{Five Minute Friday | Mail}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {MAIL}. This is also Day 14 of the 31 Day Writing Challenge! WOO!

Ready? GO.

I almost decided to skip writing when I saw the prompt, mail. So, because I'm not feeling particularly creative this evening, I will make a list. I made a list on Day 9 when the prompt was post-it. I do love a good list, and it was big fun. When I was a kid church camp was one of my most favorite things about summertime. Back in the day, we used to exchange mailing addresses and write letters over the summer and fall. There's something sweet about seeing your name, handwritten, on the outside of an envelope. I do love to get mail. In honor of the pages and pages of handwritten letters, here's a list of fourteen people (because it's day 14 of 31) from whom I would enjoy receiving mail, in no particular order.

1. C.S. Lewis
2. A.W. Tozer
3. Moses
4. J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Jane Austen
6. Rosa Parks
7. Beethoven
8. Leonardo Da Vinci
9. G.K. Chesterton
10. Harry Potter
11. Phoebe, from FRIENDS
12. Walt Disney
13. Ray Charles
14. Paul McCartney

How about you?

STOP.

{Alert | Day 13 of 31}

Ready? GO.

“The enemy celebrates lethargic Christian living . . . don’t be lulled to sleep.” When I read that during my study time, I had a moment. Don’t be lulled to sleep. Lethargic christian living. Ouch. It feels like that sometimes, doesn’t it? Like the church is a sleeping giant in America lulled into lethargy by the ideas and customs that have become acceptable in our culture. Oh, we’re busy, but with what? The truth is that the enemy does a fabulous job of distracting us. Sometimes, he doesn’t have to do much because we make it easy. We do. But, Scripture tells us to be alert. Take a look at these reminders in 1 Peter.

So prepare your minds for action, be completely sober [in spirit--steadfast, self-disciplined, spiritually and morally alert], fix your hope completely on the grace [of God] that is coming to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:13, AMP)

Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.   (1 Peter 5:8, AMP)

The good news is that God never meant for us to figure it all out on our own. We have access to everything we need to live a vibrant, victorious, and effective life through Christ. I love that. On my own, I fall way short, get distracted way too easily, and walk through life with my spiritual eyes half closed.  But Christ in me — now that’s another story. It’s another one of those prayers that He’ll always answer with a yes. I’ve learned over the years, I’m most spiritually awake when I’m intentionally engaged, when I’m actively seeking Him, and when I’m actively listening to Him in all things. I don’t want to do life without Him. I want to be in step with Him every moment. Every day. How about you? 

STOP.

{Sky | Day 12 of 31}

Ready? GO.

I love looking up at the sky. The clouds. The sun. The stunning shades of blue. And, the night sky is equally as beautiful. Sunset is my favorite, though. I traveled down to the St. Simon’s Island area this summer and went down to the beach several nights to watch the sunset. It was breathtaking, truly. Just as sure as I was that it couldn’t get more beautiful, the clouds would shift as the sun dipped a bit lower and the most beautiful shade of something painted the horizon. Just wow. Do you know what I mean? Have you ever looked up at the sky during sunset and thought what color IS that?  I’d go back night after night, and without fail, the sky was gorgeous. Always. Then it struck me, that it’s always beautiful but it’s never the same. That says something to me about our Creator. About the depth of His beauty and the grandeur of His majesty. There is no end to Him. We could spend all the days of our life seeking after Him knowing there is no limit to His goodness, faithfulness, love, and power. His glory knows no limit. I love that.  

The psalmist put it this way: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)

And this: For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Psalm 57:10)

May I encourage you today if the world is weighing heavy on your shoulders, look up. He’s there. Full of infinite power and faithfulness. And, He’s SO much bigger than we can begin to fathom. He loves you so. Rest in that. 

STOP. 

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{Thanks | Day 11 of 31}

Ready? Go.

The apostle Paul is one of my favorites in Scripture, and he had quite a bit to say about being thankful. He said things like “always be thankful.” Always? Surely he couldn’t mean that. But, he did. Paul didn’t have an easy go of it, either. Beaten and left for dead, unjustly imprisoned more than once, he had his fair share of difficult situations. But, there was something about Paul. For one, perhaps he understood that thankfulness and gratitude shouldn’t be attached to our happy. Do you know what I mean? He couldn’t have been happy about facing all the difficulties he faced. Yet he managed to find joy and be thankful. He was a man of tenacious faith. And, here’s what he said:

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:7, NLT)

Our ability to be thankful in every situation comes from some place deep in us and is rooted in Jesus. It has to be. When you’re rooted in the One who is unchanging, unshakeable, and full of unfailing love then you find gratitude and thankfulness in the most unlikely of situations. That’s my prayer -- God, give me deep roots. How about you?

STOP.

{Unknown | Day 10 of 31}

Ready? GO.

Have you ever felt overlooked? Invisible? Misunderstood? Unknown? Yeah, me too. Relationships are hard and messy, sometimes even unhealthy. People are often quick to assume they know what you’re thinking when, in reality, they don’t know you well enough to make those kind of assumptions. But, it’s what we do. I can’t say that I much care for that. I don’t like to be misunderstood or misjudged. But, I can’t get stuck there. Because, there is One who knows me like no other, and loves me with an unfailing, unshakeable, and unconditional love. And, my identity is wrapped around what He says about me. Take a look at this beautiful truth. 

O, Lord, you have search me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down, you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem in in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain . . . For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your words are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed boy. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. (Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18)

Here’s the thing: I’ve never been unknown or overlooked or invisible. And neither have you. We were all seen and known by God before any of us existed. Let that sink in. It’s good for the soul.

STOP.

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