Last night I was star struck! Yes, it was Five Minute Friday Twitter Party and a couple of rock stars walked in! Holley Gerth came in for a brief moment – don’t know Holley? Well, she is an incredibly gifted lady in writing and flare! Her latest work is You’re Already Amazing. She also has a line or two of cards and jewelry at Dayspring and she is one of the founders of (in)courage, a huge online ministry of encouragement! Like I said, rock star! Several minutes later, Alia Joy walks in. Alia is unique – her words flow like the smoothest of silk and she writes story, unlike story has ever been told. I would like to know her up close and personal. And, the icing on the FMF Party Cake toward the end, FMF’s very own hero, Andrew, spoke up. Andrew writes about my dying spouse over at Blessed are the Pure in Heart.
Kate Motaung, our hostess with the mostest, moderated all the convo’s and kept us “in line” as only Kate can! Last night’s discussions were quite engaging: what keeps one from writing; writer’s block; a non-discussion of politics; bacon, of course, showed up once, maybe twice; a mission trip; children; and, the work-in-process, a compilation of favorite FMF posts!!! Y’all, we are going to have our very own book – I’ve been wanting do something like this forever and this week I took the plunge. Kate and I messaged and figured it all out – writers will go through their FMF posts and find their favorite one, which they wrote, and soon all of these will be bound in one awesome book or ebook, available on Amazon. Kate Motaung, our leader, will be choosing the ministry of her choice for all the proceeds to go. A win-win project. So, if YOU want to be published? Get me the favorite FMF post YOU have written ASAP! Accepting posts until March 31, 2016.
Oh yes, last night’s word prompt for a five-minute free write?
00:00
There are a lot of things I don’t want shared.
Germs.
Chocolate.
Bad news.
Gossip.
Curses.
There are a bunch of things we are admonished to share – straight from the Good Book!
Grief. Galatians 6.2
Joy. Romans 12.15
Good deeds. Hebrews 13.16
Food. 1 John 3.17
Clothes. Matthew 25.35-40
Hope. 1 Peter 3.15
Story. 2 Corinthians 1.3-4
I want to focus on the last one for a minute or two (that’s all we have!)…
YOU have a story if you have an experience. And, we all experience things every.single.day. Did you know the reason for the stuff you’ve gone through? Did you know that every tear, every ache, every pain, every joy, every everything is part of the story God is writing with your life AND, He tells us the reason for it. Right there in His Word, from The Message:
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. 2 Corinthians 1.3-4
So, just wait and see – God will bring into your circle of influence someone whose hurting, and, lo and behold it will sound familiar to you because of course, IT IS! It happened to you once…don’t miss the opportunity to use your experience and SHARE YOUR STORY! You don’t even have to pick up a pen, or sit at a keyboard.
Pick up the phone. Mail a card. Slip an arm around them. Offer them a seat. Open your door. Knock on a door.
You see…
You’ve been called…
to share.
05:00 (really longer if you count links, tweets, and at least a minute to ponder!)
xo
I LOVE this Susan!!!! Thanks for ‘sharing’!
Melissa, thanks for sharing your time and visiting! 😉
Yes. We’ve called to share. I enjoyed your post, neighbor. Blessings to you!
Thanks Mari-Anna, I’ll be returning the visit soon!!!
I liked the list of all the things the Bible says we should share, and I love how when we are willing to share our stories, even the difficult parts, God uses it to bless others.
I love your idea to compile favourite FMF posts into a book. I will have to look through my posts and choose one to send you. Thanks for organising this!
Carly – I love making books!!!
Beautiful sharing, Susan! And I so love your idea. What a gracious way to not only share all the wonderful posts from FMF but to give back to Kate for all she does each week. Blessings!
Joanne, seems like a God-idea to me!!! Hope we sell some!
Thanks for organizing and compiling a book. Great post!
Denise, get your submission in!
I love your idea about making a book! Brilliant! I enjoyed your list of things you don’t want to share. Interesting twist on the prompt. Have an awesome weekend!
I have seen the truth of this time and time again in my own life. Thanks for the reminder.
I love this, especially these simple but meaningful reminders: Pick up the phone. Mail a card. Slip an arm around them. Offer them a seat. Open your door. Knock on a door. And I love how you’re embracing the word share with the #FMF book. What a wonderful project!
Kristin…it’s easy to share even when we are homebound!!! xo
Well! I’m sorry I didn’t pop in to twitter last night and share in the fun! I am so excited about the FMF book. What a great idea!
You were missed, Christy!
Oh, God, Susan. I am right now crying too hard to write, for what you said.
Can’t say more.
My dear friend, Andrew, you know you’re my hero. You and Barb are incredibly loved by me and the whole FMF community! (((xo)))
Love that Scripture, Susan!! It brings so much incredible joy to share what we’ve been given with others, doesn’t it? We love because Christ first loved us: and oh how He showers His Love upon us, especially through the most awful circumstances.
Enjoyed reading about the Twitter party too! I just opened a Twitter account this week (as you know). Not sure if it works timewise for me though (as I live in the Netherlands). Would be fun to join you all though.
Thanks so much for putting the book together: such a wonderful idea!
Anna, you’ll be submitting a post I hope!
I was a little star struck too. I was thinking about all the things I don’t want to share before I started writing too. I came up with a lot of those same things but then went a different direction with my post. Your post is so spot on. Reminds me again of Brene Brown’s quote “The bravest thing you’ll ever do is share your story.” I’m over in the #52 spot this week.
Oh Tara, I am so glad you shared your new hairdo today. LOVEITSOMUCH!!!!!
I think we do forget how easy it is to share. We have only to be intentional about it! Great words today, Susan. 🙂
Jennifer, the intentionality is the discipline!!!
You know I just love this oh so much! And you! You, I adore!
Kind Ms K!!!!
I gushed about you in my comments. Karrilee is for sure a rockstar.
Aww… {blushing}… you guys! 😉
I am putting on the coffee now! You know I loved this! Beautiful words. And clearly (my granddaughters favorite word these days!), I need to nap on Thursdays so I can stay up late enough for the party~smile! I have all of Holly’s books, and love to read Alia’s words!
Love you Friend!
Tammy
PS: think I may need to change my submission for the FMF book!! Today’s words came through in a visceral way! Praise God for those moments!
LMK if you wish to change. NO PROBLEM. xo
Susan, this is such a great post! Our lives really are richer because of the sharing we all do. Every one of our stories does matter and we realize we have so much to share when we actually begin to do so. Blessings to you!
I want to share a cuppa with you, friend!
So this was fun. I was bummed I didn’t get to write with you guys last night because I do miss my Five Minute Fridays with the gang but those kids of mine wanted to be fed and read to and everything and I was pretty sure that one more word from me would actually kill my blog readers after how many posts I wrote.
“Offer them a seat.” This is my heartbeat through and through. YES! I love how we share our burdens and our joys and how in doing so we feel less alone. Sometimes in that, we get a glimpse of God’s purpose and it is beautiful. That is what I am about.
Your sweet words are so kind but Karrilee can tell you, I’m about as far from rockstar as they come. She’s seen me in pajamas with bad hair and no makeup and she’s been there for me when I’ve ugly cried and told her I desperately need prayer because I’m terrified or anxious or sad. And she’s shared that with me just because she loves me and she loves Jesus and it’s glorious.
Also, I met her right here at FMF. I will always love this community!Can’t wait for your compilation book. I’ll send you something just as soon as I can dig through all those old posts.
Glad you took the time to visit and write words. God’s best, Alia…xo
Girl… I believe we have BOTH ugly cried in pj’s and messy hair… I treasure you and your gift of words – whether tapped out online or spoken in person or whispered over coffee cups – I will take them all, anyway I can get them!
And for reals… April, May, or June… let’s pick some dates and make this happen! xoxo
(OH, and you are too a Rockstar! Through and through… and you’ve got the super amazing makeup and fun colored hair to prove it on the outside… even though what really proves it is how you share all –well, some! 😉 — of what’s on the inside so bravely – even with shaky knees and a rollercoaster stomach! It’s the way you are brave ANYWAY that makes you a true rockstar, my friend!)
Sharing is a lesson I’m slowly learning–I didn’t realize how selfish I was for a very long time. This community has beena huge part of my lesson-learning!
Anita, confession: good for the soul. Love you!
This sounds like community at its best, Susan! I used to love FMF, but Thursdays at 10pm just didn’t work for me after a long day of counseling. My brain was friend and I had little to nothing to put on the table, so to speak.
Love all the support and smiles you give each other!
;-}
Linda, truth be told FMF Twitter parties begin at 8:30 p.m. I never write that night – I can’t form sentences past 6 p.m., I can tweet a few words though!
Sh, Mimi, I loved reading your FMF post and scrolling thru all my old pals! I miss it so. Hoping to join again soon when I get my schedule figured out! Your direction of things you don’t want shared was sweet and the verses are some of my faves about why God allows suffering.
I’m sifting through my old FMF posts to send you something!
Your SFAM! <3
Good, find something.
Love this! You got my attention since I agree there’ll be no sharing of chocolate! And thanks for the reminder no sharing of gossip! I am so thankful for the things we can share: love, joy, grief, tears, smiles! Wonderful post. I need to hook up with FMF. Usually my 5 minutes need 5 day of revision!
Sharon, just do it anyway. “DO IT AFRAID!” I’ve always said that to my granddaughter!