Sunday Community: Reminded

... Sometimes you need to be reminded ...

 

He whispers in my ear and tells me I AM fearless.
He shares melody and tells me to repeat it.
He makes me whole.
He reminds my soul...
I am all He says I am.
I am all He says I am.
I am all He says I am,
And He says I am His own.
                
             - All He Says I Am by Gateway Worship

Worshiping today with Barbie at The Weekend Brew.

Come Join Us.

Five Minute Friday: Ordinary

Joining with Five Minute Friday sponsored by Lisa-Jo Baker. On Friday, Lisa-Jo posts a one word prompt and for five minutes even we write what the prompt brings to mind. No rewrite, nor editing just letting the words flow. 

Today's prompt: Ordinary

Five Minute Friday

Ordinary.

                 Regular.

                               Simple.

Why, when so many these days are striving to capture the unique, the outstanding, the striking, I long for the simple, the normal, the commonplace. I find I am much more content with the ordinary, the functional, the purposeful.  In such spaces I have found peace, quiet, very little traffic and an unexpected elegance. Gone is the time when I yearned for life’s corner office but now a quiet room in the back away from the noise is what I seek. And I am not at all convinced that it is a bad thing to wish for at all. 

Can you tell this is the weary posting of a woman who has had an out of the ordinary week? 

How do you find your way back after the extra-ordinary has been a bit too much? 

Five Minute Friday: Write - My 50th Post!

Joining with Five Minute Friday sponsored by Lisa-Jo Baker. On Friday, Lisa-Jo posts a one word prompt and for five minutes even we write what the prompt brings to mind. No rewrite, nor editing just letting the words flow. 

Note: I didn't know until after I finished and hit the publish button that this post about writing is my 50th published post. So today in line with this month's theme of 'Celebrating You!' I am going to celebrate ME by taking myself out to breakfast later in the morning! :) 

Five Minute Friday

Today's Prompt: Write 

 

Words.

I love words.

I love to write words down.

I love to write words down so much that for a long, long time 

I stopped writing.

My life became too busy and too complicated.

I had too little time for too many things.

Instead of starting to write only to have to stop before I could finish 

I just didn’t start. 

I feel the pressure of unwritten words build up in my soul like water builds up behind a dam. 

I wonder...

Is it aching happiness I feel when the dam breaks?

Or is it glorious terror as words rush from me in waves until instead of too few words 

I almost have too many.

Tea for One

Tea For One Set

Coffee or Tea? 

Milk, Sugar or Lemon?

My answer to these questions would largely depend on the day I’m having – or planning to have.  I’m staying home or if it’s going to be a quiet day, I tend to drink tea with sugar and lemon if I have it. If I’m gearing up for a full, busy day, I gravitate toward a rich decadent cup of Mocha to give me that extra jolt to start me off down the road but mostly, it's tea.

A few years ago I began collecting those adorable Tea for One sets. I love them because they are made up a little teapot which which sits on top of matching individual tea cup. Every time I found a cute or unusual one I’d buy it, day-dreaming my morning tea from my newest Tea for One. 

Except it never happened. 

One morning I went into the kitchen cabinet for my regular old microwaveable mug and had to reach past one of my Tea for Ones to get it. It struck me all of a sudden of how I had collected all of these wonderful little tea sets and had never used them. It started me thinking. How long had I been reaching past those Tea for Ones to a battered old mug and why? When I figured it out, I didn’t like the answer. 

To my way of thinking, I was saving them for a special occasion. I was saving them because the Tea for Ones were too pretty to be used just for any old day or any old body. I was saving them because I wasn’t special enough to use them use for me. 

Not anymore, I decided.

Needless to say, the microwavable mug was shoved to back of the kitchen cabinet and my favorite Tea for One took its place on a simple but pretty tea tray with one of my grandmother’s silver spoons and a lace embroidered napkin. It was the best cup of morning tea I had in a long time. 

Is there something that you’ve been setting aside for company, something only used for special occasions? Someone you’re saving for someone other than you? Go find that special thing. Unwrap it, polish it, dust it off. Make it ready for your use and then use it. Remember, no matter who else does or doesn’t celebrate you, don’t ever forget to celebrate yourself.  

The Eye Of The Beholder

“It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”

This beautiful simple truth grabbed my attention when I first started following the Nestor’s blog, Nesting Place, a little over a year ago.  It resonated in my soul. I loved it. I found myself absently repeating it to myself over and over, meditating on it if you will. There was something more in that statement for me, I just knew it. It hit me all in a flash. A moment of clarity. 

If it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful…

Could it mean that I don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful, either?

I think I actually gave a sigh of relief.

I don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. I don’t have to be anything to be beautiful.

I  just have to…be.

The world lies to us when it comes to real beauty. So do the ad agencies, the diet shake makers, the fashion magazines and the dress designers and the makeup companies and all the rest of those ‘image makers’ who kept us doubting ourselves as we  measured ourselves against their styles, their standards, their perfection and ourselves lacking.  Where ever we go, they’re all around. All of their lying voices constantly whispering telling us how we don’t measure up. Telling us how beautiful we’re not.

Stop it. Stop listening. Stop believing them. They are lying. You’ve got your own beauty, your own style and we’re going to celebrate it. 

It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.  And neither do you.

 

When was the first time someone told you that you were beautiful?

When was the last time?
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
What do you wish you'd see?

Let's talk.