Time for Five Minute Friday. You know what that means. I’ll write for five focused minutes  on a specific prompt, then get together and share with my fellow writers at Kate’s spot on Facebook at fiveminutefriday.com.

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 Karrilee. I hope her words inspire you to join our writing club.

“I had been blogging for years, unaware that there was community available for writers like me. I started way back before blogging was a ‘thing’ and in the olden days it was lonely work. But in 2012, after God called me to be more consistent with my writing, I stumbled upon Five Minute Friday and immediately fell in love. Kindred hearts … sisters, friends, fellow word lovers who knew what it meant to hit publish and to doubt … who traded secrets, and prayer requests, and belly laughter and more than a few recipes. A tribe of writers who longed for community an inspiration, for freedom and authenticity. I had no idea how much I needed them until I found them and now? Well — now, almost every Thursday night I can be found tweeting and chatting over on Twitter for the #fmfparty as we wait for the One Word Prompt. It’s a community who loves fierce, lives brave, and writes truth — in five minutes(ish) flat! It’s my favorite online community (and if you know me, you know that is saying something!) and one of the things I love the most is how, truly, everyone is welcome. There is no need to walk this bloggy world alone!”

There you go. The prompt this week is DIRECTION and the timer is set so it is time to GO…

I know a lot about direction. During this trip, I was constantly keyed into the direction I was going — north, east, south, west. It made a difference. If I knew I was supposed to be heading south for example, it was good to know the compass wasn’t pointing north.

That’s the simplistic answer. There is another more important direction to keep an eye on — up or down.

I often sign off posts or messages with the phrase, “Keep looking Up.” It’s important for me. I not only do it as a  tagline, but also as a reminded for both myself and whomever I’m writing for. Simply stated, Up is God and heaven and Jesus in the sky and down is, well, you get the picture.

Throughout our lives we should be focused on both our horizontal direction AND our vertical direction. Actually, that’s reversed. Our vertical direction dictates our horizontal direction. You can’t be looking Up and … STOP

… and take wrong turns. Our God has the road mapped out, maybe with a detour here or there, but mapped out nonetheless. Conversely, you and I certainly can find the road that shouldn’t be traveled when we don’t. look Up.

So, my friends. This week, Keep looking Up!

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER:  I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. — Stephen Covey