Faith – Page 8

It’s Worth Trying Again

Life lessons are all around us.
I often have an epiphany when I spend time with my godson P. He’s about a year now and doesn’t want to sit still anymore. No matter where he is, he’ll look out for some object or wall to pull himself up. This is not an easy thing to master, and very often he’ll make it halfway only to fall back down.

This is an activity P can do a million times over.
Pull himself up, fall back down. And repeat.
He doesn’t care about all these times he didn’t manage, he cares about the next time.
That one time he’ll find something steady to hold on to and eventually make it onto his feet.
He’s got this irrepressible will to live, to move, and to explore.

When exactly does it happen that pessimism settles in to our hearts?
Is it part of growing up that we sometimes stop fighting and investing and wanting?
When exactly does the will to persevere and explore and live leave our soul?

Yes, life kicks in and its everyday challenges certainly are not easy.
But I still hope to be a bit more like P some days.
Like a person who is driven enough by life to never stop wanting.
Whose passion is greater than the obstacles.
Who doesn’t care about all the times she’s missed a goal or failed at something, but uses these experiences to grow stronger and move forward.

Who doesn’t stop searching until she’s found that one thing that holds her steady and safe.
There’s a life out there, waiting to be explored.
It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth exploring.

Writing for Five Minute Friday today.

He’s Got My Whole World in His Hands

Last week we talked about decisions and how hard it is to make them.
Especially when they seem to alter our entire being, lifestyle, and faith.
But do they really?
I guess we often make our lives more complicated by listening to all these voices telling us that this next decision is it. This next step will change everything.
But does it really?

If you miss this bus, your entire day will be messed up.
If you wear the wrong color today, everyone’s going to stare at you.
If you take this job, you’ll miss out on so many other things.
If you’re not married by 28, you’ll die as an unhappy spinster.
If you don’t pray in the morning, your day will go by without any blessings.

It seems as if our whole world depended on this one tiny decision.
But does it really?

The world is messed up, I agree.
Look at the heart-wrenching news as soon as you go online or switch on the TV. The suffering doesn’t ever seem to stop.
So many broken relationships, so much desperation around me.
So many unanswered questions and uncertain futures.
As the world screams for decisions louder and louder, I can often just fall silent.

And then I hear that soft tune in my head. A kiddy song from my childhood.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.
What a staggering answer to all the decisions out there!
Of course, I still have to make them. Of course, not everything will fall into place. And not everything will go my way for sure.
And yet, these hands change everything.
No matter what I have for breakfast today, no matter if I miss this bus, no matter where I’ll work in the future, no matter how dark the news of the world are: He’s got the whole world – my world – in His hands. And I want to believe that nothing goes by unnoticed, uncared for, unloved by the Father.

Writing for Five Minute Friday today.

I Want to Feel Alive

Yesterday I bought flowers.
They looked dead with their buds still closed and seemingly no color in them.

Somehow they were a good image for my current state of mind and heart.
It’s so easy to feel dead inside.

When your creativity is buried under piles of work and you find no time for the beautiful mundane.
When your ideas are hidden deep down below long to do lists.
When your joy is drained by all the questions and doubts your heart can’t get rid of.
When your hope is subdued whenever you read the news about wars and refugees and attacks.

There’s too much despair in the world to feel hope, to feel joy, to feel alive.
Today is Good Friday, the day of death.
The day when all seems to have come to an end.
Life has just gone.

No matter how deep we are in life with our work and questions and doubts, let’s remember that Friday is not the end.
Sunday is.
The day when death was left behind and brought us the gift of life, eternal life. The day when that closed bud breaks into full bloom.

One person makes all the difference.
He is life Himself and is able to bring back life to wherever we are seemingly dead.
It might just be a fan, a faint hope, a closed bud.
Cling and claw to that life He wants to give.
That’s all it takes.

Writing for Five Minute Friday today. Happy Easter everyone!

I Am (Not) Surprised

I’m a bit surprised.
And angry.
And disillusioned.
This week has been hard.
A lot of questions and doubts and struggles.
A lot of tears and hopes and fears.
So many question marks about the future.
So many unfulfilled desires.
And so little assurance and certainty of everything.

In my walk of life with its ups and downs I thought I had learned a bit.
I thought I had developed a bit of confidence in myself, in others, in You.
I thought I had learned enough truth which would now get me through the storm.
I thought I had become at least a little bit more mature in wisdom, life, and faith.

As I lie here in my restless state of mind and heart I realize that I am not surprised.
I am sobered.
In all the living and growing and struggling I still need You.
In all the knowing and learning I still need to trust You.
In all the wandering and moving I still need to find my home in You.
In all the worrying and questioning and doubting I just hope that You’ll be there every step of the way.

Writing for Five Minute Friday today. Have you heard? There will be a book compilation with the best pieces from the community. Check out the details at Kate’s page!

[Five Minute Friday] Morning

I am a morning person.
I somehow got used to getting up early and learned to appreciate its benefits. You get the gift of a beautiful sunrise and a reminder that today is a new day full of God’s grace.
I love how I can look back on everything I’ve already accomplished around lunchtime. It feels good to get things done.

There’s something special about mornings.
They are sacred moments.
They carry a certain sensation with it.

Each morning is an expectation.
A whole day ahead of me with so many hours to fill.
What will I do with these hours?
I need to get work done, obviously. But there’s always time for meeting a friend, a chat with a colleague, a delicious meal.
Mornings are the beginning of a new day and I am expectant to how it will all play out.
How do you fill your day?

Each morning also carries a bit of fear.
So many hours of precious time in front of me.
What if I ruin it?
What if I look back on the day at night and feel like I haven’t accomplished anything? What if I waste my time?
What if something bad happens today and I wished I never lived through this day?
We can’t stop a day from happening, we have to live through.
Yes, there will be off days, but that’s okay.
Face your fears and face the day.

Most of all, mornings are an invitation.
Make plans for the day, but allow them to be changed.
By a bus you just missed.
By a friend who needs to talk with you.
By a project that needs your attention.
By the Lord who might have something better in mind for you today.
Invite spontaneity into your life.
And invite the Lord to be himself with you today.

What does your morning look like?

Writing for Five Minute Friday today.

[Five Minute Friday] Forget

Even though I have warned many of my friends, I still feel bad about what some of my relationships have been like in the last year. When I began my teaching job I told them, “Don’t take it personally if I don’t contact you in months, I just started working. It feels a bit like a bomb has been dropped on me and I have no idea when I’ll get out of that hole.”

When you’re adjusting to a new culture and schedule you don’t have much time for anything else. A lot of things and a lot of people seem forgotten. Yes, I often felt like I’d been forgotten by other people.
But was I really?

Just the other day I was ready to get on the bus around 6.30 am when I got a text. It was from my mom. “Hey, how are you, dear? I just wanted to wish a great day at work, you’ll be great. I love you.”
Not many words, but they brightened my day. They cheered me on. They showed me that I am not forgotten.

Life often wants to tell us that we are forgotten.
That no one really cares about us, we’re just little people in little places.

But the One who created us little people and all these little places does care.
He cares so much that he sends us ‘texts’ every day to remind us.
A beautiful sunrise.
A flowerbed with colorful daffodils reminding us that spring is on its way.
A good conversation with a friend when we just need to talk.
A shoulder to lean on.
A song on your ipod with the lyrics we just needed to hear.
A few words that can turn our entire day around.
You are not forgotten. The Maker of heaven and earth sees your every move and breath, and guess what: He’s smiling.

In case you need some more reminders, listen to this tune.

Writing for Five Minute Friday today. One prompt, five minutes of writing, many wonderful writers to read along. Come and join us!

[Five Minute Friday] Quiet

Have we met?
We might have met on a conference or congress. We might have met in church. We might have connected through the lovely Five Minute Friday community. We might have run into each other somewhere around the globe.

People often say, “The first impression counts”, and I sometimes wonder what people think when they meet me.

The one who’s always up on some stage.
The talker.
The people person.
The networker.
The leader.

I don’t mind being called that, this is who I am.
But I sometimes wonder how many people know the other side of me.
The side that’s not up on some stage or leading someone.

I sometimes call myself an extro-introvert.
I actually like the quiet.

As much as I love meeting people and coaching them to discover their potential and the beauty around them I want to connect on a deeper level.

As much as I love sharing about things I’ve learned I want to hear.

As much as I sometimes need to get out and seek the crowds I want to appreciate the quiet.

I want to appreciate you.
I value words.

Your words.

Your story you so boldly share and allow me to hear.
That piece of your heart you decide to give away and allow me witness.

The quiet is a safe space where people are ready to open up and connect on a deeper level.
The quiet is a sanctuary where the noises of the world are not allowed to penetrate this peaceful atmosphere.
The quiet is the place where we slow down enough to listen, really listen to each other. Where we sit still and wait.
Where we open up our empty hands and hearts and whisper, “Lord, here we are. Speak.”

Writing for Five Minute Friday today.

[Five Minute Friday] Time

Time.

What a word in a week of very little time. It was the first week after the holidays and I was overwhelmed with everything I had to do. No, time wasn’t really available.

Do you have time?

Yesterday I went to the library to print something and I ran into an old friend. We started some small talk and he had some questions. So we sat down.
“Do you have time for this?”, he asked.
I thought of my to do list, the stacks of papers to organize, the lessons to plan…
“Yes, let’s talk.”
Sometimes you have to make time.

Do you have time?

Time to pause for a moment in your rush to work to inhale the fresh morning air.
Time to recognize the first snowflakes making their way to the ground. Yes, winter has finally made it to Germany.
Time to enjoy the food you’re eating and start a conversation with a colleague about life and faith in a depth you never expected.
Time to take a deep breath and remind yourself that stress is not the end of the world. You can do more than you think.
Time to listen to a friend in need.

Time to hear the Father whispering, “Do you have time, my child, to discover all the little treasures I have hidden in the mundane for you to enjoy?”

Do you have time for the beautiful ordinary this week?

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Making time to write for Five Minute Friday today.

[Five Minute Friday] First

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

I hope you had some quiet weeks to spend time with your family, stuff yourself with good food and let the Christmas joy settle in your heart.
And to ring in the New Year in all corners around the world.

January. First month of the year.
Beginning of so many new things.
Quite a lot of people use the new year to come up with resolutions.
This is what I will do this year. Well, maybe until January 10 until work starts again and you just need these guilty pleasures or weaknesses to keep you going.
I’m not a big fan of these resolutions because they put so much pressure on me and the disappointment coming along with them is not really helping.
So here are some things I will NOT do in the next year.

I will not be able to keep up with all the friends around the globe, as much as I want to. I will, though, be more intentional in my investing and sharing.

I will not work 24-7 and carry the world’s weight on my shoulders. More than that, I will practice keeping Sabbath and organizing my week and heart towards it, not away from it.

I will not do quiet time every day and feel bad about it. God can be found outside my room at 5 a.m. and I want to challenge myself to find Him in unexpected places.

I will not sit around and wait for the perfect plan to move forward, the perfect guy to show up, the perfect job to secure my future. Waiting time is never wasted time and I want to make the most of the days right in front of me.

I will not keep up the facade of a happy clappy, perfectly-in-order life every single day. That would be a lie. I am a human being that struggles like everyone else, that falls and has to deal with her mess. I will, however, practice more vulnerability.

This year I will learn to not DO.
I will BE.

What are some of the things you want to learn this year? I would love to hear from you!

Writing for Five Minute Friday today. One prompt, five minutes on the timer and Go! No editing, but lots of sharing and connecting! Come and join us?

[Five Minute Friday] Table

It’s quite unusual for a TCK to think about settling down and owning a home, but sometimes these thoughts pop into my head.
Dreams of a house, a big old house with plenty of rooms to have guests over who don’t have to sleep on the floor.
A large kitchen to cook and experiment.

And a table.

A large table to seat many people.

The people who come to my parents’ house probably remember one thing: being stuck at the table. In a good way.
We have lunch or dinner together and we start talking. And somehow we share and engage and discuss so much that we don’t realize how fast time flies.
Many good memories and thoughts were created at that table.

I want people who come to my house to remember similar things.
For now it’s no big house or large kitchen, but rather a small student apartment (it’s old, though) and a small table with shaky legs.

Nevertheless, I want to make memories.

My table should be a place for good conversations to take place.

A place where people are brave enough to open up and don’t have to keep up a painful façade.
A place where we connect over the simple activity of cooking and eating and experience the Lord’s presence right in the middle of it.

A place where we worship and pray with our songs and stories and realize that the church is right where people gather to break bread and enjoy fellowship with the Lord and each other.

Fellowship is so precious and essential for our spiritual well-being.
We often try to foster it through bigger words or louder songs.
But often it can be as simple as sharing a meal with someone and hearing their story.
You’d be surprised how much you’ll see the Lord in that other person if you decide to listen and break bread with them.

Who can you invite to your table this week?

Writing for Five Minute Friday today.