It has been months since I’ve been able to engage with my friends at Five Minute Friday. I got on twitter tonight excited to be there almost on time, to read about these wonderful women’s lives of babies, boxes, and prayer requests. It is such a great community. Please join us, we’d love to have you there! (follow #fmfparty)
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, each week Kate Motaung at Heading Home picks a word for our inspiration and we all just write for five minutes straight. Not much editing. No judgment. Simply words. A safe place for writers as we share our stories and lives with each other. I am grateful for them.
This week’s word: BLUE.
Ready?
Start!
Most people think of Minnesota as white. As in, snow. It’s true. About 6 months of the year you can find at least some of that white stuff on the ground. But that’s not the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of my home state (though it’s definitely a close second).
No, the first thing I think of are the lakes. The ten thousand lakes that nourish my soul with each one I visit. Just sitting at the edge of the water or hanging over a dock calms my heart. On a lake I remember God’s care of the birds of the air who skim across the water, going under briefly for sustenance, and coming up to glide again.
On the blue water mirrored by the expansive sky I find what my soul longs for most: Rest.
While we have been packing box after box after box the past week, I feel the weariness in my muscles and bones. Every so often the fears I have about the future creep back into my heart. But when my friends began posting their Memorial Day weekend pictures of boats and cabins and pure blue pools of bliss I remembered.
On the water is one the few places I know how to be. On the water, I stop. On the water, I am comforted. On the water, I am me.
But most of all, on the water, I remember my Maker. On the water, I’m at Peace.
Stop.
Where do you meet God best? Each of us has our “happy place” that brings us this calm. Where is yours?
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
-Jesus; Matthew 6:25-27 NLT
I love being on the water too! I lived in Minnesota from 2007-2014. Now I’m in my beloved North Dakota. But I treasure my time in MN; land of 10000 lakes. 🙂
We live in Colorado and are moving back in 10 days. I can’t wait!
My family lives near mountains, and I love sitting on the back porch and looking at the mountains. I am so thankful for the beauty of God’s creation. I hope you have a lovely day!
We live in Denver now and are moving in 10 days to Minnesota. I will miss the mountains, but my soul thirsts for the water. I’m a bit jealous that you have a back porch view. If we were that close I’m sure they would feed me, too!
My first thought for blue is what my husband and I call the ‘Arizona-Blue’ sky. We both spent our high school years in the desert and there is definitely something special about that sky. I crave blue – and I can totally relate to the blue of water. We have recently been stationed in northern New York – not the land of 1000 lakes, but in the 1000 Island region of the St Lawrence river. It is beautiful. And, when the sky isn’t cloudy – blue. I enjoyed visiting from FMF. Hugs. Janet
The Colorado blue sky would be a close second when I think of blue, as well, Janet. I’m guessing their similar in their beauty, being the high desert in Denver. Thank you for stopping by from FMF. I am catching up on comments after focusing on the move and am excited to finally write today’s prompt. Bless you.
What a good idea. While I’m not a woman and i’m not a writer( so extra no judging) I feel compelled to participate: Go. I first think of the Blues then feeling blue, being down in the dumps. Then I looked at the picture you posted of the blue sky, Hey there Mr Blue sky. Blue really depends on my perspective, is it joy and peace or down in the dumps. For me being an “F”, blue is a feeling up or down. I’ll try to keep my eyes up and not worry like the Scripture you posted Done. That was interesting. i may borrow this idea. May God bless you and your family. Mike
I LOVE that you wrote this. I relate to many of those things, as an F as well. Sometimes these word prompts are difficult. I’m about to work on the one for today, but thought I should catch up on my comments. The world got away from me a bit with the move. We are finally here in MN, settling in – and there isn’t just blue, there is green everywhere. It’s gorgeous.
Leah, I absolutely love the water. We always call it “the river,” but it’s really more like a lake. Technically it’s both, but that’s beside the point. 🙂 I love sitting on the pier watching the Alabama sunset over the wide-open water. There’s nothing like it. (I even got married on that lake!) Blessings to you! Tasha
Thank you for your comment Tasha! We are finally here in Minnesota and I couldn’t help but grin every time I saw some water driving into town. I am behind and looking forward to blogging more, so please forgive my tardiness in replying to your comment. That pier sounds beautiful. I think I’d like to visit. Bless you and thanks for stopping by my little site.