Category: NC Normal

Five Minute Friday: Notice

Notice. You have to stand still or stop to really notice. Does it all just fly by? Does it seem like it’s going too quickly?

When my son was little I remember treasuring each stage and every new growth spurt. I might not have loved every one of those stages, but I knew they would end and quickly and I loved him no matter what. Still do.

Now that we are all adults, it seems that life is simply a series of stages and seasons and it’s up to me to intentionally notice and treasure what is good, whether it’s a rough season or a great one.

There is always something to learn if I just notice.

There is a blessing in every stage, in every day. Especially when it’s feeling tough.

This rocked my morning when I read it… some words of wisdom from a former pastor of mine:

There are no “coincidences”, only divine appointments cloaked to look like mere fate. There is no karma, luck, happenstance or chance in the way God has ordained His universe and, by extension, our lives. Things may appear haphazard, but they aren’t. So, God actually has a deliberate plan for all of us today. We can either do His will — or ours. We can either run His pattern — or ours. We can either live for time — or eternity. So, watch out! There will be more than one opportunity for us to do something that will change the course of history before nightfall. Look for it carefully, for it will likely come disguised as an interruption, a problem, or a seemingly unimportant person. Remember: Nothing trivial will happen today. It all matters.

~ R. Steven Warner

What do you notice in this day of your current season?

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Kate Motaung is the amazing host of the Five-Minute Friday community.

Join us here for the #FMFparty where we write without editing for 5 minutes.

Five Minute Friday: STILL

Being okay with change is one thing. Finding your new normal in that change is yet another. I am still getting used to the new normal that happened with the last big changes in my life, and here comes another one.

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

I will. I have to or I don’t survive. Sometimes it feels like we’re holding on for dear life with the pace of change in this world. So the question is, what I am I holding onto? I choose to hold on to the Almighty God and His promises to take care of me and love me. Period. That’s really all that matters. The rest of the stuff in life still happens, but when my focus is on Him and what He is doing with my life, I don’t have to stress or worry about things.

“Be still and know that I am God”, He reminds me again. And again.

He is God and I am not. I remind myself of that often, especially when my troubleshooting, problem-solving brain can’t get it solved. I am so thankful that He loves me and knows what is ahead. He knows, He’s got it, and I will be still and seek Him.

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Kate Motaung is the amazing host of the Five-Minute Friday community.

Join us here for the #FMFparty where we write without editing for 5 minutes.

Five Minute Friday: Change

The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.
The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them
changes both the maker and the destinations.

~ John Schaar

 

I tend to collect quotes on the subject of change. One of my favorite books is Change Agent by Os Hillman. I studied Organizational Development. I love change. OK, I really don’t like to experience change that I did not choose, but I am good at walking through the change process, always with hope that the new destination, or new process, or new anything will be an improvement over the old.

 

The greener grass theory? Maybe in some ways. Eternal optimist? Probably. After relocating so many times in my life, I learned early on that I would find both joy and loss in change. A second chance. A new landscape, be it house, or school or job.

 

Early on I was surprised when the same problems or the same problem people showed up in that new world. Because the destination may have changed, but I had not.

 

The future is definitely something we have the ability to create and when we forge through and make a new path, the process changes us.

 #

 

Kate Motaung is the amazing host of the Five-Minute Friday community.

Join us here for the #FMFparty

 

Five Minute Friday: Belong

Belong. The sense that you feel a part of something, somewhere, some group. Several of us discussed this very subject yesterday in the context of being without a job and feeling the loss of belonging somewhere.

You have a badge or a key that lets you in the door. You have an employee number assigned to you. You are part of the family of the company, no matter how dysfunctional a family it is – you belong to it.

So when that is gone, where do you belong?

If the definition of belong is to FIT somewhere… what causes you to feel that you belong? Is it a feeling of being accepted? Of being liked?

I have more questions than answers about this word. In a lifetime of moving and environment disruption, for me it is less about a job than it is about the location of that job.

What makes you feel like you belong?

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I link up with Lisa-Jo Baker every Friday and we write intensely for 5 minutes.
Usually we meet here: Five Minute Friday.
However today, Crystal Stine is hosting here.
Join us! #FMFparty

Page 7, line 7, 7

I was tagged by Mishka of A Writer’s Life for Me to participate…

The Rules:
Go to page 7 or 77 in your current WIP.
Go to line 7
Post on your blog the next 7 sentences or 7 lines —as they are!
Tag 7 people and do the same.
You can choose between page 7 or 77.

OK, from my WIP: page 7, Line 7, 7 sentences:

They called them ‘the suits’ even though they wore crisp polo shirts and dress slacks, and the inevitable black perfectly polished shoes. Becca slipped past the three men standing outside of Ted’s small office, less than 10 feet from her cube. One more stood inside of his office and Ted’s white face and slightly open mouth were the only clues to the conversation content. Was he being terminated? Was one of their team going to be? Whatever it was, she knew it wasn’t good. Then they all walked down the short aisle to the big boss’s office, and John ushered them inside and shut the door.

So there is my unedited teaser from my current project, working title, The P.I.P. This one is fiction… which of course means it is based on non-fiction with the ending that should have been. 🙂

Tagging 7 people:

YOU – yes, I tag you if you are reading this post.

Meanders of the Mind

Jodie Llewellyn

Allan Walsh

Raising Angels

Entertaining Stories

A Novel Journey

I am not sure this exercise was intended to be for you all… I really think it was for me – to nudge me farther away from the perfectionism demon and to get more words flowing.

As I read this morning in Bruce Van Horn’s post, “You don’t need to be perfect to inspire people!”: via

Let’s go inspire!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lessons Learned.

This has been a week of lessons learned the hard way for me. So here is today’s:

Warning for anyone doing business with Verizon Wireless, in my case specifically on Main St. in Fuquay Varina, NC, but perhaps this happens elsewhere in their stores:

For several weeks now the GPS in my Samsung III phone has been defective, losing signal every few blocks, invariably when I am lost… so I have insurance on the phone and thought I’d exchange it for a phone that works.

The young man, Bert, who assisted us, upon hearing what the problem was and that we had the insurance, took the phone and excused himself to the back office for 5 or so minutes. When he returned to us, he informed us that if we turned in the phone on insurance they would charge us for a new one since there was DAMAGE FROM LIQUID in the phone.

Given that the phone has NEVER had any contact with any liquid in the year I have had it, we were shocked and at that point he proceeded to remove the rubber cover (which has never been removed) and the back of the phone and pull out the battery and show us that the little ‘x’s’ were missing in the pink section which indicated that water had gotten into the battery. We left the store with the defective phone.

It did not occur to us until we were discussing it over dinner to wonder what had he done with the phone when he took it in the back of the store? He gave no explanation.

If all he did was check the battery in the back room, why could he not have done that in front of us initially?

I have no way to prove whether or not he personally put liquid on the phone itself; nor would they be able to prove that he did not. All I do know for sure is that I can guarantee that to my knowledge there has never been liquid of any sort touch that phone, yet apparently the insurance we purchased is essentially worthless.

Lessons learned.

If you have any ideas about what might solve the defective GPS issue, or any other corrective action I could take either with the phone or Verizon, I would appreciate your input.

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5 Minute Friday: Hands

So what does it really mean when I say I am leaving something in God’s hands? Does it mean I am trusting Him to take care of things? Yes. Does it mean my hope is in Him? Yes.

Does it mean I get my own hands out of the way?

Hmm… that’s a little bit more difficult.

I can keep my conscious mind under control with this pretty well… choosing deliberately and repeatedly to leave everything up to the Lord… to trust that He loves me and will work everything out for my good and His glory.

However, it’s the subconscious mind that is not really listening to me when I’m trying to sleep at 3 am and that part of my brain continues to troubleshoot, look for answers, figure out the solution to the problem.

So again I put it back in God’s hands. At 3 am. And 4 am and every hour on the hour that I wake up worrying, trying not to worry, trying not to control.

Because in reality, whoever has it in hand has it in their control. Right? Under control.

Once again today I choose to give each one of those pesky unsolved problems back to God. I wrestled in the night, trying to get my hands on it… I give it back. Right now and every time that I think about it today.

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I link up with Lisa-Jo Baker every Friday and we write intensely for 5 minutes. Find us/Join us here: Five Minute Friday.