This week’s five minute Friday prompt is middle.  I have struggled with what to write but a couple of thoughts come to mind.  2017 brings my 50th birthday.  I can’t remember dreading a birthday as much as this one.  I’m not sure why.  Does 50 plunge me officially into middle age?  I definitely don’t feel 50 and my kids tell me I don’t look or act like it.  That scores them points.  Maybe 50 is the new 40…

But while I know that life isn’t defined by an age, I wonder how many times I sit in the middle of certain issues instead of taking a strong stance.  Sometimes it’s easier to sit in the middle than to make friends or enemies by taking a strong stance.  Social media, along with the internet in general, can do so much good by allowing us to keep up with friends and family, but it can be an ugly place when we share our beliefs, especially controversial ones.  My heart breaks when I see Christians demean and attack, not only other Christians, but non-believers and I wonder what God thinks and how it breaks his heart.  Yes, we have to be strong in our beliefs but must we share them in love.  We can not stay in the middle, we must stand firm in our beliefs, but in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and mission, we should heed his words…

I’ve been sick all week and I am just starting to feel ALIVE again after a bout of bronchitis and a sinus infection.  I am finally getting some of my strength back but nothing I had planned to get done this week actually happened.  And here we are at Easter weekend and I am feeling a little overwhelmed.  Even though my kids are teenagers I still make them a basket each year but this year their gifts will be a little late.  My house is a mess and the laundry continues to pile up.  I’m supposed to cook on Sunday, maybe.

But as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, we know that He is not dead but ALIVE and we are ALIVE in Him. I am excited to celebrate that He is ALIVE at our Sunrise Service bright and early on Sunday morning.  Watching the sun rise in the background as we sing praises to the God who created that Sun, the One who overcame the grave, overwhelms my heart and sometimes its more than I can comprehend.

Sickness, a dirty house, unfilled Easter baskets don’t mean anything compared to what He did for us and what we have to look forward to in eternity.

Happy Jesus is ALIVE Day!

As 2015 comes to a close, I have been reflecting on all that has happened over the last 12 months.  I’ve written before on how God has me in a new season that I am still navigating.  My commitments at church changed significantly.  My full-time job changed significantly.  My spiritual journey changed significantly. I can look back now and see God’s hand all over it but during it I wasn’t sure what He had in store.  Only in the last two months has He revealed new opportunities, new friendships and a new ministry focus.

Even through all of the change and uncertainty I am peaceful.  There is more joy in our home. I am thoroughly enjoying my life as a mom of teenagers.  I haven’t conquered getting my house uncluttered and clean but maybe in 2016 I’ll figure that out, or maybe not.

I am excited for all that 2016 will bring.  My prayer is that all that happens He will be glorified and that all I do will be done in worship to Him.

Merry Christmas!

I have been through many seasons during my 48 years…childhood, teenage years, college years, newly married, mom of littles, mom of teenagers (eek!). But the one thing I’ve tried so hard to do is to enjoy the season I am in. I remember when my babies were little and I was exhausted all the time and it seemed like we were going on a week’s vacation with all the stuff we had to carry just to go to the mall. I remember ladies smarter than me telling me to enjoy this season because when it’s gone you will miss it. I remember telling my husband when one or more kid would end up in our bed, that they won’t be doing this when their 16. And guess what, they don’t. And yes, sometimes I miss it. But I am really enjoying this season of teenagers. Yes it has it’s moments as they mature and assert their independence but the conversations we can have are awesome. And I don’t have to carry a ton of stuff just to go the mall.

Dwell – it’s just a word but it can bring about so many different feelings, both positive and negative. How I choose to react to it can be the difference between giving up or pressing on.

It’s been a rough couple of years at my church. Some things I contributed to, some not. I easily could have chosen to leave and no longer dwell in my unhappiness but I choose to dwell and worship my Lord with a group of people who are near and dear to my heart. I choose to continue serving although in a very different capacity. I am following God’s guidance and life is so much better when I listen to Him over my feelings.

There has been a lot of change in my job this past year. Some good, some not so good. While it would be so easy to leave I choose to dwell and finish the race I have started. God has me there for a reason and I will continue to try to glorify Him in all I do. He has taught me so much already.

I am in a very different season of my life right now and honestly when I entered it I was not completely comfortable with it. I’m not completely there yet but God has given me a peace and He has taken away my desire to go back to it and to no longer dwell on what was but to dwell on what is and what will be.

He is pointing me in a new direction and I am dwelling on the time I get to spend with my husband of almost 25 years and our 3 children. He even put on my heart to go back to school to get a Master’s degree. Just a couple of months ago I would have said it was a crazy idea but I am all registered and set to go in January. I will definitely be dwelling in His presence over the next couple of years.

These arrived in the mail today.  My heart is happy.

Weary…it brings up feelings of tiredness, hopelessness, anxiousness. I am not in a season of physical or emotional weariness right now but I have been there. The weariness that I am in right now is spiritual.

Not feeling like I spend my time well with God. That my prayers are not good enough, that my journaling (when it happens) is not good enough. When I see prayer journal pictures on Instagram or quiet time spaces in people’s homes I feel inadequate.

But does God keep a scorecard on how well we “do” quiet time or is He just excited that we actually choose to spend time with Him? Talking to Him like we would our best girlfriend about our day. I choose to believe it’s the latter.

I decided to join the five minute friday party this week. I have been struggling to get a blog going and thought this might be a good way to get started.

This week’s topic is dance…which I don’t do. Oh I took tap and ballet as a small child but at that age it doesn’t matter because no one can dance. Recitals are made up of parents and grandparents those in oohing and aahing and laughing at all the sweetness on the stage and dance teachers doing their best to at least keep the dancers in a straight line. My daughter is a dancer and a cheerleader. She was born with rhythm.; maybe it skips a generation.

While driving today I heard the song Marvelous Light which was quite appropriate for this week’s topic. Part of the lyrics are:

Lift my hands and spin around,
See the light that I have found.
Oh the marvelous light
Marvelous light

There are times when I am worshipping in song that I can feel the desire to jump and down for my Lord. I don’t, but you never know when it might happen…