{Five Minute Friday | Depend}

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 {DEPEND}.

Ready? Go.

I've been staring at the blank page for at least 10 minutes. I have no words. Not really. The week has been long and tedious. Confession: I'm exhausted. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. 

Seasons like this one are useful for reminding me of one thing: my complete and utter dependence on Him. There's no other place to land because God is sovereign. 

Confession #2: sometimes, I find that I'm exhausted because I depend on something other than Him to sustain me. 

 The truth is I'm not smart enough or wise enough to figure anything out on my own. I don't have the resources or experience to just "know" what to do. In the last two years, there has been a stripping away of people and places and things that I love. Not much looks the same or feels familiar. But, I see what's happening. God is reminding me that nothing finds meaning apart from Him. Perhaps sometimes, God allows people and places and things to fall away so that I can regain some perspective. When I say that Jesus is all I need, I mean it. But, I can't say that in one breath and then preclude Him in the next moment by failing to depend on Him. His voice, His truth has to be the loudest. And, I have to choose to listen. 

Stop.

{Five Minute Friday | Accept}

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 {ACCEPT}.

Ready? Go.

This word stirs up all kinds of things in my mind. Perhaps, that's indicative of this season of life. There are lots of things swirling in my heart and mind. So many things. Today, I'm landing in a place where acceptance is part of loss. You suffer loss. You grieve. You accept it. 

During my life, I have known the weight of a grieving heart many times. I have grieved the loss of friends and community. I have mourned the loss of a marriage.  I have lamented the loss of two children. Grief is exhausting and cumbersome. When you are walking under the weightiness of it, it threatens to squeeze the life right out of you. I'm grieving a few things during this season, you know. And, I'm heartbroken. But, if I've learned anything at all, it's that grief doesn't have the final word. 

It can't. Because of Jesus. He is Hope and Truth. Jesus changes everything. 

I suppose to survive you accept what is in front of you. You adjust. You redefine. You find a new "normal. You realize nothing will ever be the same, not really. But, oh, sweet friends. Can I tell you something? Lean in a bit because this is important. HE remains. His perfect faithfulness and steadfast love on full display. Look for Him. Grab hold of Him. After all, in Him, all things hold together. Nothing -- not one tear, not one prayer, not one desperate cry for help -- escapes His attention. 

Be encouraged today. Accept that He loves you so, even on the worst of days. Grab hold of the truth of Scripture and let that truth be what informs every other thing in your life -- the good, the bad, and all the in-between. 

Because, Jesus. 

Stop.