And so – we write for five minutes, our words tumbling out – no editing, no polishing – just flat out on a one word prompt! We gather all our beautiful thoughts here in our Five Minute Friday community and then love on each other as only we can do! Click here to learn all about it.
Home is where the Five Minute Friday community gathers so please join us at Kate Motaung’s for our Friday fun! And so excited to say that “Home” this week is in Nashville at the first ever FMF Retreat. Thinking of all of you and wishing we were all sitting on comfy couches next to each other.
HERE
GO…
Here is our past, present and future all wrapped together in the same place and the same time.
Here is the rapid, staccato life mixed with days of deep soul breathing and everything in between.
Here is where we hold our dreams and sometimes set them free to fly to the heavens.
Here is the secret place we tuck away our precious memories to revisit when we need them most.
Here is where we feel most comfortable and where we would choose to be all the time if we could.
Here is where God reaches us to teach, love and lead us closer to Him.
When you hear God’s call because you are listening so intently and the whispers become words of affirmation, you are where you need to be.
Take time to be present in each moment so your presence is a gift to others.
Allow God to take up residence in your heart because there is no other place you would rather be than with Him.
[Tweet “Here is God’s presence in our past, present and future!”]
Here is when you know have arrived, the place where you hang with your people, where joy is released because it feels just right and the knowledge that in this place you are HOME! Here is God’s presence magnified because He is the reason that we even exist.
This weekend, I have arrived at HERE! My people will be with me, I will feel the love of new friends and a community that for many of us we have only known through our online presence. We are beginning a weekend retreat of my favorite writing friends at the FMF Retreat in Nashville. This is happening because we believed that a retreat was the next logical step for this beautiful community. Here is where we give thanks to God for allowing this to happen.
And so this weekend we will rejoice that we are among friends and God’s presence is real.
But let the godly rejoice.
Let them be glad in God’s presence.
Let them be filled with joy.
4 Sing praises to God and to his name!
Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds.[a]
His name is the Lord—
rejoice in his presence! Psalm 68:3-4
In grace and peace,
Mary
So glad to be… here
Glad you stopped by, Tondra! It’s amazing how we each described “here” and what that looks like for us.
Mary,
Just beautiful!! Have a wonderful and refreshing retreat! Enjoy being in the here and now!
Blessings,
Bev
Weel, Bev, it was a wonderful and refreshing retreat that was over much too quickly. God gathered just the right ladies, blessed us with good weather and showed up big time. There is nothing like knowing that you have arrived at “here”. Blessings friend!
I bet you’re having a blast!!
I was so blessed by the beautiful community that gathered and by how God ministered to each of us through the stories and words that we shared. Thank you for praying for all who gathered this weekend and for cheering us on.
Have a wonderful, wonderful ‘HERE’ experience this weekend, Mary! May the Holy Spirit draw everyone together and cause relationships and fellowship and callings to blossom and inspire.
The weekend was amazing because God was present in our gathering. I am blessed to have been a part of a retreat that centered on God, community and writing. Hope you are well as you begin this new school year.
Mary, your words speak such life. So weird to be in Nashville too but not be able to be at the retreat. My prayers are with you all. Love you all so dearly!
I certainly missed getting to meet you in person but please know we were remembering all of the FMF peeps as we gathered this weekend. Praying your Nashville visit was amazing and I will be looking for you online!
Beautiful. Five minutes and a whole new perspective.
Thank you Luz! Praying your weekend was blessed and you are ready to begin a brand new week.
What a lyrical essay. You made my heart sing, and believe me, it needed some music.
Thank you for this.
#8 at FMF this week.
Always glad to see you here! May your heart feel like singing throughout this week. Blessings!
Mary,
so you all wrote your posts before we even started the live feed, right? Lol. And you only took five minutes?
Just kidding. There were so many good things in here, things I thought on as well. Thank you. My favorite was “When you hear God’s call because you are listening so intently and the whispers become words of affirmation, you are where you need to be.”
I want to be a better listener. I’ve been doing a bit of a crummy job and I feel the disconnect.
Thank you for your encouragement.
Love,
Tammy (#5 this week)
The planning team did have a head start last week for FMF so we could focus on the live feed for the Twitter party. That was a hoot! I pray that you learn to be more present for those around you by being intentional when in the presence of others. Thank you as always for being here and being part of this community.
I like this.
So glad that you stopped by. I love seeing you here!
I love that I’m sitting here on a couch with you, reading your beautiful words. Here in this place where my people are. 🙂
The best time ever!!! So glad that we have finally met and that we are growing a friendship that is better because of this time together.
So glad to be here with you!! Love you, my friend.
This is exactly what here is all about. Being in community with those that we love and spending time in real life. Love you girl!