Fourth of July Fireworks

Posted on July 4, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

Happy Birthday America!

I was thinking about how I celebrated Independence Day through the decades. I remember the celebration being the kickoff to summer vacations — sneaking an extra day. Parades were always part of the day. Barbecues immediately come to mind. And, of course, the fireworks stand out.

Until lately, barbecues were always a staple for the July 4 celebration. Growing up, the folks would fight with the charcoal for what was sometimes the only cookout of the year. After Karen and I got married, we mixed hosting barbecues with visiting at friends’ barbecues. I remember kids running around with sparklers until dusk closed in and we headed for various firework displays.

My first recollection of July 4 fireworks were as a tyke in Paterson NJ. My cousins and I — along with their families — walked to three or four blocks up the Madison Avenue overpass to watch the pyrotechnics light up the sky. When we moved to Totowa, NJ, the day started with the parade, which was staged a few blocks away. And we could sit in the back yard and still get a sky view of the fireworks.

The traditions waned after I entered the workforce, got married and started a family. Early in my career, I was usually inside the office instead of witnessing the bursts above. In Ogdensburg, NJ, we watched the parade from our back yard, and would travel to neighboring Sparta,  NJ, for fireworks.

In Belvidere, IL, the tradition was revived with a morning at the downtown parade, good eats during the day and heading to neighboring Cherry Valley, IL, to stake out our spot, usually with neighbors, friends and soon-to-be-friends, as we watched the kids run around with reckless abandon until the first crack and flash in the sky. I do remember one year it was hot, humid and overcast, but the crowds gathered in and around Cherry Valley, only to be prematurely displaced by the howl of the tornado sirens. Nature put on quite a display that July 4 night!

In Ohio, we often ventured over toward Maumee Bay to watch the fireworks. Karen and I aren’t particularly fond of crowds so we often found a place somewhere along the river bank to watch the display.

We always intended to go the The Mall in Washington, DC, but we always came up with an excuse and generally watched the fun on television … comfy in our pjs and the ac.

By the time we reached upstate New York, the allure of July 4 fireworks dulled. Barbecues were a must and occasionally we would take in a parade. There were not a lot of firework options — they were reserved for other events in most towns — but one summer July evening we drove to the Seneca Lake shoreline in Lodi to watch a parade of boats and probably not-so-legal pyrotechnic show.

I happened  to be in Dexter, ME, one July 4 weekend and got my holiday firework fix there overlooking Lake Wassookeag. I’ve returned a couple of times, usually capping off the night with a frosty ice cream cone. The fireworks were last night, so I missed this year, and I doubt I’ll trek to Bangor or Greenville.

It’s not a big deal for me. After all these years, the pop, flashes and displays tend to be routine. Seen one. Seen them all. The excitement has aged as I have.

However, with that being said, there are two places that really captured my attention. I was at a music/food festival in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, area. I was there more for the food, but stayed late enough to watch the fireworks, which was the first time I witnessed synchronized pyrotechnics with Dan Fogelberg on stage.

The second firework display that garners excitement for me is in Seaside Heights, NJ. It’s called First Night Ocean County and it takes place around 5 p.m. Dec. 31. The hook is the explosives are lit on the beach and explode over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an entirely different experience. I’ve been to three in the last five years — well, actually two. Two years ago it was bitterly cold and the event was postponed and my plans couldn’t be extended.

I hope you all have a safe July 4th, celebrating our heritage as a nation. Enjoy your parades, your barbecues and your fireworks.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: The greatest impact of your life comes at the time of your greatest pain.

 

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Midweek Mirth

Posted on July 3, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

One of the misconceptions about being a Christian is non-Christians think we don’t know how to have fun or have a sense of humor. Trust me, if the Big Guy can have a sense of humor when it comes to dealing with us mere mortals, so can we.

The difference for Christians is we don’t have to debase ourselves or others to generate a smile. Laughter at life or ourselves is a gift from God.

So, let’s smile a little!

Smile … It’s Christmas in July

Einstein’s Practical Side

It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off.

And now for the bonus …

Backup Plan

“I’m sorry,” said the clerk in a flower shop, “we don’t have potted geraniums. Could you use African violets instead?”

Replied the customer sadly, “No, it was geraniums my wife told me to water while she was gone.”

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Whatever makes you weird is probably your greatest asset.

 

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Busy Tonight?

Posted on July 2, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

It was a Heaven Shining Through morning — the sun partially hidden behind clouds but still bright enough to illuminate the sky. It seemed appropriate for today as I formally launch my new book, My Name Is Sam … and Heaven Is Still Shining Through. The presentation takes place at 6 p.m. (Eastern) at the Thompson Free Library, Dover-Foxcroft, ME, and it will be {hopefully} broadcast live through the wonders of Facebook.

The new novel is an extension of the original novella Heaven Shining Through. It introduces the characters in more detail and explains some of the gaps present in the shorter version. In addition, the novel continues Sam’s saga to a climactic ending I don’t think readers will be expecting. One beta reader indicated, “I LOVE the ending of the book. It was probably the strongest ending I’ve read in my entire life!” An early reader responded, “The ending … was totally unexpected. I sobbed like a  baby.”

The premise of the book — a fictional memoir with a Christian flavor — is an over coffee chat with Samantha. As she states herself, “I did have a good life. An ordinary life, yes, but good. No ‘ah hah!’ moment, just a string of  ‘ahs’ weaving a tale of life, love, loss, some sorrow, but oh so much joy!”

It’s a  story of her life with some drama, some humor, some heart tugs. Or as she says, “I know because I lived it. Just a free-willed suburban Jersey girl trying to figure out this journey called life.”

There are no hidden messages and no agenda. That being said doesn’t mean there isn’t an underlying theme through the pages — God is always there with us. He’s there through the joys and, most important, through the sorrows and pain. Even when we push Him away, He walks silently with us until we’re ready to see the rays of Sonshine all around us.

Honestly, neither the novella nor the book were intended to be “Christian” works, but a read anyone in any spiritual stage could enjoy without an overt, hit you over the  head Christian message. I intentionally did not want to preach to the choir. I was and am hoping someone in need sees the story of reconciliation and self-awareness amid the sometimes messiness of life.

The book is intended to be enjoyed. I hope you can nestle in your favorite book reading nook or on a blanket at the beach and discover a new friend … Sam who is “constantly reminded of God’s presence in the ordinary as He allows heaven to shine through.”

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: It’s so exciting to wake up each morning and be able to say, This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.

 

Summertime Clearance Sale

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An Old Fashioned Wind Instrument

Posted on July 1, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

I came across this little reminder the other day and thought it would be good to share as this week’s words for the week

George Bernard Shaw once got a letter addressed to George Bernard Shawm.

In a beard-tossing fury, Shaw roared to his wife that his correspondent could not even spell the name of the world’s greatest man. Moreover, fumed G.B.S., there was no such word as “shawm.”

Shaw’s wife, one of the world’s most martyred women, quietly disagreed, led Shaw to a dictionary and pointed to “shawm … an old-fashioned wind instrument.”

A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor (Proverbs 29:23).

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Worry stresses us because it runs ahead of today and it runs ahead of God’s strength given on a daily basis.

 

 

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Shalom Be with You

Posted on June 30, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

John 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” — John 20-19-23

When I was eight years old, I immigrated to the United States with my family. We moved to a small suburb northeast of Los Angeles where there weren’t many Asians. Most of the kids were friendly, but I do recall one incident in third grade when a school bully came up to me, walked in a circle around me and said, “Ching chong, you Chinese chink!” My face burned red and my heart palpitated, but my response was, “I’m not Chinese!”

“Then you are a stupid Japanese!” she retorted as she squinted her eyes and slanted them with her fingers.

My heart beat a little slower and I responded more calmly. “I’m not Japanese!”

“Then what are you?” she asked. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to respond to her very limited knowledge of Asian geography, but I did.

“I’m Korean!” I shouted.

She looked at me blankly and asked, “What’s that?”

Although these days I don’t regularly get blatantly racist questions directed at me as I did on the playground in 1981, I do still get that quizzical look of, “What are you?” when people ask me about my denominational affiliation.

My Korean friends have no idea what a Mennonite is. “What’s that?” is their usual response. My friends who have heard about Mennonites are also confused, because they have a certain perception of what a Mennonite should look like — the head covering, plain clothing, the buggy— and well, it’s not Asian.

I joined the Mennonite Church not because of the unique fashion statement, the cool black buggies, the potlucks or even the music. What drew me and my husband to the Mennonite Church was the reputation Mennonites have of being a faithful peace witness as followers of Jesus. We heard about a small group of folks who for over 500 years tried to seriously follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and this intrigued us.

It intrigued us because my husband and I were born in a place where civil war had ravaged a country, its people, its land, its very heart and soul. The scars of the war have been branded on the lives of our parents and our grandparents, and that trauma has been transmitted to us and our children. Sixty-nine years later, North and South Korea are still divided and the Korean Peninsula is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world with nuclear capabilities to start a world war.

We wanted to learn how Mennonites understood peace and what Jesus had to say about peace.  What is the role of the church in a world where violence seems to increase power, and peace seems hopelessly idealistic? Is peace even possible? The phrase “peace be with you” is used so routinely in peace churches we sometimes forget those were Jesus’s first post-resurrection words. Jesus proclaimed to His disciples in His resurrected body with His resurrected voice, “Shalom be with you.”

Shalom is a powerful word that includes more than an absence of war. It encompasses wholeness, right relationship to and with everything. Shalom is a right relationship with God, oneself, others and creation.

Shalom was the last thing the disciples in the John 20 passage were experiencing. They’d witnessed the sky darken in midday and literally felt the foundation of the earth shaking when Jesus was crucified. They were shaken to the core. Their leader had been executed and they were certain the same fate awaited them. They certainly didn’t know how to relate to one another without their leader and were battling the fear snowballing inside their heads. And into this fear-filled room with petrified disciples, Jesus entered unexpected and greeted them saying, Peace be with you.

The announcement of Peace be with you is both a cosmic and a personal proclamation of the resurrection. By cosmic, I am referring to Revelation 21:5-6, where Jesus proclaimed, I am making the whole of creation new … I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. This includes all of time and space. The one who co-created the world in the beginning has declared all things in creation have been made right again — from the beginning and the end. Not just people, nature, earth, but the entire creation. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has created a new reality over all things —  a new creation. The power of violence and chaos, death and destruction will not get the last word for Jesus has restored shalom in the cosmos. This is the good news of the resurrection.

In addition, Peace be with you is also a deeply personal invitation Jesus offers to His disciples. He extends peace to His disciples who abandoned and betrayed Him. He comes to them not to haunt them as a ghost or seek revenge with His cosmic power. Instead, Jesus stands amongst those whom He loved deeply, those He had been hurt by, and releases them to a new way to be with Him — one of restoration and forgiveness.

Although we are small in numbers, Mennonites are known across the world for our peace witness. It is gift Christ has given to us through His resurrection, and we have the gift of a faith tradition and stories that can guide us into the unknown future.

How will we share these beautiful and messy stories — embodied stories of peace so the peace of Christ can be shared?

To be a peace witness, as followers of Jesus, we need to know our purpose: our purpose is to be present and proclaim the gift of peace to those closest to us and to the world.

It is not easy to be present with the gift of peace and to stand with those who are deeply afraid. It is not easy because we are also afraid. We want to hide our fears, and being with vulnerable people stirs the fear we have. Also, often we often don’t know how to be allies and are afraid to mess up. But the power of the presence we can offer is a true gift. The presence of Christ’s peace in a world where violence seems to be winning — this is our work. Presence can be personal — like holding the hands of a person in a hospital room, a funeral or a public march. Being present means standing with those who are hurting. And people are hurting all around us — the systemic-violence against migrant families, the ongoing evil of mass incarceration, the monstrous growth of the war industrial complex, the exploitation of resources on native lands. Christ has shown us what it means be present with those who are deeply hurting.

Not only are we to offer our presence, but we are also called to proclaim the peace of Christ. Sometimes we hesitate to proclaim and to speak the hope and the gift we have received. We hesitate because we have seen the Christian message twisted to provoke violence and it has done more harm than good. This is understandable, but I believe the Mennonites have an understanding of the peace of Christ we can offer the larger Church. In a recent article, John Roth wrote, “We have been entrusted with a wonderful treasure, one meant to be shared.”

Sue Park-Hur is denominational minister of Leadership Development for the Mennonite Church USA and will be a worship speaker at MennoCon19, the Mennonite Church USA Convention, July 2-6, in Kansas City, MO.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.

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Pray About Everything

Posted on June 29, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

As we build this community prayer platform, with help from the #PrayerWarriors team, we ask the Lord to listen to our petitions with full confidence they not only are heard but acted upon by God according to His holy will. These requests are on my prayer list and I hope you consider putting them on yours as you place your petitions before the Lord Sunday.

As we approach the throne room, let’s remember to respond with faith and not fear, knowing the promises of God and His mighty hand will hold us through any situation! Sometimes, all it takes is just one prayer to change everything. Something extraordinary happens when two or more agree together in prayer.

Prayers appreciated for Bonnie. Surgery is the next step on her cancer journey. Praying for complete and permanent healing and a full recovery in 6-8 weeks.

John is seeking prayers. He’s been hospitalized twice in the last two weeks with doctors still trying to figure out what’s going on. Initially thought he had a stroke, now just temporary paralysis.

Nicolle  has an ultrasound scheduled to investigate a 4mm mass near her spine. Doctor think it’s either a lipoma (bunch of fatty cells) or a cyst. Biggest issue is its location. Thoughts and prayers.

Warren is requesting prayers. He was in an ER clinic getting IV antibiotics for pneumonia in his lower left lung lobe.

Karl is in critical condition and needs to be uplifted.

Angelina is in the hospital fighting for her life with pneumonia and staph infection. She is a young mom. Please pray for healing.

Bruce requests prayers for personal issues.

Gerry apparently had a stroke, ran off the road, rolled the vehicle and hit some trees. He is not responding. His wife Phillis was not seriously injured but her mother died from injuries.

We come to You, Lord, because prayer is the least yet the greatest thing we can do for each other. When two or more are gathered in Your name, we confidently know You are with us. What better company can we have? You reign and we trust You! We may be broken and battered but know You heal and quiet the soul. You are the source for all that happens in our lives. We thank You for the progress being made. We thank You for the many blessings we have received this week — some we unfortunately didn’t notice. Nonetheless, those blessings are ever-present in our lives. We thank You for healing. We thank You for slowing us down. We thank You for providing us our daily needs — no more and no less. We thank You for being with us, listening to us, walking with us on this journey. We thank You for the support of our family and friends … for seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary — sunrises, sunsets, flowers, kids laughing, adventures, good news amid the bad news. We also know we can come to You with our concerns and they will be heard. Through Christ all things are possible. We lift up those family members and friends who are battling various physical, emotional, financial, career or spiritual issues and ask not for Your guidance and healing (although that would be welcomed) but to keep reminding us we are not alone in our battles. Specifically we lift up Bonnie, John, Nicolle, Warren, Karl, Angelina, Bruce, Gerry and all those needing Your healing touch. We pray for the families of all those You have called home. We grieve … You celebrate. We pray for obedience to Your Will so Your “Son” Light shines through us through the power of the Spirit. And we come to You through the confidence of the words taught by Your Son Jesus.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Keep your joys and concerns coming. They have been and will be included during my prayer time and I trust they will be on your lips as well as you approach the altar. All it takes is a couple of keystrokes under the “Contact Me” button on the top bar {or to the right if you’re not a follower yet}. I hope it becomes your best friend as you navigate around the site so we can all be viable prayer warriors. You can also comment or reach me at wisdomfromafather@gmail.com.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

 

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Five Minute Friday — World

Posted on June 28, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

It’s Friday so it must be time for Five Minute Friday. Actually, even though I generally procrastinated and wrote mostly on Saturday, so far this year I’ve been disciplined enough to scratch out these words on time! {pat on the back} {I probably shouldn’t have said that.}

Our moderator is Kate Motaung. She provides our prompt on Thursday night during our weekly Twitter party {although summer fun has culled participation}. This week’s prompt is WORLD. Our writing community writes for five minutes {more or less}, link up and share at fiveminutefriday.com then sit back and read what others have written.

I encourage you to visit, join in and comment. And, as I’ve been doing, here’s Heather’s take on the value of the exercise, taken from snippets found in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat as an added inducement to join in.

“I am so excited about this book! What an exciting idea! I have had so much fun and have loved doing these prompts. I was part of a writing group for a year and got so much great feedback and wrote so much. It was after three babies in four years and it helped me to get back into my writing. Never thought I could do it. Then I moved from Las Vegas to Iowa and my group couldn’t come with me. Too bad! I came across Lisa’s blog [Lisa-Jo Baker, the founder of Five Minute Friday] after searching for some prompts and writing again has been so therapeutic. I just read back through my blog because I was looking for a prompt to send in [for the book] and I was so surprised at how much I had written. My husband even asked me whose blog I was checking out and I said “Mine!” and he was so proud. Thanks for posting and for all your work. It has made a big difference fir me.”

That’s a common theme. Five Minute Friday is sooo much more than just an exercise in writing. It’s family communicating. It’s friends communicating. It’s strangers-soon-to-be-friends communicating.

By the way, Kate just published The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal, a tool for seasoned, new and wannabe writers. Based on precepts in the Five Minute Friday community, the Journal presents 52 independent one word writing prompts for writers to ponder. The purpose of the Journal is to get writers to focus, spark inspiration, provide space for you to practice your craft, and challenge you to cultivate the habit of writing regularly. The goal — just as it on Fridays — is not to get it just right, but to just write. While this book is not technically for readers, it most definitely is for writers at whatever stage of development they made be in. Interspersed through the pages are Kate’s pearls of writing wisdom which are designed to encourage you.

So, with that, we’ll set the timer for five minutes. Let’s GO…

The first thing that popped into my pea brain was the 1964 World’s Fair hit attraction, It’s a Small World, featuring the catchy song Children of the World. I can’t tell you why that attraction, its crude animatronics {by today’s standards} or the song snuck into my psyche before I fell asleep, but it left me humming the lyric and singing the chorus all morning.

So, as part of the today’s exercise, let’s take a listen …

As I was listening I decided to check my stats. It really is a small, small world. These words — penned from the Maine Highlands — somehow make it around the world. Just this week, for instance, the blog was visited by friends in 17 countries from the USA to Indonesia, from Canada to Mexico.

Which brings us to an important point. We better be sure our words mirror our beliefs. We’ve been told to be in the world, but not of the world. Or, we interact with neighbors globally, but still must not fall into the trap of … STOP

… of being controlled by the world and its standards.

It’s a tricky walk. It’s easy to get distracted by the glitter. Even in a ministry, it’s easy to have the method overshadow the message.

It’s a small, small world. Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, we’re all connected by the Light. That’s the message.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Through the years, memories are made. Births, birthdays, graduations, marriages, anniversaries and many more events in our lives give us our memories. Some memories are made purposely, some without knowing and most as a part of living.

 

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Robin Robin

Posted on June 27, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

I was somewhat stunned this morning as Angelina and I rounded the corner of our complex. There on the green strip between the river and the building were four robins just sitting there attentively, tuned in for their next meal.

It surprised me for a  couple of reasons. I hadn’t seen such a gathering in quite some time. In fact, I can say I have only consciously seen a few robins all spring — and here we are in the later stages of June. Normally my first robin sighting — a harbinger of spring — comes sometime in April.

Having said that, I do remember seeing the red (or orange) breasted beauty back in December and again in late February. Both times they stood out because of the stark contrast to the white on the ground. For the December sighting I figured it was a straggler who ignored the message to migrate. I had no idea why I would have seen a robin in February, although it was one of those weird days when the sun was actually shining and the temperature hovered near the freezing mark (32 degrees).

But from that February sighting to just a few weeks ago, there was nary a robin on my radar. This past week, though, they have been everywhere.

As I pondered this phenomenon, I discovered robins are not strangers to Maine — even in the winter. As migratory birds, they often fly down from Canada for the winter. That’s kind of funny — snowbirds in Maine.

According to birdwatchers I know, most of our migrating friends prefer southern Maine, but some call the Maine Highlands home for the winter because of the ripe fruits and berries in trees and shrubs. I was also advised they tend to roost in flocks in barns and under bridges and in trees until breaking up into nesting pairs during the spring breeding season.

The other thing I learned is the male sings its song – a series of rich caroling notes, rising and falling in pitch: cheer-up, cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily – early and late in the day during breeding season. After the breeding season, it does not sing again until the following spring, except for a brief time in the fall when the shortness of daylight simulates spring conditions. Throughout the year, the male calls teeek teeek or tuk tuk tuk in situations of possible danger, often adding a tail-flick display.

Female robins do not sing, but give the alarm notes during the breeding season.

Of course, that got my crazy mind thinking, why don’t the female robins sing. My wry friend explained, “Because they’re busy building and maintaining the nest.” In fact, the female selects the nest site and does the majority of nest building. She incubates three to four glossy, light blue eggs for 12 to 14 days. The young leave the nest after 14 to 16 days, but the parents continue to care for them for up to four weeks. And robins have two and sometimes three clutches of eggs each year.

Hmmm. Guess that explains it.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. — Wayne Dyer

 

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Midweek Mirth

Posted on June 26, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

One of the misconceptions about being a Christian is non-Christians think we don’t know how to have fun or have a sense of humor. Trust me, if the Big Guy can have a sense of humor when it comes to dealing with us mere mortals, so can we.

The difference for Christians is we don’t have to debase ourselves or others to generate a smile. Laughter at life or ourselves is a gift from God.

So, let’s smile a little!

Getting What You Pay For

A feisty 70 year old woman had to call a furnace repairman. After a quick inspection the man put some oil into the motor and handed her a $70 bill for labor.

“Labor charges!” she exclaimed. “It only took you five minutes.”

The repairman explained his company had a minimum one-hour charge on every house call.

“Well, I want my remaining 55 minutes of labor,” the lady demanded, and she handed him a rake.

The repairman spent the next 55 minutes in her yard bagging leaves.

And now for the bonus …

Just Checking

Little Rodney, four years old, walked down the beach, and as he did, he spied a matronly woman sitting under a beach umbrella on the sand. He walked up to her and asked, “Are you a Christian?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Do you read your Bible every day?”

She nodded her head, “Yes.”

“Do you pray often?” the boy asked next, and again she answered, “Yes.”

With that he asked his final question, “Will you hold my quarter while I go swimming?”

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Don’t allow your negative, limiting thoughts to overwhelm your possibilities. Use what is in your hand, renew your thoughts, dream again and be amazed as you witness what happens.

 

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The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal

Posted on June 25, 2019 by wisdomfromafather

I’ve been teaching a writing class, Taking the Fear Out of Writing. As a weekly  assignment, I asked the students to write for just five minutes on a specific prompt word. Yes, I used prompts from my Five Minute Friday experience.

So, imagine my joy when I came across Kate Motaung’s latest venture, The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal.

The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal is a tool for seasoned, new and wannabe writers. Based on precepts in the Five Minute Friday community, the Journal presents 52 independent one word writing prompts for writers to ponder. The “rules” are simple — free write for five minutes until until you run out of space on the page, time in the day, ink in your pen, or words in your mind. You could write every day, once a week, or whenever inspiration strikes.

The Five Minute Friday community is an online writing community that gathers weekly to free write on a single word prompt at fiveminutefriday.com. You’re welcome to join us

The purpose of the Journal is to get writers to focus, spark inspiration, provide space for you to practice your craft, and challenge you to cultivate the habit of writing regularly. Let go of your inhibiting fears and gain new confidence page by page as you practice these freewriting exercises. No overthinking, no worrying about spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or what anyone else will think — just write. If the timer beeps and you want to keep going, great! If you stop after five minutes, great! The goal is not to get it just right, but to just write.

While this book is not technically for readers, it most definitely is for writers at whatever stage of development they made be in. Interspersed through the pages are Kate’s pearls of writing wisdom which are designed to encourage you. I was particularly touched by the Writer’s Blessing.

May the pages in this journal open doors to wonder and possibility.
May you dig deep for the gems hidden beneath the surface, for treasure within.
May you push yourself beyond your own ability and draw your strength from Him.
May you delight in the gift of creative work and see in it evidence of the Creator.
May you go further than writing to find yourself and use the writing to find your Maker.

May you go further than writing to find yourself and use the writing to find your Maker!

I give it a solid five stars.

 

The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal

Kate Motaung

Paperback: 161 pages, $14.99 (Amazon Prime)

Publisher: Independently published (June 18, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 107351336X

ISBN-13: 978-1073513369

Kate is the author of A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging, The Five-Minute Writing Prompt Journal, A Start-Up Guide for Online Christian Writers, and Letters to Grief, and co-author of Influence: Building a Platform that Elevates Jesus (Not Me). She is the host of Five Minute Friday (fiveminutefriday.com), an online community that encourages and equips Christian writers, and she blogs at Heading Home (katemotaung.com). Kate is the owner of Refine Services (refineservices.com), a company that offers writing, editing, and digital marketing services. Kate has degree in Bible, theology, and cross-cultural missions from Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, MI, and an Honours degree from the Bible Institute of South Africa. She loves writing creative nonfiction and memoir. Her desire is to point readers to the hope found in Jesus, and to urge people to long for eternity with Him.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: There is a story about an old Cherokee chief who is teaching his grandson about life. He tells him, “A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.  One is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt and ego. The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you — and inside every other person, too.” The grandson thought about this for a minute, then turned to his grandfather and asked, “Which wolf will win?” The wise old chief turned to his grandson, smiled knowingly and replied simply, “The one you feed.”

 

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