Five Minute Friday :: Fly

I'm linking up again to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog where she hosts a Five Minute Friday Party where she invites other bloggers to write freely for five minutes.  This week, the prompt is fly.

GO.

Fly
Fly away.

I think some of my favorite dreams are those in which I'm flying.  I feel powerful, full of possibility, like I can do anything.  I don't fly in an airplane, or like a bird.  Generally, it's like Peter Pan and Wendy, just flying.  It feels an awful lot like swimming, but swimming in the air.  I've done somersaults in the air before.  It's quite beautiful, actually.  I get to see a different perspective of life from way up high.  I get to fly over conflict and danger to get myself where I need to go.  I can even share the power with others in my dreams.  Sometimes I can teach others to fly.  I remember once in a dream I taught my children to fly with me.  It was such a joy to fly with my little ones!



I wonder why the word fly brought out my dreams.  I could have thought about flying in airplanes and cellphone usage (that was on the news this morning).  I could have thought about flying creatures.  I could have thought about flies.  But I think about my dreams about flying.  I used to think that it would be amazing to learn how to go hang-gliding, to soar like an eagle from the Alps.  I suppose when you have the ability to fly, you no longer have to fear heights in the same way if you don't know how to fly.  Flying means you can control your descent as you jump off the cliff.

Flying means you don't fall anymore.

STOP

Five Minute Friday:: Tree

I'm linking up again to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog where she hosts a Five Minute Friday Party where she invites other bloggers to write freely for five minutes.  This week, the prompt is tree.

the last oak tree before school

I walk my children to school, rustling the leaves as we go.  My mother taught me to rustle, that it was worth going out of your way just to make noise in the leaves.  I, too, tell my kids to walk through the piles of leaves directly in front of them that I might miss.  We walk under the few trees to the last oak tree before school.  It's where we kiss and say goodbye before school, because otherwise I don't get goodbye kisses before school.  As soon as they hit the door at school, my kids go directly where they need to go.  They have a life of their own at school, and almost don't need me anymore.  They need me, I know, but they're all set for the few hours they're at school.

I'm happy to have the last oak tree before school.  It has become a line of demarcation, our place to stop and say farewell.  If I'm ever in a rush, and forget to stop, my kids remind me.  "Mom, THIS is the tree we need to stop by."  I chose it because it's far enough away from school not to be seen for a growing fifth grader, but it's close enough to school to be at school and no longer at home.

And STOP.  Wow.  Five minutes goes quickly sometimes!

I haven't written enough this month.  I'm trying to find the right rhythm for my life and my blog.

Five Minute Friday :: Grace

I'm linking up again to Lisa-Jo Baker's blog where she hosts a Five Minute Friday Party where she invites other bloggers to write freely for five minutes.  This week, the prompt is grace.  I wrote this on the train to NYC on Friday, but I was not able to format the way I wanted before posting since I left my computer at home!

Grace.  Grace to my husband because he tried his hardest, and was still late.  I had plans.  My plans needed to go just right.  But they didn't.  I tried my hardest, but I couldn't change any of the delay.  It just happened.  So what do you do when your best laid plans are foiled.  (Ha! Foiled again!)

You move on.  You have grace.  Even though things don't go as plan, you can be gracious about things rather than anxious.  I was getting anxious.  Dinner starts at 7:30, and if I'm late, I'll miss it and have to make other dinner plans.  I'd rather not change my plans.  I like going with plan A, not usually plan B.  Plan C makes me anxious.

Now.  If my husband had deliberately messed up my plans, I would have had the right to be angry.  Even still, it's best to have grace.

I love the Newsboys song that goes, "When you get what you don't deserve, it's a real good thing, When you don't get what you deserve, it's a real good thing."  Grace and mercy go hand-in-hand.  Grace is when you don't get what you deserve.  So.  My anxious self wanted to deal out anxiety to those around me in response to being excited about this trip, and making the train.  But in light of grace, I can swallow the anxiety, trust in God, and make it on the train. 

I made the train.  Not the 5:24 train I'd hoped to be on, or the 5:33, but the 5:53.  I didn't have to wait until the following train at 6:50.  There are so many things to be thankful for.  Me being anxious doesn't help the situation any at all.

So, now, New York City. People. Worship. Connections.  I don't even know what to start hoping for. 

Maybe a little grace?

I did it!

When I dropped off my kindergartner yesterday, his friends were all excited about October 31.

"It's pajama day!" "AND it's Halloween!" "AND it's the last day of October!"

Wow! A lot of things to happen all on one day!  For me, however, this October 31 is extra special. I followed through on the 31 day challenge. I completed 31 days of being me.

One of the reasons I started was to get into a rhythm of writing, and to be comfortable with myself as a writer. I think I've accomplished that.  I also wrote for almost all 31 days. I'm proud of myself. 

Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done these days!

Thinking about the day that went wrong

The Nester created the 31 day writing challenge.  I'm looking forward to joining in and pushing to the end of 31 days with a breath of fresh air of creativity. To get my writing flowing, I'm writing 31 Days of Being Me.

So as I thought about my day yesterday, and all the things that went wrong, I realized something.  The things that stuck with me today were not the things that went wrong yesterday, but the things that went right.

I'm so thankful for all the little things that went well.  Toilet paper in the house is a good thing.  The yogurt I needed to get, I had previously found at Stop and Shop for $1.39.  At Walmart, they were $1 apiece!  At the farm, I bought some farm-fresh maple syrup.  I had forgotten how incredibly delicious real maple syrup is!  And dinner out at Denny's last night was a nice way to end a crazy day.

In life, we have choices to make.  We can choose to wallow in the negative, or we can pick up on the positive and focus on that.  When I decide to wallow, I get really crabby.  When I decide to focus on the positive, my day gets better, and I can enjoy the little things in life.

Pick one thing that makes you happy in the midst of all the craziness.  Hold on to that.  Count your blessings, and see where that takes you!

day twenty-six: Shalom Y'all
day twenty-seven: When, not if
day twenty-eight: On Waiting
day twenty-nine: Not quite the day I intended
day thirty: Thinking about the day that went wrong

Not quite the day I intended

The Nester created the 31 day writing challenge.  I'm looking forward to joining in and pushing to the end of 31 days with a breath of fresh air of creativity. To get my writing flowing, I'm writing 31 Days of Being Me.

Today was supposed to be my day to focus and get things done at home.  I had plans for coffee with a friend after dropping off the kids, which went as planned.  After that, I was supposed to accomplish many loads of laundry, organize food for the rest of the week, and so on and so forth.  Home work?

A few minutes after I came home from my coffee, I got a call from the fifth grade teacher.  My oldest, who has a feeding tube, had a leak spring in the formula bag.  (Remember my normal days?)  Daniel turned off his pump, but the bag was leaking all over the place.  Not only did the bag leak, they were at a field trip on a farm on a chilly day.  The poor teacher didn't know what to do.  So.  I had to drive 2o minutes to the Orchards to save my son...my son's teacher, actually!

Then, I had to run some errands, (we needed toilet paper.  desperately.) and give my husband a ride back to work from the car dealership.  With that, I got home in time to make a smoothie for my lunch, grab my music and Naomi's dance bag, some sandwiches for after school snacks, and leave again.

It wasn't quite the day I intended, but it turned out quite nicely anyway.  I discovered that there is still a Walmart in the area with a fabric section!  Yay!  I had some extra time with my husband on our 13th wedding anniversary.  We went to Denny's for dinner.  Since it was Tuesday, the kids ate free.  Eating out forced me to sit with the family instead of putzing around the kitchen before dinner.  

But here I am.  After one of those days, I'm here, pushing forward, doing what I have to do.  What about you?


day twenty-five: Five Minute Friday :: Together
day twenty-six: Shalom Y'all
day twenty-seven: When, not if
day twenty-eight: On Waiting
day twenty-nine: Not quite the day I intended

On waiting

The Nester created the 31 day writing challenge.  I'm looking forward to joining in and pushing to the end of 31 days with a breath of fresh air of creativity. To get my writing flowing, I'm writing 31 Days of Being Me.

I don't have a ton of posts hanging out in my drafts, but this is a post I put together in June during concert season.  Today I barely missed the 12:45 bus home, and had to wait until past 1 for the next bus.  At that point, I remembered this post I'd written:

Tonight I had rehearsal, and stayed downtown, while my family went home for dinner, and came to get me again when I was done.  I found a ledge to sit on to wait, and waited.  While I was waiting, I watched the Yale shuttle pass me twice.  Part of me wanted to hop on the bus and go, but it wouldn't take me home, no matter how much I'd want it to.  I had a ride coming, a direct line to my home, full of people I love on the way to just get me.  I wondered what the people around me waiting for the shuttle thought when I didn't get on.  Not much after perhaps noticing I wasn't joining them.

It occurred to me as I waited that this is like life: sometimes parts of life are like waiting for a ride.  You need to get somewhere (home), or accomplish something.  There are many options to take.  Some look great, but you have to make sure the options will take you where you need to go. Taking the bus that goes east won't help you if home is in the west. Taking a bus may be less effective than having a friend get you.  

Knowing what you want in life is important, as important as knowing your address.  When opportunities come past, you can filter them like you filter the shuttle that comes by.  Will this opportunity (job, relationship, purchase, etc.) lead me to my desired outcome (happiness at work, enough money, friendship, marriage, debt-free).

It is more challenging to filter opportunities in life the way you do when you pick your bus, but the process is the same.  Where do I want to go? Where does God want me to go?  Will this take me there? If it doesn't, then I will not hop aboard. 

The others waiting on the corner with me can go that way if they like, but not me.  I may have to wait longer, but my ride comes to take me home, exactly where I need to be.

Where do you need to be? Which ride will take you where you need to go?

day twenty-three: Inspired
day twenty-four:
day twenty-five: Five Minute Friday :: Together
day twenty-six: Shalom Y'all
day twenty-seven: When, not if
day twenty-eight: On Waiting