Hello! It’s time for the final Five Minute Friday link-up of June!
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, I hope you’re enjoying a delightful summer so far.
For instructions on how to join the link-up, click here.
This week’s FMF writing prompt is: FACE
Setting a timer for five minutes, and . . . GO.Â
I chose this prompt from a list of suggestions in the FMF Facebook group. Now that it’s time to write, I wondered what would come out.
But the first thing that came to mind were a handful of days in my life when I just didn’t know if I could face reality.
Each of these occurrences happened in the immediate aftermath of losing a loved one dear to me.
I would wake up, wonder how the sun rose yet again in the midst of such personal heartache, and ask myself how in the world I could ever face the day.
And yet time and again, the Lord’s grace has been sufficient — just as He promised it would be.
In my memoir, A Place to Land, I share a story about how I doubted that God’s grace would be sufficient for me after my mom died. Though I knew her death was coming, I couldn’t imagine how I could possibly bear it.
I had similar thoughts just after my son’s best friend died this past year. I looked at the hollow shell that remained of my boy and wondered how he could possibly go on.
But day by day, crawling on hands and knees and sometimes just curled up in a ball, the Lord has sustained us.
The song comes to mind, “Because He lives / I can face tomorrow.”
It’s only because of the Lord and His lavish, sustaining grace that we persevere through trials and heartaches, pressing forward with eager anticipation of the day we will see Him face-to-face. A day with no more death, dying, crying, mourning, or pain.
Come, Lord Jesus.
STOP.
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FEATURED RESOURCE
A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging
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Join us with your own five-minute freewrite on the prompt, FACE, below, then visit your link-up neighbor to read their post and leave an encouraging comment:Â
I have to rise and face the day,
and face what I’ve become,
and I’ve really gotta say
it’s not a lot of fun.
I was trained to violence,
and cancer made it worse.
Perhaps a vow of silence
would be blessing, and not curse,
’cause that which is within my soul
now comes out through the stuff I write,
and like a gift of Christmas coal,
it’s really not all right.
So maybe it’s just time to know
that it’s now time to let it go.
No need to take a break, Andrew! You’re like the FMF trademark. A staple around here. 😉 Always welcome and appreciated.