Five Minute Friday: Together

Somewhere out in blogdom there is a room full of women all sharing their hearts and their words with each other. Right now. Here. Together tonight. At the Allume Conference.
I am here with them too because this is a safe space...a happy place for me. This  is the Friday exhale of words without the editor’s voice. Without the voice that tells us we aren’t skinny enough, or talented enough, or have clean enough houses.  On Fridays we silence that voice and we just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.  Click here for the back story on how to join us for five minutes today on the word:

 TOGETHER

Go: 
Thanksgiving is looming just around the corner and sometime between now and then we will sing "We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing" in church. I know we are going to at Midway  because it is one of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns.  I love getting together as a fellowship of believers and singing, hearing God's word, and sharing prayers and praises.  When I miss attending...my life goes wonky.  I love get togethers with friends....planned or spontaneous.  Some of my most favorite ones are with the porch people in Rock Mills and with our church families at Rock Mills and Midway.  There is nothing like being together and fellowshipping.   it does not have to be a meal....it can be sitting in someone's garden, eating together after church on Sunday, playing Mexican train, having a lesson in crochet....however the time is spent the most important thing is that we are together.  My dad's family does not get together often.  We tend to only see each other now during weddings and funerals.  The elder generation is gone now but we manage to stay connected through facebook.  My mom's family is a horse of a different color.  WE LOVE to get together.  We will use any excuse as a reason to celebrate and be together.  We have mini reunions throughout the year, but Christmas and Thanksgiving are the biggies.  This year we are all going to get together at the beach.  This has become a tradition since the year of so many losses.  We all wanted a new tradition....and so the beach it was!   There will be somewhere between 30-35 of us in one house....together.  I cannot wait to get together with sister/cousin Amanda and having the opportunity to sing to our hearts content. 

Our family get togethers always involve music.  When I was a child growing up I thought everyone's did.  You can imagine my surprise when I realized that other families did not sing like we did.  Anyways, we are a close knit family....and have a large extension of us (friends and such).  When we gather together we always thank God for this time of closeness.  Changing the subject...you know there are a lot of together lyrics....Get Together(The Youngbloods), Together Again(Emmylou Harris), Come Together(The Beatles), Let's Stay Together(Pat Benatar)....yep...togetherness makes my world go round.  How about you?
STOP:

Five Minute Friday - Mercy

On Fridays a bunch of brave writers gather here to all spend 5 collective minutes writing on a single prompt. I love this brief five minutes to clear my head, get rid of the stress, and open my heart and just write.....
Here’s how it all got started, back story, details and all. The short version is:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. (On your blog or in the comments).
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog footer}.
3. Go leave some comment props for the five minute artist who linked up before you.
It’s a great way to catch your breath at the end of a long week.
And this week, one of my hand’s down favorite writers who can make five minutes sing, you guys, SING, is guest posting for me. I’m thrilled to have Alia sharing five minutes today on something that is super close to both our hearts.
If you want to know what we’re talking about, you’ll need to read the amazing back story here about Mercy House Kenya.
‘Cause women can change the world right from the diaper aisle. –> click to tweet this one!

Mercy
 The Webster definition for the word mercy is this:  kind or forgiving treatment of someone who could be treated harshly  : kindness or help given to people who are in a very bad or desperate situation.  Oh yeah that is so me!....or at least the me I want to be.

 

Psalm 57:1 says:  "Have mercy on me, God; have mercy on me because I have taken refuge in you. I take refuge in the shadow of your wings until destruction passes by."  I cannot tell you how many times I have uttered these words.  When I as young I made several destructive decisions and ended up in situation where I needed mercy.  My Highway 22 prayers have been cries for mercy more than once.  I am one of the blessed ones...god has shown me mercy many times over.  The problem is....as much as I have received mercy....have I given it.  When things started going south with my ex-husband mercy was not something that came from my lips easily.  I was hurt and wanted to hurt back.  People I had loved, shared meals with, kept their children, etc....all of a sudden shunned me.   I received no mercy or compassion from them.  I was the enemy.  I was devastated.  I made a vow...to give as I got.  Wow....was I wrong....and ashamed of my vow when I finally realized....God gave me so much mercy....and I was giving nothing back in return.  I found myself forgiving them all in my heart.  Some actually became my friends again...others...oh well...thus is life.  I have learned to be more merciful with people through my life experiences.  I may not be the Mercy Queen....but I am striving to be.  When I utter the phrase..."Lord, have mercy on me!" I am dead serious.  I want to be treated kindly....and forgiven....when I should be treated terribly.  When we sing the hymn, "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me...."  I sing loud.  I want to be more Christlike....and practice mercy every day of my life.