Happy March! Happy first Five Minute Friday of the month!

You know the drill. We get our weekly prompt, let the spirit flow for five minutes, post, link up in the Community section at www.fiveminutefriday.com, and — best part — visit other writers in our group to support and encourage them.

For the past few months, I have also been sharing testimonials from fellow writers as outlined in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat. This week, I’ll share some words from Robin’s heart.

“I first heard of Five Minute Friday, or FMF — as it is known — in October 2015 when I was participating in a 31-day writing project. Many of the bloggers participating in the 31-day write project would post an FMF blog. I was intrigued and inspired by the words chosen to write about and what was written by so many. I’m not a professional blogger; just a home-schooling mom who enjoys sharing what the Lord is teaching me. I could write every day; however, being a homeschooling mom and a pastor’s wife, I don’t have time to sit down and write. That’s one reason the FMF prompts appealed to me. Being able to sit down and write for five minutes was refreshing. It is VERY helpful that the ‘word’ for the week is posted on Twitter the night before. I can check it out and sleep on it. As someone who loves to write, this exercise stretches me — a very good thing. The best part about FMF is the community of bloggers in it. I have found precious ladies all over the country I enjoy connectnng with each week. I find myself readings the blogs throughout the week. The Lord calls us to fellowship and community. That’s what FMF is. It’s a blessing and a privilege to be part of it.’

That’s common– fellowship and community .. blessing and privilege.That’s why I heartily encourage you to join us. And we’d love to have you in our circle!

With that, I’ll get off the soap box and down to work. The prompt is SEARCH. The timer has been set, so let’s see where the neurons GO...

Life is a constant quest … a search of who we are, where we’re going, how we are getting there and what is important.

From our earliest days as babies. we start searching our surroundings. As we grow, we search out possible careers and develop our interests. As we get older we search for friendship and  make decisions on our careers. If we’re lucky, we’re able to match our careers with our passions.

The same is true for our mind and our spirituality. It’s a constant search. Initially our faith may be be formed by our family and environs. As we become “enlightened”, we may search out a deeper meaning for those beliefs … some solidifying their beliefs and other, unfortunately, falling away.

And that’s the right sequence. We have to search out options to form opinions. If we don’t, we’re mere proverbial lemmings following the crowd, often over the cliff.

Even Jesus’ first followers had to go through this search process. They generally totally misunderstood Jesus and His teaching. They often had to be reprimanded for their secular thinking. They had to come to their own “Ah Ha” moment, being it betrayal, doubt, petty pride, persecution, blinding light.

So do we. We have to search our souls to find our own “Ah Ha” moment … that moment when we understand what’s behind the Words. And that can be scary as our preconceived thoughts often unravel. It is, though, incumbent upon us to search and dig a little deeper than the words on paper … STOP

… We have to search out the context. We have to search out the intent. We have to search out the nuances. And we must be open to letting the Words speak to us. Of course, this can be disconcerting. But it’s an important step in our search to understand our faith. I also believe it makes our faith deeper and more unshakeable.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: The secret of life … is to fall seven times and to get up eight times. — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist