays, especially for days like today when "I don't have time" to write and haven't had time to write all week long. So here it is unedited.. Learning to write all the time, whether or not I feel like it.

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Happy Friday!

The Tension in the Becoming

I'm linking up with Five Minute On Fridays where we throw caution (editing, revising, and worrying) to the winds and just write for five minutes. Without wondering if it’s just right or not.


Today's Prompt: If I knew I could, I would....

GO:

If I knew I could, I would get up earlier than my children every day. I would run 2-5 miles. I would have my own time reading the Bible and praying. Then, I would start breakfast. I would greet each child as they awoke with a smile and a hug. They would feel great because their mama had started the day before them.

I would have had enough rest so that my temper would stay hidden inside of me forever. I would always be patient, always be kind. I would always be looking into every teachable moment and do it with grace. When they fuss and yell, I would always respond in the responsible manner never stooping to act like their age.

I would look them in the eye. They would always know that they are truly the most important people in my life. Never a doubt. I would still be fun and yet be on task for our duties for the day. I would embrace the moment always.

As I listen to my list, I hear myself sound like a perfect woman -- a perfect mama. For them, I wish I could be perfect so that they would have only good and no harm from me. But, alas, I am not perfect. And God calls me to delight in my weaknesses and in my insults for His power is perfected in weakness. (II Corinthians 12:9-10). And as they watch me walk out my imperfect life perhaps that is what gives them the most hope because they, too, will have to learn to walk their imperfect lives, too.

STOP


Welcome to those who have come to visit from Five Minutes on Fridays. And Hello to Friday's Company Girls at Rachel Anne's Home Sanctuary.

How about you? What would you do if you knew you could?

You can answer in your thoughts, the comments, or in a blog post and link up with the Five Minute on Friday folks.

It looks beautiful here after a week of storms, it is nice to see the sun. I'm off soon to pick up my runner's packet for the Country Music Half Marathon today. Woo-hoo. Hopefully the weather will be nice for the race tomorrow.

Have a wonderful Friday.

A few of my favorite things

A few of my favorite things: sunshiny days, my four children smiling, dancing with my husband in the kitchen, a full refrigerator. These are just a few of my favorite things.

Unplanned days, birds singing, the sunset over a lake.


Great conversation with old friends that really know you. Music that inspires me to create something of my own. That stirs the creativity in me.




New friends. Discovering new stories. Bible studies. Flowers. Easy going friends with loving expectations of me (which means that I can meet them. )

Being finished with a hard thing. The sweet, reward after a hard labor -- whether it is the end of a run, finishing teaching a lesson, or making that difficult phone call.

Cozy blankets on a cool day. Iced coffee in the shade on a hot day.



Digging deep into the Bible, sharing what God is teaching us day by day. These are a few of my favorite things. This topic: a few of my favorite things causes me to write in fragments & not sentences.

Pens, pencils. Time to think. A slow, leisurely pace with no missed deadlines.


Moments where I am all in the moment of where I am. Not thinking about tomorrow or yesterday. When I fully live in the moment, that is definitely a favorite thing.

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This is part of the Gypsy Mama's Five Minutes on Friday -- to write for five minutes where it doesn't need to be right. I thought I had time for at least that this week.

Also linking up with Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary for Company Girl Coffee.

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What are some of your favorite things?

On Waiting for Spring

The trees in our backyard: photo by my Firstborn.

On waiting....

On waiting for spring. In the dark, dreary, gray-clouded season of winter, I have been waiting for spring. At first winter is glorious, some snow. A chance to hunker down early for the night. To expect less of myself.

But then, one day there is a bright, sunshiny day in the midst of winter, reminding me that spring will come again. I look forward to it. It gets gray again. Then, I want spring. The next nice spring-like day comes again. And I rejoice in it. I revel in it. I'm so glad that it is here.

"Spring is here," I announce to myself. Then, it is gray and dreary again for it is only February. And remember the groundhog? He himself declared 6 more weeks of winter. I settle in and stop wishing for spring.

It is too hard to endure the gray & dreary days of February as I long for bright sunshine filled days of spring. Warm days with no coat. Warm days with no bugs in it yet. But it is too hard so I resolve not to think about spring anymore.

Then somewhere down deep in my heart, I find I have stopped waiting for spring. I stopped hoping.

And then, my five-year-old bursts through the door shouting, "Mommy, mommy." I think someone has been hurt. But no he is just running to bring me the first dandelion of spring. "Mommy this is for you." He says with his bright-grin.

The azaleas from our front yard last spring: photo by Kathleen.

And I am surprised. How can it be spring? How can something be growing? In the waiting, I failed to keep hoping. And now I am surprised by spring. Can it be here already? How can there be buds on the trees and daffodils in the ditches? It crept up unawares when I stopped waiting.

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What are you waiting for? Or have you stopped waiting

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Today's post was inspired by Gypsy Mama's Five Minute on Friday writing prompt: On waiting. I found her blog through the Fan the Flame blog.

I decided to dive in and try this. And, actually, I was kind of surprised at the five minutes of writing that I did. After my five minutes of writing, I did edit two spelling words and add some quotation marks. But otherwise, this is what I came up with in five minutes of writing on this Friday, March 18 for the prompt: On waiting.

(From the Gypsy Mama's blog: This is the place where once a week we take the chance to just write, and not worry if it’s just right or not.

For five minutes flat.

Here’s how the game works: you simply stop, drop and write. Set your words free. Don’t edit them, don’t fret over them, don’t try to make them perfect.).

Join us over HERE and perhaps you'll be surprised with what you can do in five minutes, too.