Five Minute Friday...Grasping on tight...

Today is Five Minute Friday. Here are a brief review of the rules we all follow:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Today's word is GRASP.

go:

We had a child who was something of an escape artist. The minute her hands were free from ours she would take off; didn't matter where we were, didn't matter if there were strangers around. This child had a need to run, and run she did on several occasions. We had to grasp her little hand in ours, sometimes I wonder if maybe we squeezed too hard; she was good at slipping out of even the tightest grasp.

We held her tight, not because we didn't like her energy or desire to run. We held her tight because we knew the danger if she ran at the wrong time. We knew something she couldn't yet grasp. We weren't holding her back to anger her; we were holding her back because we loved her.

I believe God is like that with us sometimes. There are times we want to run ahead, but God's hand grasps ours firmly to keep us from running ahead too soon. God can see the road ahead, He knows best for us. So in those times when we sense that God is holding us back from our goal, we need to realize he may be protecting us. We need to trust Him and not struggle against his grip. When the time comes he will release our hands and let us run!

Fingerprints on my heart...

Just when you think you've got this empty nest thing figured out...you unpack your scrapbooking stuff and find this item. So moms, enjoy those fingerprints, they really will gone 

so quickly!!

Five Minute Friday...try and grasp how wide...

Today is 5 Minute Friday. Following are the official rules.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Today's word is WIDE: 

go:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

Ephesians 3:17b-19

Is it possible to grasp just how wide, long, high and deep Christ's love is for us? How can we? We only have our own personal experience to go off of. We have people we love, but our love is a not a perfect love. We may love unconditionally, but our love comes nowhere near the depth or width of Christ's love. 

My prayer for today is that of Ephesians, to be able to grasp just how amazing the love of Christ is for me. He gave his life for me. He suffered unimaginable pain, not just physical, but the pain that He felt when God turned His back on Him while he hung on that cross with all our sins, had to be the worst pain of all. Yet, Christ did it willingly. He did it because He loves me. He not only loves me, He love all of us. Take some time today and try to grasp and understand just how wide, long, high and deep Christ's love is for...then take sometime on your knees thanking Him for that love.

This is one of my favorite songs about God's amazing love for me!!!

Five Minute Friday...Focus on your race...

Today is once again Friday...is it just me or did this week just fly right by? Anyway, time for Five Minute Friday. One word...five minutes...no editing...just our thoughts flying out! Today's word is FOCUS.

Go:

I've discovered a fun new sport to watch, cross country! It just amazes me how these runners can stay focused and keep their eyes on the prize...the finish line. They also need to keep their eyes on the cart leading them around the course or they could take a wrong turn. The closer they get to that end goal, the faster some of them run. I can't believe that anyone has that much energy left at the end of three miles to sprint it out. The look of joy and excitement on their face as they cross that finish line is priceless. And this isn't just the top finishers, its pretty much every one who finishes. These runners train for this. They don't just run once a week and expect to be able to finish the race.

Our Christian life has been compared to a race. We must keep our eyes on the prize as well. We need to focus ourselves on Jesus! If we take our eyes off of Him, we lose that focus. We become lost. We too need to train ourselves. We can't just show up at church on Sunday and think that is good enough. We need to spend time each day in the word. We need to pray and seek God's direction for our lives. Then we need to do it!!! Just like the runner needs more than one day of training, so to do we!

What are you focusing on today? Focus on Jesus and you will be amazed at how clear things become!!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Ah...home sweet home...

We arrived in Roseau exactly two months ago today! We were excited, we were exhausted and we were a bit emotional. We asked ourselves, what have we done? Are we ready for this? Is it to late to back out?
 

On our second day we received a bag of goodies from Roseau, kind of like a welcome wagon! This bag had a saying on it..."Roseau, Feels Like Home" . We chuckled to ourselves because it didn't feel like home yet. In fact, at the time we were standing in our new home with only one piece of furniture (thankfully a bed!). We weren't even sure when the stuff that made us feel at home would show up!

Two months later we are still very much newbies in town. Still trying to figure things out. We are still waiting for our Minnesota driver's licenses to come in the mail. The grocery store still confuses me and I find myself searching for items on my list. I have yet to get my hair cut because changing hair dressers is a big deal! (I better get over that one soon...I'm in need!)

Two months later and we now own Roseau Rams clothing, we even own Polaris shirts (even though I suspect Brian would be happier with something from Polaris that had a motor!). We are settling into a new community. We can drive most places in town and not get lost! We find ourselves knowing more names on a Sunday morning in church. We have been to sporting events and cheered on our new team...the Rams. There's something about high school sports that makes us feel a part of a community.

Last week I spent most of my time painting, painting and still painting our kitchen! When I started I was planning on using red as an accent color. What I wound up with was an almost entirely red kitchen! This is why I spent the whole week painting....red requires lots of coats. Anyway, when I was done Brian told me this now feels like home to him. That made me smile; I want this house to be a home!

The only part of the kitchen not painted red is the backsplash.

Gone are the grapevines on the pillars. Someday the pillars may be gone as well...we're waiting to see if the grow on us!

New light in dining room...much more understated than the previous one!

 We are still newbies and will most likely continue to be for quite sometime; but I can say...with confidence that "Roseau, Feels Like Home!"  Brian and I are so excited to see just what God has in store for us here!