Five Minute Friday (If)

(DISCLOSURE:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases made through links on my blog. That being said, I will not endorse anything unless I honestly like the product.)

     The word for this weeks Five Minute Friday is "if." When I think of that word, I think of all of the what if thoughts I have had in my life. I sometimes catch myself feeling regret wondering what if I had made different decisions. How would my life look if a certain thing hadn't happened? I question and play those different scenarios over in my head until I am extremely discouraged. I wont lie and tell you that I snap out of it quickly and everything turns to sunshine, but eventually I do get tired of wallowing. I remember the goodness of the Lord and I pray for the strength to take things day by day. It takes a lot of hard work and faith to get out of a pit of despair. However, God wants us to direct our what if to the future, not our past. In Jermiah 29:11, God says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." We can hold tightly to this promise of a future filled with hope. We just need to surrender to God and trust Him completely. What if you gave your all to Jesus today? Imagine the possible ways that He could use you for His glory. Your what if can transition from negative to positive with the help of the Lord!

     I just wanted to encourage everyone to give their what if moments to God. He is the only true source of strength and can restore your hope for tomorrow. Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. As always, please feel free to start a conversation in the comments and link to your own blog post centered on this series. I look forward to hearing from you.

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for times of transition. I ask that You would help me to always be hopeful in the possible what if moments that come with knowing You. -Amen

Suggested Reading: I highly suggest these books if you enjoyed my post for today. You can purchase them through the affiliate links below if you would like to do so.

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Discussion Questions: What comes to mind when you think of the word if? What is stopping you from giving your what if regrets to God?

Five Minute Friday Link Party: http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/06/28/fmf-link-up-if/

This is a song that speaks to me through my hard times and I hope it is encouraging to you as well. "Blessings" made popular by Laura Story

Five Minute Friday (Ocean)

(DISCLOSURE:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases made through links on my blog. That being said, I will not endorse anything unless I honestly like the product.)

     The word for this weeks Five Minute Friday is ocean. When I think of that word, I think of Isaiah 43:2. The part of this verse that comes to mind is "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee." Throughout life we will encounter times of walking through deep waters. However, we can rest assured in the fact that God is with us. He sees our times of difficulty and never leaves us in our storms. I know sometimes I have felt as though the water was rising all around me and I had no way out. It is so easy to fall into this harmful way of thinking when we are struggling but there is no truth to that feeling at all. If your feeling as though you are drowning in your sea today, know that God is with you and he is faithful to never abandon you. I have even found that sometimes when we go through overwhelming circumstances, in hindsight we realize that they were blessings. Some of the most valuable lessons I have learned were the results of those struggles. Please don't lose faith and just remember that you are never alone.

     I just wanted to encourage anyone struggling today to place all hope in Jesus. He is more than able to calm the stormy waters of life and He is the only true source of help. Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. As always, please feel free to start a conversation in the comments and link to your own blog post centered on this series. I look forward to hearing from you.

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for the hope that comes with knowing You. I ask that You would help me to keep my focus on You in times of difficulty. -Amen

Suggested Reading: I highly suggest these books if you enjoyed my post for today. You can purchase them through the affiliate links below if you would like to do so.

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Discussion Questions: What comes to mind when you think of the word ocean? Can you describe a time in your life when God rescued you from your own ocean of trouble?

Five Minute Friday Link Party: http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/06/21/fmf-link-up-ocean/

Five Minute Friday (Restore)

(DISCLOSURE:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases made through links on my blog. That being said, I will not endorse anything unless I honestly like the product.)

     The word for this weeks Five Minute Friday is restore. When I think of that word, I think of Psalm 51:12. This verse says "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." There is something so awesome about the feeling we get when we accept God into our hearts. I remember the day when I was saved. I felt such a weightlessness when I prayed my prayer accepting salvation. It was exciting and I was happy to know that God had taken my sin and had started making me new. It was easy to see the joy in such a beautiful thing then. However, in the time that past after that day, I encountered many things that left me feeling joyless. Life can be brutal and extremely difficult. Our circumstances can sometimes make us forget that our joy doesn't come from the world. We look to things, people, and places to makes us happy. All too often we live overtaken by guilt, stress, and sadness. If we would just stop and remind ourselves that true Joy only comes from the Lord, we could forget all of the lies we have been believing. God can restore our faith, joy, and hope. All we have to do is ask and trust in Him.

     I would like to encourage you to give all of your burdens over to God. He is faithful to restore us and He is the only source of true joy. Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. As always, please feel free to start a conversation in the comments and link to your own blog post centered on this series. I look forward to hearing from you.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for the joy that comes with knowing you. I ask that you would help me to never lose sight of your amazing grace. -Amen

Suggested Reading: I highly suggest these books if you enjoyed my post for today. You can purchase them through the affiliate links below if you would like to do so.

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Discussion Questions: What does the word restore mean to you? Can you describe a time in your life when God restored your joy?

Five Minute Friday Link Party: http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/06/14/fmf-link-up-restore/

Five Minute Friday (Fly)

(DISCLOSURE:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases made through links on my blog. That being said, I will not endorse anything unless I honestly like the product.)

     The word for this weeks Five Minute Friday is fly. When I think of that word, I think of flying in an airplane. It must jump into my mind first because it is one of my biggest fears. There is something completely unnatural about defying gravity like that, ya know? I remember one of the first times I flew. Lots of people start out taking a short flight to work on overcoming their fear. Not me, my family and I flew from from one side of the United States to the other and back. I mean it wasn't exactly something I wanted to do but I did it none the less. On the way to the airport, my fear and anxiety slowly crept in. As we boarded the plane, I think my pulse had to have been beating faster than a humming bird flaps its wings. The trip was definitely hard but I can say that I made it and the experience led to growth.

     Fear of flight is a good metaphor for the fear of spiritually flying. I think of spiritual flight as accepting salvation, fully trusting God, and surrendering to His plan for your life. Some people feel they are not worthy of salvation because the weight of their past sins are so heavy. Some people are content feeling as though they are good enough where they are because they have accepted Christ. There are also those of us who are afraid to truly surrender completely to Gods plan because it brings up feelings of being anxious or uncomfortable. I myself, embarrassingly enough, have dealt with all three of these things in my own life. With the help of God's grace and through reading His word, I have found hope. I have grown in my walk with God enough to know that He has a heart for everyone. He desires that we all fully trust in Him and take spiritual flight.

     I would like to encourage you to consider what you have to gain from putting all your trust in God. The risk you take may just lead to a full and happy spiritual life in which you sore to heights you never imagined. Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. As always, please feel free to start a conversation in the comments and link to your own blog post centered on this series. I look forward to hearing from you.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your desire to see your children spiritually fly. I ask that you would help me to daily give my life over to you and allow you to mold me into what you would have me to be. -Amen

Suggested Reading: I highly suggest these books if you enjoyed my post for today. You can purchase them through the affiliate links below if you would like to do so.

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Discussion Questions: What does the word fly mean to you? Can you describe a time in your life when you were afraid of spiritual flight?

Five Minute Friday Link Party: http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/06/07/fmf-link-up-fly/

Five Minute Friday (Return)

(DISCLOSURE:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases made through links on my blog. That being said, I will not endorse anything unless I honestly like the product.)

     The word for this weeks Five Minute Friday is return. When I think of that word, I am reminded of returning to my hometown two and half years ago. My family and I had packed everything up and moved cross country to Oregon a few years prior. We had left in search of something better but weren't exactly sure what that was. We had ideas of what we were searching for which consisted of stronger family bonds, happiness, and a new beginning. During our time there, we encountered positive and negative experiences. Unfortunately, our negative experiences began to outweigh the positive ones. My husband and I had a long conversation which resulted in our decision to move back to our previous home state. I remember thinking about going back home and wondering if it was just gonna look like a failure to everyone else. I struggled between feelings of sadness, excitement, and anxiety. In the end the decision had been made and we packed everything up to return home. It would have been easy for us to see that particular time in our life as a failure. We lost our sense of comfort and had to start all over again. There were definitely times when we wallowed in disappointment but our return home brought about the very things we had been searching for. My husband and I were able to go back to college and my family was able to grow closer together. With the help of God's divine timing we were able to realize everything we had been searching for was right in front of our eyes before we ever left. God turned our return home into our new beginning.I would like to encourage you to start looking at your less than ideal circumstances with a different point of view. The trial you may be going through could be the start of your new beginning as well. Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. As always, please feel free to start a conversation in the comments and link to your own blog post centered on this series. I look forward to hearing from you.


Prayer: Dear God, thank you for new beginnings. I ask that you would help me to realize that trials always have the potential to bring about something beautiful. -Amen

Suggested Reading: I highly suggest these books if you enjoyed my post for today. You can purchase them through the affiliate links below if you would like to do so.

Affiliate Links
  

Discussion Questions: What does the word return mean to you? Can you describe a time in your life when a return brought about a new beginning for you?

Five Minute Friday Link Party: http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/05/31/fmf-link-up-return/

Five Minute Friday (Pause)

   

 (DISCLOSURE:This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases made through links on my blog. That being said, I will not endorse anything unless I honestly like the product.)

      The word for this weeks Five Minute Friday is pause. Pause doesn't seem like a significant word just rolling off the tongue. So lets dissect this word for a moment. It is just another word for a brief stop. It isn't an ending or a beginning. It is just the lull in between the hustle and bustle. It may seem like something unimportant but for me, it has such a deeper meaning. I define a pause as time. It is the precious time at the end of the day while I hold my children and admire their sweet little faces. It is the mornings I spend in quiet time with my savior. It is the time I spend reflecting at the end of the day on all the things that have happened. To me a pause is a time to seek and find peace. Being able to pause throughout my days even if only for a few seconds, is such a blessing. I know it is really easy to get lost in the business of life. It is just the type of society we live in. Everyone seems to be more engaged with doing and going rather than appreciating and reflecting. I'm sure we have all caught ourselves feeling completely overwhelmed not realizing that only if we would take a moment to breathe, we would be okay. I would like to encourage you to start trying to recognize the potential  times for pauses you can make everyday and fill those times with things that can bring you a sense of peace. Thanks for joining me for Five Minute Friday. As always, please feel free to start a conversation in the comments and link to your own blog post centered on this series. I look forward to hearing from you.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you so much for the times you have given me to pause in my life. I ask that you would help me to not take the peaceful moments I experience for granted. -Amen

Suggested Reading: I highly suggest these books if you enjoyed my post for today. You can purchase them through the affiliate links below if you would like to do so.

Affiliate Links
  

Discussion Questions: What does the word pause mean to you? Can you describe what a pause looks like in your life?

Five Minute Friday Link Party: http://fiveminutefriday.com/2018/05/24/fmf-link-up-pause/

Five Minute Friday Introduction

     Hey yall! Welcome to a new weekly series called Five Minute Friday. This is where I will be participating in a blog link-up to help Christian writers grow and promote each other. Each week a word is given to be the theme of the participants post. Basically all you do is set your timer for five minutes and write about that certain topic until the time is up. The challenge is to forget about perfection and just write. It is a really good method to use so that you don't get so caught up in worrying and stressing about your ability to write. You can read more about the concept of Five Minute Friday and join in here http://fiveminutefriday.com/linkup/ . Please feel free to leave your own link to your posts in the comment section here if you are participating as well. I would love to read your posts and get some conversations going each week. I am looking forward to sharing in this experience with everyone and getting to know everyone along the way.