Hello! Welcome to this week’s edition of our weekly Five Minute Friday freewriting exercise.
Join us as we freewrite for five minutes flat on a one-word prompt. New here? Learn more about the link-up here, then join the mailing list here.
This week’s FMF writing prompt is: SMILE
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About a week or so ago I picked up my phone, and a hilarious image of my son showed up on my lock screen in place of my usual scenery photo. It was a picture I had taken a few years ago when I was halfway through giving him a haircut. I had used the clippers to shorten the sides but had left the middle untouched so he had a bit of a mohawk look going on. The clippers kept catching in his afro and he’d had enough, so he stepped away from the chair, scrunched up his face, furrowed his eyebrows, and pouted at me in jest.
As I unlocked my phone, another goofy photo appeared — this time one from when my daughter had used my phone to capture silly selfies, her dark chocolate eyes wide and her tongue sticking out. I laughed again — first at the surprise, then at the picture itself.
My “safe” personality tempted me to replace the images with their usual sunset, beach, or Cape Town scenery photographs, but I decided to live on the wild side and keep the pictures as they were. Now, every time I pick up my phone or close an app, I smile.
What’s making you smile these days?Â
If you need some motivation, here’s a song to inspire you:
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Hope you find plenty of reasons to SMILE this week!
Join the link-up with your own five-minute freewrite below:Â
Andrew’s five-minute effort. He figures it shows.
Smile when gut-pain bends you double,
smile when cancer takes your voice.
Smile when you’re in mortal trouble;
smile because you have no choice.
Smile with demons all around you,
smile to make them snarl and frown.
Smile because it’s always been true
that smiling brings the devil down.
Smile along with saints and angels,
smile along with matryred folks,
smile because you’ll run the tables
and smiling, beat the Vega blokes
who bet against your smiling soul
and don’t know smiling keeps you whole.
Oh my gosh, I am going to keep this song playing all day. I never heard it before this morning. There is no way to keep from smiling while it’s on!
Is it just me, or does Kirk Franklin not age?
I love the idea that this song presents. There are some things that are really hard, but we can smile because when it’s all over we will be better for it. Thank God for that.
FMF #16, Amie
Silly family photos with fun memories attached are guaranteed to make me smile too!
I read this yesterday but went back to it this morning. Such a great post and song to start the day with x
Love this prompt and love goofy photos 🙂
This was an inspiring prompt for me. I stayed on youtube after Smile and it was a like playlist of gratitude songs. I needed that. I love how the Holy Spirit works.
Thanks for the music! What a pick me up!
Thanks for sharing that cheery song. Never heard it before, but it made me smile. 🙂