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

Please be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post to read an important announcement about the rest of the year here at Five Minute Friday.

This week’s FMF writing prompt is: RECOGNIZE

(P.S. I took this photo from the plane window as we approached Cape Town earlier this week.)

First, thank you to everyone who has prayed for my trip. My husband and I landed safely in Cape Town on Sunday night (though we endured the most prolonged turbulence I’ve ever experienced on a flight . . . I would estimate about 7-9 hours out of the 14-hour flight!).

Thank you, too, for those who have already prayed or committed to pray for my upcoming surgery, which is scheduled for 8am Cape Town time this coming Monday, November 3rd. I should be in the hospital for two to three nights and recovering at my mother-in-law’s house for the next five weeks.

(Starting my five-minute writing timer here.)

Being in Cape Town these past few nights has been delightful. (Except the “being awake from 12am-4am every day” part.)

It’s been seven years since I was last here (after living in Cape Town for ten years from 2002-2012).

Much has changed in the past seven years, but it’s been so fun and nostalgic to recognize so many familiar sights.

From the descent into the Mother City from the plane, I could recognize the familiar curves of the landscape, the bend in the N1 near the Protea Hotel Tyger Valley, the browns and greens of the dirt and trees, the vibrant blues of the ocean against the jutting coastline.

We went to buy groceries our first morning here, and the workers probably smiled at me taking photos of some of the more nostalgic items that took me straight back to the days I was raising my babies in this beautiful country. Plastic bottles of Oros and Steri-Stumpie, Aero bars and Bar One chocolates.

The bluest blue skies, the occasional mind-boggling strength of the wind, hanging laundry on the line outside, the sound of multiple different accents and languages being spoken all around.

Shops like Foschini, Game, Pick n’ Pay, and Woolworths. Fried hake from Ocean Basket and burgers at the Spur.

It’s all coming back.

And it’s been such a good reminder, after being in a bit of a “West Michigan bubble” for the past thirteen years, that there is such much variety in the world, and certainly more than one way to do things well.

STOP.

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In case you missed the announcement last week, I will be taking a medical leave from Five Minute Friday during November and December.

That means this is my final FMF link-up on this site for 2025. I will be back hosting in January 2026, Lord willing!

I will not personally be hosting the FMF link-up during November and December, BUT longtime FMF community member Andrew Budek-Schmeisser has graciously volunteered to keep the link-up going on his site while I’m away.

If you’d like to keep your weekly writing habit going in November and December, head over to Andrew’s site at the usual link-up times:

https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com

Please note: I will not be sending the usual weekly writing prompt emails during this period or posting the prompts on social media.

Thanks in advance to Andrew for his time and offer!

Here’s a snapshot of what’s to come: 

October 31st: Final FMF link-up here for 2025

November: Go to Andrew Budek-Schmeisser’s site to participate

December: Go to Andrew Budek-Schmeisser’s site to participate

January 9th: First FMF link-up of 2026 on this site

Thank you in advance for your grace and understanding!

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