Hello!
Happy weekend! Hope you’re doing well and enjoying a slower pace these days.
If you’re new to Five Minute Friday, you can learn more about this community and our weekly blog link-up HERE.
We gather every week around a single word prompt to free write for five minutes flat, then we share our work online.
And have you heard about our new Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal?
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That’s right, you don’t have to wait for weekly FMF writing prompts online . . . now you can hold this beautiful paperback journal in your hands and write on paper whenever you want! 🙂
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This week’s FMF writing prompt is: WILLING
This week’s prompt is inspired by the release of Vivian Mabuni’s brand new book, Open Hands, Willing Heart: Discover the Joy of Saying Yes to God.
Here’s a brief description of the book:
We know that the center of God’s will is the best place to be, but surrender is easier said than done. A host of hurdles, from busyness and bitterness to complacency and control, can prevent us from moving where He directs. In this challenging yet warmhearted book, Vivian Mabuni provides an authentic look at what it means to willingly risk saying yes to whatever God asks–and highlights a practical path to the deeper joy of a yielded life.
ORDER OPEN HANDS, WILLING HEART ON AMAZON
I first heard about Vivian after winning a copy of her first book, Warrior In Pink: A Story of Cancer, Community, and the God Who Comforts. (And psst . . . BOTH books are on sale right now on Amazon!)
I’ve since had the opportunity to get to know Vivian online and in person:
She is such a delightful person . . . if you don’t already follow her online or read her work, I encourage you to click the links in her bio below to follow her on social media and buy her books! 🙂
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Here’s my free write for this week on the prompt, WILLING:
Love is inconvenient.
Loving others requires sacrifice. Loving God requires sacrifice. Am I willing to make those sacrifices?
I like hearing my mouth echo Isaiah’s words, “Here am I, Lord. Send me!”
But do I really mean it? Or do I let the clipboard pass by when it’s time to sign up for VBS volunteers, and lower my eyes when the ministry director scans the room for potential leaders to commit to serving in a new ministry, praying they don’t ask me?
I like to serve when it suits me — not when I have to give up comfort and convenience.
But doesn’t that defeat the very definition of service?
We’ve been reading through Philippians in our family devotions and in our women’s Bible study at church, and I’ve been struck by how the apostle Paul continued to serve the Lord and His church even while he was imprisoned. His letters are full of encouragement and instruction for the advance of the gospel, all while he’s in chains for proclaiming Christ.
If I were in Paul’s shoes, I’m pretty sure my letters would have been filled with complaints and pleas for help — anything to make my circumstances more pleasant. But Paul uses the opportunity to praise the Lord for using His circumstances to further His purpose and advance the kingdom.
May we learn from Paul’s example, and ultimately from the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
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Vivian Mabuni is a national speaker and writer with a passion to share the hope and life found through intimacy with God. With thirty years of ministry experience on staff with Cru, she loves teaching about the Bible and providing practical applications. Author of Open Hands, Willing Heart: Discover the Joy of Saying Yes to God and Warrior In Pink: A Story of Cancer, Community and the God Who Comforts, she lives in California with her husband, Darrin, and their three kids. She loves coffee, shoes, sushi, and social media.
Connect with Vivian at the following places online:
Website: http://vivianmabuni.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VivianMabuniWriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivmabuni/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vivmabuni
Join the link-up with your own five-minute free write on the prompt, WILLING, below:
I didn’t want to be here,
but it’s happened anyway.
At least now the way is clear
to my dying day.
I didn’t want to witness this,
but it seems to be my lot,
taking cancer’s Judas-kiss,
and giving all I’ve got.
I didn’t want this dying young,
but at least I won’t grow old;
hopeful words stay on the tongue,
and don’t by years grow cold.
I didn’t want this by a mile,
but I’ll face it with a smile.
Oh Andrew, heartfelt hugs. Hopeful words don’t grow cold; they last all eternity.
Kate, I pray I’m always willing. Because I know He is always ABLE to give me the grace.
YES…. This is so on point with where my heart wrote, which NEVER happens. I often feel like the odd duck out… your line about “serving what suits me”. BOOM.
Good words!