5 Minute Friday: Every Day

Every day is an opportunity for me to see Him at work. In fact, every moment of every day offers me that option. 


Am I looking?


He is at work all around me: in my husband, in my children (each and every one of them), in my friends, in my neighbors, in His Body. 


Do I see it?


Every day I have the opportunity to participate in what He is doing. Or I can choose to simply pursue my "list", my "agenda." It's a choice I have to be aware of making.


Will I participate in what He is speaking to my youngest about the condition of her heart? Will I speak words of blessing to that friend who is carrying a load she doesn't know if she can continue carrying? Will I pray for His Body around the world today as His Spirit moves to stir up His people? Or am I so consumed by the laundry, the dishes, the dirty floors and the errands that I don't notice Him? 


Every day, the choice is mine to make. I want to intentionally choose how to spend this time. Every day. 




Write for 5 minutes. Stop. 


Sound like fun? It is .


Gypsy Mama hosts this link-up on Fridays. She gives a prompt and lots of people spend 5 minutes simply writing. Check it out.

5 Minute Friday: When Seasons Change

When seasons of life change, He gives us the opportunity to grow and stretch in ways that expand our ministry. As we walk out, in faith and utter dependence, the season we are in, it is like being escorted to the edge of a high place. A place where He shows us a new vision, a broader vista. The lessons and principles we learned in each of the previous seasons of life, now  provide the foundation to build higher into our calling in Him. What He taught us before now has new and broader applications. What He taught us before, we are called to model before a larger group of those over whom we have the potential of influence. New lessons will need to be learned. Deeper applications of the lessons from previous seasons will need to be "fleshed out." But, as we learn to walk closer to the center of His Will, He faithfully teaches how to take the next step, the next breath at this new altitude, wearing Him more clearly. May we go ever deeper into His Heart as He teaches us to walk more fully alive in Him.




That's all I can squeeze into only 5 minutes. But it's always fun to try this and see what spews forth from this sometimes fevered, sometimes weary, sometimes scattered, always learning brain. :)  May your Friday, and beyond, be filled with Him. Everywhere you turn, may you encounter Him. May He draw you deeper into His Heart. 

5 Minute Friday: Deep Breath

Don’t react. Breathe. Pray. They can’t understand. The words spoken are not intended to hurt. They don’t see it. They don’t know. Breathe. Pray. His Grace is sufficient. It doesn’t matter if they misunderstand. It doesn’t matter what they think of me. It ONLY matters that He is glorified. Don’t defend yourself, Anne. Simply lay it down at His Feet. He knows. And that is all that matters. Truly, all that matters. Breathe. Pray. Trust. He is Sufficient. Truth will be known. And in this moment, examine my heart. Are my motivations pure? Is there anything in me that has taken up an offense? Am I truly only worried about His reputation? No, mine always creeps in there, too. Breathe. Pray. I want to be understood. I want them to know. But, He will help me again to lay that down. And His Peace floods my spirit. He knows. His Glory is all that matters. I have to still my heart before Him. My heart is not pure. Please, Lord, cleanse me. Breathe. Pray. 

5 Minute Fridays: Taking the prompt, write for 5 minutes, letting the words flow and the editing go. Then stop!

5 Minute Friday: Motherhood Should Come With . . .

Motherhood should come with a Kevlar vest. There is not another job on the planet that makes one more vulnerable. Mothers have to be able to die over and over again, watching their children become adults. We cry and pray and laugh and hope and question, at times, God's choice to give us "free will." Wouldn't it have been much easier and safer to just preprogram them to choose Him? To choose Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, etc.? 


But where would the Glory be in that? 


It is when, though they hate it with every fiber of their being, that they crawl up on the altar and die to self, choosing to live for Him, the victory shout screams out in that mother-heart who has longed for it since before their birth, that Glory bursts forth and we worship. We worship One Who IS Able to bring to Completion that which He began in us. One who relentlessly pursues them as we stand by and cheer. 


And so motherhood should come with a Kevlar vest because our hearts take so many "hits" in this journey of mothering these precious eternal beings.

"Parenting is having your heart walk around outside your body." 

"I have no greater JOY than to hear that my children are walking in the Truth!"


Writing for just 5 minutes really challenges this tired old momma's brain. It's hard not to go back and rewrite. But it is also fun to see what can be squeezed out of this sleep-deprived, weary-to-the-bone cranium today. There are many of us who look forward to this weekly challenge. And you can find them here:

5-Minute Friday: If I Could I Would

These precious children from NE India were all abandoned

If I could, I would end abortion.

If I could, I would end human trafficking.


If I could, I would make sure all children had loving families.

If I could, I would help parents learn to raise their children to glorify God.


If I could, I would go to all the far reaches of the globe and share the Gospel.

If I could, I would remove from power all who do not glorify Him and replace them with those who do.


If I could, I would eliminate hunger.

If I could, I would end all war.


If I could, I would teach people to live in Peace.

But, I can't. And so I pray. I pray for wisdom to understand how the Lord uses hard things to show us our desperate need for Him. I pray that I will do whatever He asks of me and trust Him for the fruit. I pray for all of us who so desperately need Him. Which is all of us. I pray that His People will be salt and light. 




On 5 Minute Fridays, Lisa Jo gives a "prompt" and then anyone who wants takes it and writes. For 5 minutes. And then you have to stop. I always want to go longer or go back and change things. But we are supposed to simply write and allow the words to flow.

5 Minute Friday: The Hard Love

My precious sister and brother-in-law

On 5 Minute Friday posts, you just jump in and write. And that five minutes flies by. Sometimes the words come, some time they don't. The challenge is simply to let your thoughts flow and the words spill onto the page. Today's prompt is The Hard Love. So here it goes . . .

She received the phone call from the ER. Her husband had had a stroke. She boarded a plane and arrived to find him in ICU. He was there for 26 days. She sat at his side. She slept curled up in a chair in the corner of his room. She prayed and asked for wisdom to make all the hard choices. She was alone. But never alone, because her life is grounded in His Life. The doctors wanted to do surgery for the massive bleed inside his skull. She prayed and felt that it would not be best. It was a hard place to be. But afterward, the surgeon told her she had made the right call. 

He has finally left the hospital. 25% is how she describes his physical abilities. But she knows that He can either heal him or continue to give her the Grace to serve him as he is. 

The hardest part is dealing with the emotions. He has always been an "in charge, take charge" kind of man. Now, he has to depend on her for everything. The fear is overwhelming for him. She is worn and weary, but firm in her resolve to continue to serve him in every way possible. 

I love her dearly and I am so very thankful she is my sister. 

5 Minute Friday: On Distance

This was the first time we met our boys-they weren't too sure

When the Lord told us to adopt two little boys, it was the last thing we expected. We already had five children. But there was no mistaking His Will. So we began the process. 

The path we walked was simply of His making. Our adoption agent was a little Christian grandmother who ran her agency out of her home in Washington, hundreds and hundreds of miles away. We never met her, but the Lord knew we needed her. She walked us through the maze, holding our hands and praying with us. 

We had no idea which two boys the Lord had for us, so I simply prayed He would choose. When we received the call that they had found them, we knew He had answered. But then there was the waiting. They weren't even available yet. Their parents were still living, parental rights had to be terminated. Then they had to be placed on the national registry for Russia for six months, available only to Russian nationals. 

The waiting was hard. 

The distance stretched forever. 

But, He knew. We finally traveled from West Texas to Magadan in far eastern Siberia to meet and bring home Sergey, now Joshua and Oleg, now Benjamin. 

The distance to us was impossible, but it was nothing to Him. And as they became part of our family, He began to close the even larger distance between hearts. The hearts of two little boys who, though they were six and seven, had never known love or peace or structure or the freedom of discipline and obedience. Since then, the Lord has closed that distance and they are truly Home.

We had to do embassy work in Moscow

36 hrs after we met, it was time to start for home-here they are leaving the orphanage

Layover in Dallas-they got to meet my dad

At our airport meeting their new brothers and sisters, without speaking English

All 7 kids together for the first time 8/04--Kregg's parents are there with us

Seeing their new home and meeting Hercules

If You Met Me Today

If you met me today, I pray you would walk away knowing these things about me: 

• I am here to glorify Him
• I am a wife to a wonderful, godly man named Kregg
• I have been blessed to be mother to 7 incredible children, 5 the "normal" way and 2 via Siberia
• And that YOU are loved and precious in His sight

I tend to be one who strikes up conversations with strangers. Yes, that is me in the grocery line listening to the clerk explain about how her husband has been sick. I'm sorry it makes it take longer for me to check out, but it's important she knows someone loves her and wants to listen. Just listen.

I talk to people in the oddest places, at times. But I think there are so many opportunities He gives us to be Love to a hopeless, helpless World, and I don't want to miss any of them. There are times I ignore the nudge of the Spirit to speak, but I hope I am becoming more obedient each day.

If you met me today, I hope you would see that I LOVE HIM and through Him, I LOVE YOU, TOO!!


That's all you get here at the Antbed in only 5 little, bitty minutes. On 5 Minute Fridays, that's all the time we have. May He reveal His Love to you today in special ways. And if a gray-haired, middle-aged woman with a string of kids strikes up a conversation with you out of the clear blue, it may be me! :)

A Few of My Favorite Blessings

I love how quiet and peaceful the house is right now. I love it so much that I am sacrificing sleep to experience it. 

I love the sound of a flowing river. There is such peace in its whisperings. Living in arid West Texas, there are no rivers and so the pumps on the aquarium give as close a duplicate as possible. 


I love my husband who serves our family as our head and covering and a true servant. He works hard, but still makes time to spend with our seven children on camping trips, fishing trips or just a quick dash to the hardware store.


Then there are all of those children. How can I even describe the fullness in my heart for the blessings they are to us. Our oldest is married and expecting our first grandchild, and so the joy deepens. Our second is a lovely, bubbly extrovert. Our third is giving his life to serve the Lord. Our fourth came to us from Siberia and has learned about Jesus. Our fifth is Daddy's little sweetheart, loving to be with him wherever he goes. Number six also came to us from Siberia and is just a joyful little clown. Number seven sees my heart. In ways no one else does.


Five minutes goes by quickly when counting blessings. Now it's off to sleep, another one of my favorite things. Have a glorious Friday, all!

I Feel the Most Loved When . . .

I feel the most loved when I worship. Especially when I sing to Him. Closing my eyes, lifting my hands I try to sing the words to His Heart. But, I usually can't. Because in that moment, the Love that fills my heart overflows and runs down my face. Just being in His Presence overwhelms. How can He Love me? How could He die for me? I imagine gazing into His Face and I am overwhelmed. I can do nothing but raise my hands to Him and weep. Sometimes I long to be able to sing the words to Him because I want Him to hear my lips offering Him praise and glory. But I can't. And He knows. He made me this way. He made me to be Loved by Him. And He knew I could react no other way when He gave me the Gift of Himself. And so I weep. And the tears run down my face. And my heart feels like it will explode. I can only imagine what it will be like when we are actually in His Presence gazing on His Face forever. Come quickly, Lord.


That's it for Five Minute Fridays. You should try it. It is really challenging, but fun. Here's the link to Gypsy Mama where you can join the challenge. 

5 Minute Friday: What I See in the Mirror

When I look in the mirror, I see a woman who struggles to really and truly, deep down believe what she says to others. I tell people all the time that they are precious, beloved children of God. But, it is still a battle to believe it myself at times. I know me. I know how easily it is for me to dishonor Him with my thoughts, or my words. I know how impatient I can become with my children, or my precious husband. If I truly allowed the reality of His Love to sink down and saturate the very deepest recesses of my soul, would I still allow the ugly tone of voice or the unkind thought? I long to be the reality of who He made me to be. I long to walk in the complete freedom of purpose and joy that He has for me. I long to let go of all the ugly selfishness. When I look into the mirror a year from now, will I be closer to that goal? Only if I allow Him to filter each thought, each word. Only if I slow down and, with intentionality, choose wisely and well. And I know me, I can't do it. He must do it through me.


Okay that's all 5 minutes get you around here. THIS IS SO HARD! But, hey, I have 7 children--I like a challenge! :) 

 

5 Minute Friday: 5 Years Ago

The three of us at Lake Louise

It's actually Monday, but for three glorious days we were completely "untethered" with no internet, television, etc., and so this is my first opportunity to give it a try. The rules say (I'm paraphrasing) just write for 5 minutes, without fixin' stuff. Then just see what happens. It's unnerving, but as a mother of seven I already live "on the edge", so how bad can it be??

Here goes nothin' . . .

Five years ago, our oldest child was a senior in high school. For years we had been saving airline miles, hoping to go on a big trip. We realized there was a flaw in our plan, though, because airlines don't allow you to redeem 9 tickets on a single flight. Our whole family would not be able to travel together. So, Plan B was this: as each of our seven children graduate from high school, Kregg and I would take them on a trip. They would get to choose our destination (within reasonable limits). They would experience life as an only child, if only for a few days. And Kregg and I would then get to take 7 trips instead of one! I think I really like Plan B.

For Hannah's trip, she chose to go to Banff. Yes, I do like Plan B.


Kregg, Hannah, and I explored the Canadian Rockies for three glorious days. 


Life as the oldest of seven children is wonderful. But it was such a precious gift that we gave ourselves to spend those few days with just her. And in amazing surroundings such as those mountains, we all marveled at His Glory. And we reveled in the most precious gift of all: time with our loved ones.


Time's up. 

"On Friendship" for 5 Minute Friday

She is 12 now and such a blessing, so healthy!

Okay. This is my first attempt at a 5 Minute Friday prompt. My brain just doesn't work this way so it was really a stretch. Throwing caution to the wind, here's what I have to offer on Friendship. She says no editing, etc. So venture forward at your own peril. 

The news was a shock. Our newborn baby girl needed to be in isolation. Get her out of the hospital now. Take her home. Masks. Gowns. No one can be around her. She could die. 

Three other children at home waiting to greet their new sister. Instead we have to say, "Stay back. You can't come near. She could catch something." 

Still reeling. Leaving the hospital. So many questions. What do we do now? How will we take care of this, and this, and this???

When we, filled with all questions, come home with our precious bundle, scared, we find friends. Lots of friends. They have cleaned our bedroom and set it up as an isolation ward. They have prepared an impromptu welcome home party so, regardless of how this plays out, we have happy pictures of her homecoming. There's a cake and a sign and all our kids and presents and party hats.

Meals are delivered to our door.

Our three other kids are whisked away and tended and loved.

I hear the lawn mower start up and realize the yard is being mowed.

Our friends carried us through until we could stand again.

That's Love.




And that's actually 5 1/2 minutes. Oops! This is really hard. I write slowly. But it was fun 
to try.

Since I published this post, there have been questions about what happened, so here is the link to the rest of this story: Consecrated to God