It's Five Minute Friday when I link up with The Gypsy Mama.  Lisa-Jo gives us a word as a writing prompt each week and we get to write for five minutes flat.  Our word for today is: HERE.

GO:

Here I am.  I spend hours here.  I read.  I write.  I study.  I pray. The hours slip by all too quickly.  I long to spend even more time writing from my heart.  But I must leave to go to work, to do errands, to visit, to live my life.

This wasn't the here I imagined I'd be at this point in my life.  In fact, parts of me just want to cry out that it isn't fair.

But then I remember that life isn't always fair or easy.  I am not entitled.  I have lessons to learn, a faith to be lived out in the real world of hurts and disappointments.

So I cherish the happy moments.  I am thankful for what I have.  I seek out those every day blessings.

Here is the life I've been given. I may not get to choose all of the circumstances in my life.  But I do have a choice in how I respond.

So I continue to read, write, study, pray and live my life by faith in God who loves me and cares about me.

STOP:

Blessings and love,

How do you see yourself?  There's a way you can discover the answer to this question.  If we could listen in on your self-talk, what would we hear?

• I am so scattered
• I am unfocused
• I am fat
• I am ugly
• I have no patience
• I am depressed
• I am lonely

This is just a list of possible things one might say in their head.

To continue reading head over to Laced with Grace.

Blessings and love,

Reading books is one of my favorite past times.  However, my Kindle is typically the way I now read books.  Although I love the feel of a book in my hands, I don't have room to store many books. I love how I'm always prepared if I have to wait for an appointment. My Kindle fits right into my purse for those occasions.

Developing a love for reading in childhood is the best.  My mom used to sit and read to me and I treasure those memories of time spent alone with her.  The children in our Pre-K 3 class are already learning to read.  Can you believe that?  They learn sight words each week like 'can, have, I'.  I love to see how excited they get when they learn a new word.  May we always have that excitement for learning no matter how old we get!
I love to see the children play on the playground.  This piece of equipment is such fun when they are able to hear one another clearly from different ends.  I've found it especially fun when I see a child with their head inside.  I go to the other end and speak their name when they least expect it.  They have a questioning look and then ...they start to laugh as they say my name back.  Too cute!

The children love to color and a few are extremely good at it.  Heidi once told the kids that she loves the sound of coloring.  Now when they are in the middle of coloring, one will inevitably shout out "we love the sound of coloring".  I remember how I also enjoyed coloring when I was a child.

I had to chuckle at this shirt.  I'm sure his mom picked this one out with a big smile!  We all had a good laugh; loved it.

I'm continuing to count my every day blessings ...

#766  I love my Kindle Fire
#767  Listening to the little children read beginning books
#768  Laughter of children
#769  The sound of coloring
#770  My new rocking chair I ordered from Amazon for my patio
#771  Working on our front entry patio area with Greg
#772  Having Monday (today) off from work
#773  An extra day to get caught up
#774  An extra day to write
#775  An extra day to read
#776  Fun catching up with an old friend over iced tea on Saturday
#777  Beautiful weather

I'm linking up with Ann of A Holy Experience for Multitudes on Mondays.



Blessings and love,

I have a confession to make.  I've been so unfocused lately.  My mind wanders and I'm amazed by my tendency to return to worry and anxiety.  All of the 'what if's' begin to crowd my mind.  I realize I need to stop!
My Nikon camera has been having formatting problems.  I love my camera.  It goes with me wherever I go.  I love to take photos.  But it's so frustrating when I never know if it will work.  I took my camera in to a photo shop and they told me I need to buy a new camera.  No way!  So I ordered a new memory card and I'll see if it works.

There are lots of other things that are crowding my mind.  Some of it involves concerns about the future.  Some of it is good, like amazing opportunities.  But what I realize is that it all involves change.  And I tend to fear change, whether it's good or not so good.  The feeling it conjures inside of me is ...anxiety.

So I am making a decision today.  Instead of spending useless time focusing on the 'what if's', I will make the choice to focus on 'what is'.  After all, there are some things I know for certain.

• God created me.
• God loves me.
• God cares about what I say to myself.
• His Word provides Truth and promises.
• I can believe His Word.

Today I make the choice to meditate on Psalm 19:14:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

I'm linking up with Barbie of My Freshly Brewed Life for The Weekend Brew.

Blessings and love,