Happy Saturday! It must be time for Five Minute Friday — you know, the time where we collectively write for five minutes (more or less) on a common prompt word and meet up at Kate’s place (http://katemotaung.com/2017/01/19/five-minute-friday-refine/) to share and encourage each other in our writing (and lives!). I encourage you to stop by to experience the words of wisdom and thought these remarkable fellow writers share. Better yet, join in the fun! Yes, it is fun — and discipline and challenging — but mostly fun!

The word this week is REFINE. My timer is set so it it’s time to GO …

As I pondered the prompt I was reminded of a post I shared while writing a remembrance book for my children after Karen died. Early on in our story, I relayed a very, very, sappy and convoluted story about a letter I wrote back in our early pre-engagement days. It was pretty bad. I poured out my heart and soul on paper [yes, we used paper back then, hand written to boot]. It reflected my thoughts during a spat we had.

As I was doing a little research for the book, I stumbled across a letter or journal [I don’t journal] I wrote which summed up my thoughts at the time. It was written after Mom [Karen] and I started dating when, out of the blue, she broke it off for a month “to be sure.” I don’t particularly remember writing it, but it is in my handwriting. I don’t know why I wrote it. But I did. I don’t know how Mom got it or why she kept it all these years, but she did. And remember I was all of 18. As I read it again [https://wisdomfromafather.com/2015/06/24/in-the-blink-of-an-eye-in-the-beginning-2/], I was struck at how sexist and selfish I was, but, then again it was the 60s. It was a pretty hokey synopsis of how a chance meeting turned into true love. You could say I changed some of … no a lot of my views on life, love and relationships.

Hmmm. That would be refining my thoughts as I grew up and experienced some real life.

It got me to think, though, how my views have evolved since the teen years. Of course, having a strong, supportive wife contributed to refining  my … STOP

… mindset and views.

The same applies to faith. As a child, I fully accepted doctrine and ritual. I was a follower. Slowly I started looking deeper and started questioning the “whys”. It all lead to the realization faith is not religion. It’s relationship. You could say my faith walk was refined.

Just as precious metals are refined through the fire, our lives, our thoughts, our opinions, our views are refined through the fire of everyday living. Each step we take is a step in the journey from raw to refined. We don’t always have fire, of course, but each experience helps shape us. Savor the experiences. Be refined — daily!

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Prayer is simply talking to God. Sometimes religion makes things complicated, but you can talk to God like you’re talking to a friend.