Five Minute Friday is back for a new year! And I’m ready … on a Friday.

The weekly exercise calls for the FMF community to take five minutes on a specific word prompt and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing. The format is simple. Set the timer for five minutes and write. Don’t worry about mistakes, grammar, fonts or punctuation … just write from your mind and heart. {Okay, we do clean it up — or at least I do — but we don’t change the message from our heart.} Then, post and encourage others who have braved the exercise by linking up at Kate’s spot on Facebook at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com. That’s the fun part!

To entice you to check us out, I’ve also been sharing some of the experiences my fellow writers have shared as chronicled in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat. This week, I’ll include the words contributed by Krysann. I hope the words inspire you to join our writing club.

“While I have not been a religious participant (and haven’t done it in quite a while) I so appreciate Five Minute Friday — the emphasis on NOT editing and on being content with what you have still sticks with me. I’d always feel somewhat behind as I perused other posts so much longer than mine — I am a slow reader, slow writer, slow eater, slow humer-er! But I learned to appreciate even that, to own my five minutes for what they were, not for what anybody else’s were or what I thought they were supposed to be. And I loved that space. I loved that it helps to shut down the internal editing, too. Just get it out! Just put it down! Just let it be what it wants to be! I was often surprised by what came out in my five minutes and felt a little like I’d met with myself after reading them.”

This week’s prompt is BETTER. The timer has been set, so I guess it’s time to GO…

I’m not crazy about the prompt this week. It’s a comparative word whether you use it an noun, verb, adjective or adverb and I’m not a big fan of comparisons.

That being said, being “better” or doing “better” is a goal we should strive for in all we do. We should always be attempting to improve each day, each task. The risk remains, however, is if we don’t live up to our expectations, we are not better. Our health may fail. Our actions may be a step back. The weather may get worse.

But you know what? As long as we’re trying, we’re being blessed. Our Lord doesn’t compare our results … He compares our heart. He has His plan and, although we may not realize what it is, He knows, and with trust in Him always, we not only get better or better ourselves, but … STOP

… become the best. It has to be because God created each of us with our faults and foibles and God don’t make no junk.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come. — Tozer