Skip to main content

Five Minute Friday: Grow




Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/. This week's word is Grow.

Last summer, my pastor preached a sermon series on the windows in the church sanctuary that represent the 12 disciples. He spoke about how the symbols in those windows conveyed what each disciple was known for and represented in the Christian faith. He then challenged the congregation to create their own symbol, as if one day a stained glass window would be created to represent our faith journey. He placed tins full of pony beads in each pew and we used the beads to create our symbol. The beads were then baked until they resembled stained glass. The photo above is my finished product and here is what I wrote about my window:
 
My symbol is a sprout, my discipleship is growing, reaching through the sky to the light of God.

A year later, I hope I am still growing. I'm not as tall as I would like, not nearly as close to the light of God as I want to be but I am still reaching.

I was shocked a couple of weeks ago when I realized it had been four months since I had written a post. I think my lack of post comes from the fact that most of the time I don't feel adequate to teach others how to go through a divorce and find the life waiting for them. Monday was the 8th anniversary of the day my husband went to court and ended our marriage and some days I feel like I've made great strides and other days I feel the pain as if it was yesterday. But I hope I am still growing into the person I can be, the person God created me to be.

I hope I continue to grow in my faith in God, in my reliance on him. And I hope that in my writing, I grow into someone that others can look at as an example of someone who has grown through the pain and reached for the light of what is waiting for her.


Comments

  1. Andrea, I love your "stained glass" and what it symbolizes. I love your honesty as you reflect on where you are and where you hope to go. I also lost my husband and marriage -- not to divorce, but through the passing of my husband 6 years ago -- and my heart goes out to you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrea, I couldn't find your email anywhere but wanted to contact you about possibly guest-posting on my blog. Let me know (pattimiinch@yahoo.com) if you're interested and would like more details.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's such a profound idea for the stained glass, with profound thoughts to match.

    ReplyDelete
  4. i love your growth 'window!' sometimes when facing a change like yours (been there, done that), or a loss of any kind (right now i'm grieving the loss of my 12-year old dog ~ certainly not equal to the loss of a husband or child, but for me, he was my child), we need to remember that all we need to focus on is the here and now. one step, one hour, one minute at times. self-care is not selfish. it is healing. once we learn that it is okay to take care of ourselves first, everything else falls into place. my aunt's favorite word of advice is to remember what they tell you on every airplane, on every flight ... "put your own oxygen mask on first."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great idea to create a growth window! May it continue to challenge and encourage you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Minute Friday: Time

Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/ . This week's word is Time. Sometimes time feels like this, like we are in it. Standing inside it, watching life pass by. It is so easy to get stuck in a time - in our pain, in our hurt. We hear the ache tick away in our head like a giant clock. Time, instead, is a gift. More time with family, more time to accomplish goals, more time to see the world. When you are hurting, it seems like time takes forever. One day turns into another day, turns into another day. When we hate a job, the five days of time that make up a work week seem to go on forever. But those five days are also a gift. Because these days, a job is not a guarantee. I want to see time as gift, not as a chore. I want to be on the other side of it, wishing there was more of it. Making the most of every hour, minute, and second instead of

Five Minute Friday: Roots

Lisa-Jo Baker (lisajobaker.com) hosts a weekly event on her blog called "Five Minute Friday". The rules are 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.. So here's my first try at this. Today's topic was Roots. Roots – I think about my grandparents who lived on a farm until my grandfather’s diabetes worsened and they moved to a town with a hospital nearby. My father still says he wished he could have kept that farm. I think of my grandmother who was a widow for 20 years. Every year she would stand over my PaPa’s grave, wishing she was with him. I think of my parents, a product of those grandparents, how hard my father worked to put 2 girls through

Five Minute Friday: Mercy

Mercy, this is a tough one for me. I think that's why I waited until Saturday to do Five Minute Friday. I didn't want to face the topic of mercy. I am thankful everyday for God's tender mercies. The first definition of mercy that came up when I googled the word was compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.  This definitiion is my life in a nutshell. How many times has God extended this to me when I deserved to be turned into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife. How many times have I ignored his laws and his proddings and done exactly what I wanted to do. Every time he forgives me and prospers me. Every. time. I know there are people I should show mercy to. People who have broken my heart into more pieces than I can count. I think that I am showing mercy by keeping my disappointment in silence. In a day and age with social media, I could have told everyone that follows them how they have hurt me but I ha