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Five Minute Friday: Care

September 24, 2021 by admin 20 Comments

Kate said care. When I was a little girl we attended Grace Bible Chapel, a Brethren Assembly Fellowship, Exclusive… don’t ask. Once a month the Sunday evening service included hymn requests – now, back then we sang from hymn books [Hymns of Grace and Truth] and my favorite hymn was page 100. If the leader… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, care, essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, free write, grace, hymns, Kate Motaung, one word, Truth, Write

Five Minute Friday – Purpose

September 17, 2021 by admin 16 Comments

Kate said purpose. What is my purpose? What is yours? To explain my answer I must qualify the position from which I write. I am a believer in, and a follower of, Jesus Christ. My Purpose My purpose is to be known by Him and to make Him known. The second part of that is… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, Jesus, Kate Motaung, one word, purpose, relationship, religion, Rick Warren

Five Minute Friday – Rescue

September 10, 2021 by admin 10 Comments

Kate said rescue. I love the word RESCUE. And, I venture to say it is because I was gloriously rescued a long time ago. The entire Bible has a theme of rescue. One can go back through the Old Testament stories of rescue. Adam and Eve. Noah. Moses. Abraham. Joseph. Rahab. Esther. Ruth. Etcetera. New… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, Kate Motaung, one word, rescue

Five Minute Friday: Teach

August 27, 2021 by admin 1 Comment

Kate said teach. Friday, August 20th, 2021. As I always do on Friday mornings I checked in on Five Minute Friday and the word prompt of the week. As it turned out TEACH was more appropriate than I gave it credit. I felt horrible. I could hardly breathe and my body was swollen like a… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, Kate Motaung, one word, teach, Teachable

Five Minute Friday: Accountability

August 13, 2021 by admin 9 Comments

Kate said accountability. Accountability is a vital practice to have in place. I’d like to tell you about my accountability partner – One I’ve had since 1992. My Accountability Partner Some of you will roll your eyes. Or, make a smirk with your lips. Perhaps, shake your heads and say she’s crazy! But, if you are… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, accountability, challenge, essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, Kate Motaung, one word

Five Minute Friday: From

August 6, 2021 by admin 14 Comments

Kate said from. My well continues to be dry but I offer my all-time favorite joke! Ready? Here goes Tommy runs in from playing, “Mom, Mom where am I from?”  Mom thinks oh boy here we go – birds and bees on a play day. She sits Tommy down and explains everything to him. Exactly… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, challenge, essay, essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, free write, FROM, Kate Motaung, one word

Five Minute Friday: Order

July 23, 2021 by admin 14 Comments

Kate said order. I like order. I loathe chaos. When I sense there is no order to something I’m involved in or that is happening around me – I tend to recluse and quiet the chaos. A lot of people take that as rude or unsocial – but for me, it is the best way… [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, blogging, challenge, essay challenge, five minute friday, five minutes, Kate Motaung, one word

Five Minute Friday: Strong

July 16, 2021 by admin 17 Comments

Kate said strong. My first-born son was asked in an 11th Grade class, “Who is the strongest person you’ve ever met?” His answer was simply two words, “My mom.” I was floored when he told me that. Floored, and flattered! My first two kids went through the hard with me. The separation and the divorce…. [Read More]

Filed Under: Five Minute Friday, Heart, Home, Hope Tagged With: Abortion, essay, essay challenge, faith, five minute friday, five minutes, free write, Kate Motaung, one word, Strong

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This may come as a SHOCK to you, but I love to do This may come as a SHOCK to you, but I love to do laundry. 
When I'd visit my daughter's busy home, she'd be up to her eyebrows in laundry and would gladly turn the task over to me! I'd joyfully sort, fold, hang, and stack clothes in appropriate piles for an easy distribution. It was a gift well-received!
Allow me to share a story and my SHOCK when it happened:
As a single mom to three under 13 , I was never without a pile of dirty clothing. My job outside the home was full-time and demanded a lot of attention.  So did our closets and drawers! 
Imagine my SHOCK one early evening, as I whipped up supper for my hungry crew and looked and saw Lowell walk down the hall with a huge basket filled with perfectly folded clean laundry and a cache of items on hangars over his arm!
SHOCKED, I followed him into the bedroom, where he began making piles for the kids to collect and put away.
With a SHOCKED voice I exclaimed, "What on earth?" 
After I left for work that morning, he had collected all the hampers, loaded them in the car, and brought them to the little German lady at the corner laundromat who did laundry by the pound. 
It was the greatest of gifts. Perfectly folded stacks of underwear, tees, and socks. He had that done for me for about a year. The great SHOCK is I learned to love doing the laundry. It was almost a daily gift I could give my family in the most tangible of ways!
Have you ever been pleasantly SHOCKED by something really good?
In the past 3 years, we've had to do some learning In the past 3 years, we've had to do some learning! We've had to EASE into new normals in our personal lives.
2019 The first "EASING" we moved into a tiny house. We did an ultimate downsizing. I shred 300 lbs of paper. I donated boxes and boxes of books. Family heirlooms were given to family members while we were still alive. Shoes had to be "paired" down.we kept only the tchotskies we loved. It was a much-wanted EASING.
The second was a summer of failing health, which ended with a diagnosis.  Congestive Heart Failure, or CHF. 36 hours from sure death, a cardio team rescued me. A couple of meds and I'm good to go! That EASING INTO brought a dear new friend,  a humbling, and a slight fear of being *unfinished!*
The third EASING was retirement from a 44-year span of various careers. I've had some good ones, some not so good, and a few phenomenal ones. Why, I've even worked for a USA President! I loved my different jobs, and it was always my desire to work from home and make an equitable living. I was granted that privilege in 2005, and that position took me to retirement in Dec 2021! Retirement has been a daily practice of EASING INTO. And, I'm getting quite good at it!
God has brought a lovely, peaceful EASE into our lives, and we are over the moon grateful.
Have you ever had to do an EASING INTO? Do tell!
#write28days #faithwriter #hopewriterslife #fromfarmtoflat2tinyhouse
#retirementrocks
What exactly are my BELIEFS? I believe in God the What exactly are my BELIEFS? 
I believe in God the Father.
I believe in Jesus Christ. 
I believe in Holy Spirit. It is Them who give me life.
My BELIEFS are deeply planted in a very strong foundation of Biblical proportion! My sister and I,  the only children born to Terry and Hal, are true baby boomers! Our dad served in "the war to end all wars" WW2. We went to church. We said our prayers. We memorized Bible scriptures. We sang choruses and hymns. We believed.
Yet, my BELIEFS became personal later in life. I realized He is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Source of Life - real forever life. 
My BELIEFS became the very essence of my life. 
I will never regret this decision.  I will never stop testifying of God's Grace and Mercy. 
My BELIEFS are grounded and sure.
Are yours?
#write28days #faithwriter #hopewriterslife
Our tiny home of SAFETY. We've lived here 3 years, Our tiny home of SAFETY. We've lived here 3 years, and it truly has offered us sanctuary. Our children and grandchildren all live a distance from us, but we never really feel far from them. We nurture our relationships.
There have been many instances in our/my life that SAFETY seemed a foreign comfort. 
A time when I would keep a track on replay in my cars sound system. The song? You Are My Hiding Place by Selah. I also had the scripture from Psalms on a sticky note on my dash. The words gave my mother's soul great SAFETY and comfort. 
That season ended with good results after a very hard and long road. Once again, my heavenly Father wrapped me in the SAFETY of His presence.
We all have suffered angst of soul, and it is a hard, hard road. What brings you safety during the difficult times?
You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32.7
This is an aerial shot of our tiny house COMMUNITY This is an aerial shot of our tiny house COMMUNITY. We downsized in 2019 into a 399 square feet tiny home. It's the best decision for us in this season of our life. We're in "late autumn" if you recall my post from the other day!
Our COMMUNITY consists of 12 tiny houses, two of which are Airbnb's. There are young people, old people, single people, married people, retired people, and working people. We are a diverse COMMUNITY.
Diverse faiths, diverse politics, diverse hobbies, and interests. But the one common thing is that we all look out for one another.
That's what good, caring communities do. In a fashion we are family and we care about each other's welfare.
I've made a pot of chicken soup for one couple. I went out each day for a milkshake  for one with strept throat. I left a care bag of covid aids at another. 
COMMUNITY. I want to be a good participant in ours, in our actual family, and with my online people. 
Do you actively participate with your COMMUNITY regardless of type?
"How good and pleasant it is for communities to dwell in peace."
#write28days #faithwriter #hopewriterlife
The sun is definitely doing its seasonal shift wor The sun is definitely doing its seasonal shift work! But, I'll take sunshine at any angle! 🌞 ☀️ 🌤  #fromfarm2flattotinyhouse #saturyayvibes #tinyhouseliving
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