Welcome to this week’s edition of the Five Minute Friday link-up!

If you’re new to FMF, click here to learn more about the link-up and how it works.

This week’s FMF writing prompt is: CIRCLE

Setting my timer for five minutes, and . . . GO. 

In my post last week, I mentioned that I had officially entered “panic mode,” as I was planning my son’s graduation open house and had no idea how many people to expect.

Well, guess what?

Everything turned out great!

(I confess that in the lead-up to the party, the Lord did remind me of the verse, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”) 😉

I had plenty of amazing help, we ended up having enough food (hallelujah! my biggest worry), and at least 130 people showed up to congratulate my son and celebrate this milestone in his life.

It was so amazing to look around and see so many circles from our lives converging in one place. We welcomed friends, teachers, colleagues, mentors, clients, relatives, church family, and more from three different schools, two different churches, various workplaces, and numerous other settings and connections.

Some of them overlapped in unexpected ways, and many met for the first time at the event.

I left with a heart so full of gratitude to God for the many people who love our family well, care about our kids, and take time to show up.

When we moved to the States from South Africa twelve-and-a-half years ago, we thought Michigan was just a pitstop. We only expected to be here for 3-5 years, and instead the Lord built a beautiful life for us here. Our kids have had a rich childhood filled with amazing opportunities and wonderful people, and I am just so grateful.

STOP.

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Join us with your own five-minute freewrite on the prompt, CIRCLE, in the link-up below, then visit your linkup neighbor to read their post and leave an encouraging comment: