Welcome to the first Five Minute Friday writing prompt link-up of February 2024! We’re so glad you’re here!
If you’re new to the FMF writing community, a special welcome to you.
You can click here to learn more about the link-up and how it works.
This week’s FMF writing prompt is: WASTE
Setting my timer for five minutes, and . . . GO.
I recently had the delightful opportunity to record a conversation with my dear friend, Katie M. Reid, for her podcast, The Martha + Mary Show. She invited me to talk about one of my newly released books, Letters to Grief.
Click here to listen to the full episode
In preparation for our conversation, Katie asked me to share a few Bible verses about grief that have comforted me in the past.
One passage I always go back to that buoyed me up when my mom was dying of cancer comes from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (NIV)
I don’t know about you, but I frequently feel the physical effects of my body wasting away. Every day it seems I have a new complaint or ache or pain as my body continues its process of aging and decay.
And yet, on the inside, I can remember and trust and hope in the truth that the Lord has never ceased His renewing work in the secret, hidden parts within me.
As I thought about this prompt and what to write, the Lord brought John Piper’s article, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer,” to mind.
And it made me wonder:
Am I wasting the providences the Lord has given me?
Am I wasting opportunities that I’ve been given — either due to fear of man, selfishness, or just plain laziness?
I mentioned in a recent post that my friend’s husband recently passed away very suddenly. They had no indication it was coming. And I keep thinking to myself, “This could be my last day. This could be my husband’s last day.”
How now shall we live?
STOP.
+++
RELATED POST:
Bible Verses for Comfort in Grief
+++
Join us with your own five-minute freewrite on the prompt, WASTE, in the link-up below, then visit your link-up neighbor to read their post and leave an encouraging comment:
I spoke a very special lingo
that may well not be to your taste,
and at the prompt my mind said Bingo!
for the prompt this week is Waste,
which means to grease, or terminate,
or turn into bright pink mist.
To write this now I hesitate,
because I know some might resist
thoughts of a new centurion,
thoughts that betray a wilder time,
thoughts that show where I was from
before I took up Christian rhyme,
but still my soul oft longs to follow
the road that leads to far Valhalla.
Well under four minutes. And I am tempted to delete it.
Sudden death is such a good reminder that our lives are indeed fleeting and we need to be more thoughtful about our days. FMF17
Thanks for hosting, Kate. Praying that your health is improving!