One Is Just A Number

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 Unite. This is the sign in my church's courtyard. My pastor put it up within an hour of hearing of Prince's death. You may have seen it in your Facebook feed or on a website you visit. It has gone viral and has led over 1 million people to my church's Facebook page. Who knew that the death of a music icon could unite people like that? All walks of faith, all kinds of nonbelievers, all were drawn to my pastor's sign of mourning for a musician that had shape his life with his music.  Some might disaagree with a church mourning Prince but I say, uniting in mourning is what the church is about. Uniting in times when we don't understand why a talented, 57-year-old man died, whether that man be a Grammy winner or the man down the street. Uniting makes the pain easier...

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 Present. This photo of me was taken on a gondola in Venice. My sister and I didn't even know that the tour group had arranged for gondola rides and we almost didn't go. We thought about the money, the fact that as you can see by all of the straps hanging off of me, we had almost everything valuable with us and what would happens were filling our brains but we decided to go for it. And I am so glad that we did, that we lived in the present and had this once in a lifetime moment. Coincidently, just weeks from getting back from that trip, the Five Minute Friday word was also present. I'd like to say that I've resolved everything I wrote about in that post , but unfortunately, I still struggle with the present. I can go through my day just fine, living in the moment ...

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 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 First. This is the first photo I took of Notre Dame, shortly after arriving by train in Paris. Standing on that bridge with its legendary locks, I felt hope arise in me for the first time in a very long time. There in a city that I had dreamed off traveling to, I felt amazed at how lucky I was to be there - to be seeing this wonderful place for the first time. Firsts can be scary things. I remember the first time I wrote a Five Minute Friday post and wondered if I would receive any responses. To this day, I wonder about that for every post I write. That is why I often take big chunks of time off from writing here. I let the dark thoughts win and wonder if it is worth it. Even five minutes seems like a risk. But after taking off this chunk of time, from Thanksgiving until today, I k...

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 Table. This was the table at my parents' house yesterday. A spread of the foods that say holiday to us. The four of us gathered around the table and after one of my mother's beautiful prayers, we enjoyed a meal together. Me and my three favorite people on the planet. This table probably wouldn't measure up on Pinterest. There was no fancy centerpiece made out of things you'd  never imagined could be used for a centerpiece.There was nothing made with exotic ingredients. The cranberry sauce came straight from the can. But there was the most important thing around that table - love. Pure, unconditional love. The love that I haven't earned, the love I don't deserve. It was at that table that I felt truly, absolutely myself. We sat around this table until we co...

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 Dwell. I have thought about this word a lot - where should I dwell. After my divorce, I had a big decision to make - did I buy X's half of the house and continue to dwell where I had for the past 15 years or did I sell and move to a new dwelling. After crunching numbers and weighing my options, I decide to stay in the house we had bought together. Because, when it came right down to it, I loved my house. I felt safe there. I try not to dwell on the sadness that happened in this place but instead try to dwell on making it my own. I have painted rooms in colors X would have never agreed upon, I have bought artwork that he would never have hung. I want to dwell in a place that reflects who I am. When the yard is full of weeds and the basement full of water, I long to dwell in...

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 Weary. I was all set to write about how weary I am after a long week at work. I was going to convey although I'm weary, at least I have a job because due to layoffs, Monday was the last day for 14 of my coworkers. But as I scrolled through my Facebook feed and saw story after story about the horror happening in Paris , suddenly my weariness did not matter. It turned to rage as I read about what was taking place in my second favorite city in the world. How dare these people strike such terror in this beautiful city, how dare this happen in any city! When will this violence stop? So far I have not heard who is responsible for these horrible acts but there is no reason to resort to terrorizing people for any cause. My heart and prayers go out to the people of Paris and to those who ...