Welcome to the Five Minute Friday writing community! I’m so glad you’re here!

I just got back from my annual two-week break, and now it’s time to kick it into full gear for another fun year of Five Minute Free Writes!

If you’re new to this community, I share a one-word prompt every Thursday at 10pm EST, and the link-up is open for one week.

To learn more about the link-up and how to join in, CLICK HERE.

Our first FMF writing prompt for 2019 is: BETTER

better

This week’s prompt was inspired by the recently released novel, We Hope for Better Things, by Erin Bartels. (I really, really loved this book!)

better

Affiliate links have been used in this post.

Okay, here we go . . . It’s time to write! I’m setting my timer for five minute, and . . . GO.

It’s the beginning of a new year, and many of us have high hopes. Hopes for a better year than last year. Hopes for better health, better relationships, better outcomes in life.

We hope for better accomplishments, better time management, better lives.

But the more I think about the “better,” the more I see two problems with this kind of thinking:

Firstly, when we keep striving for better and more, it’s easy to fall into discontentment and forget to be grateful for what we have.

But on the flip side, maybe better isn’t good enough. Maybe we’re setting the bar too low when we aim for better. Maybe we don’t think about the BEST enough at all — the best there will ever be, spending eternity with our Lord and Savior.

I’m reminded of the quote by C.S. Lewis:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Is it possible that even with our better goals and better hopes, that we’re not aiming high enough?

And by aiming I don’t mean to strive harder, no . . . I mean look higher.

Raise your gaze. Set your minds on things above. We’ll never be able to try hard enough or be good enough to earn salvation or heaven. It’s by grace alone.

But we can set our sights on things above and not on earthly things.

Who’s with me?

***

Before we go, could you help me out?

In an effort to serve you BETTER and to make the FMF community a BETTER place (see what I did there?), I’d be so grateful if you took a few minutes to fill out this annual survey.

2019 SURVEY

If you complete the survey, you’ll be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Survey ends Monday, January 21st, 2019. (Can’t see the survey form below? Click here.)

Join the link-up with your own five minute free write below, then visit your link-up neighbor to read their post and leave an encouraging comment!

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