#fmfparty

Huh… the word this week is part. A word that can be used in a variety of ways. So this should be fun to do. We’ll see eh? I’ll be adding something to this intro after the post gets written. In the end we come to the thought, we are part of God’s family. So what does that mean for how we live, act, and seek to change?

part of God’s family

Part the way
Make the space
Coming through
CLEAR THE PATH
Like knights leading the
charge for royal procession.

Now seen in part,
just glimpses of the whole,
the mysteries of God
slowly revealed,
understanding begins with
fear, a true reverence
of the most Holy God.

So long, farewell,
auf wiedersehen, good night
This parting tune
is known by people
far and wide.
The sound of people
parting ways for
good or ill.

Should I part it down
the middle or off to the side?
Which looks better
help me decide?
Oh! That looks cute, I
love that angle down
the side there!

Which part of history
draws you in the most?
The fear of death for bad
choices made?
The radically unexpected?
The showing forth of
power or the delight in
growth seen in people?
God’s story tells it all, the
the little parts show a greater whole.

What issues in your life
do you need to part with
to be the person you need to be?
I know a guy who wants to be
married, so I asked him one day,
what do you need to change about
yourself to attract the sort of
woman you want to marry?
I remember his utter surprise.
But the women he attracted up until
then were not women you’d want to marry.
So change was needed.
Every parent is faced with changes
they need to make as they raise
up youngers for the Lord. You learn
that it’s not all about you.

But then as part of God’s larger
family, we do have to see
our part in it. How do we fit into
the larger whole? How does our foot,
lift the leg, which moves the hip?
Are we the breath that helps the
body move as a cohesive whole?

It’s time for our weekly Five minute Friday prompt.  The word prompt from our host Miss Kate prompted the question What’s the deal?   So many ways of considering this question you know? But ultimately, there is a best deal to make… Do you know what it is? 

What’s the deal?

Oh what’s the deal the
question asked. A response made
on a day when quietness reigns.
What’s the deal Annette?
Are you okay today?
A caring heart seeking
after potential hurt, a
desire to lift another before
the Lord.

What’s the deal, can we
barter a bit? A child asking
“will you take $6 instead of
the $10 asked?” A man suggesting
$250 instead of the $350 quoted.
Yard sales and private sales
what kind of deal can be made?

The deal? Is it texas hold’em,
poker, horse, or something else?
What card game is your choice,
whether it’s uno, skipbo, or wild aces.
Can you win even if the cards seem
against you or do you graciously
own your defeat?

What’s the deal with knowing
God who can raise folk from
the dead, and yet punishes dead
those that lie to his face?
A God who gently calls the lost
back to him, yet metes consequences
to those who say no?
Jonah, David, Noah,
me, and sometimes you?

Let us set the deal straight.
Without God we are literally,
and forever lost. With no hope.
With him, we have the chance to be
made right. Needing to see clearly
the potential for permanent
consequences if we forget the holiness
and justice of the one who created us.
The one who chooses daily to forgive
us through the death of his beloved boy.
Resultant life matters.

Let us live a life that matters.
Let that be the deal that
solidifies our lives.
Make the deal. Choose life.
Avoid the hopelessness of
having no fear of awesomeness
in your life. What’s the deal?
Life changing action.

Kate has given us a word prompt this Friday that has me asking the question…. What Benefit?  Pondering this word kept me fairly quiet at work today.   “Hey, Annette, you okay?”   They are used to me singing, or chatting with customers, or saying “hey, do you know the joke of the day?” and then following it up with the joke.   Sometimes they get it, and sometimes it’s like “that’s a horrible dad joke!!!!  GROAN.”  It adds fun to the day you know?   

All that said, today’s post didn’t take very long to write once I started since I had it all mostly worked out in my head.   Come along, let’s consider together What the benefit is! 

What Benefit

What benefit?
It’s a question to ask,
when applying for a job,
What is the benefit package like?
The wage I’ll be making, and what is
the PTO like (not the power take off,
but you know…the other).
If the benefit isn’t there, are
there intangibles I need to
discover about this position?
Asking what benefit this job is
to me can make or break the position.

What benefit is there
to helping the guy on the street?
The gal standing on the corner
looking forlorn? The shaggy head
middle-ager sitting on the stoop?
The child crying on the playground,
or the teen looking for dressy clothes
with a job interview around the bend?
Do unto others as you’d have them to
unto you … so we are told.
Some would help for the social media
likes, or the “feel goods” generated, but
what is the true benefit?
The help given to someone who
might not know how to ask, help
given in the name of another.

What benefit?
The question asked when
looking to purchase.
Do I want the cheapest price?
Should I consider the value
long-term or the quality of the
product itself? How does one
do a cost comparison of the
intangibles of things? Cuz you
know not ALL things are considered
equal when comparing.

What benefit is there
for God to fix things up with
humanity? To offer us a way
back to him after we messed it
all up so very very badly.
Is showcasing his glory and his
holiness and his love for mankind
enough of a benefit?
Apparently it is.
Because he did it for that
very reason. His holiness, glory,
mercy, and love.
Showcased for the entire
world to see.
Helping more people to catch
a glimpse of him and ask
questions about who he is.

The benefit we have
if we showcase who Christ is
to us… more people to
showcase God’s glory, holiness,
mercy and love evident in
our lives.  Shall we get on

with it then?

It’s a beginning that’s for sure.  Of just perhaps it’s not quite the beginning that we thought it was.  Every beginning means something right?  So is it a beginning or an end, or both?  Let’s be a bit philosophical tonight eh?  🙂  A word prompt needs to be like that sometimes eh? 

a beginning or an end?

It’s a beginning that’s for sure
A beginning of a new year,
the beginning of the end.
A beginning to gardening season,
and end to a season of rest.

In the beginning God created the world
it was a time when the universe,
so to speak, was nothing but a void.
But God spoke and gradually, the more
he spoke, the more was created.
A beginning of creation, was also
the ending of nothingness.

A new job starts, a beginning with
hope and promise. Bills paid, food to
buy, mad spending money.
A ending to quietness in a day, of depending
on others for help, a lack of freedom to
help others. It’s all balance.

In the beginning every thing was perfect.
God and man talked and walked together,
harmony was real. But then a deceiver came
along and this harmony was ended. A beginning
of sorrow and hardship came into being.
But even in the hardship, a new beginning
was promised to us, we the children of God.

Vacation time away, a beginning
of rest and relaxation. Time away
from all that is normal and steady.
An brief ending to routine, a necessary
stability for mental health. A worry about
things left undone, or needing to trust
others to pick up the slack.

For to us a son is born
to us a son is given.
The governance of the world
will rest upon his shoulders.

a promise of a new start.
So we don’t need to fear the
future, because the future is
a promised new beginning, one that
promises an end to pain and suffering.

Before I forget, I put up a contest on my blog the other day!  A chance, if you are Canadian, to win a colouring book!   Go check it out eh?

April showers bring May flowers, how does your garden grow?   Decisions, choices, pervade this season of life.  Well….   Any season of life right?  🙂  Decisions are made everyday.  Shall we explore that a little bit?

Decisions are Made Everyday

Everyday, decisions are made,
little bitty ones,
big, strong, life-changing ones.
and loads and loads of ones that
fit inbetween.

Decisions to try to be the
better person. To try to see
another’s perspective when they
seem to only see the negative in
anything you do. It’s very hard.

Decisions to not sell small pets to
someone for a variety of reasons.
They didn’t respect your illness,
decided a particular day had to fit
their agenda, or poked and prodded a wee
one without regard for the animal’s thoughts.

A decision to work earlier and finish
exactly on time to ensure timing worked
for another appointment as exhaustion
settles deeply into one’s bones. Falling
asleep as a decision made to set for a spell.

Winter gardening, early season sowing,
following the moon, following proven advice<br />of waiting till May 24 weekend to plant,
Vertical gardening, raised beds, and
4 x 4, three sisters, and plot gardens.
So many choices early in the year.

Best advice for gardening I heard this year,
plant what you know you or someone you
love will eat. Do not plant anything else.
He was talking about veggie gardens of course,
though the same can apply to flowers. Plant
what YOU like, not what someone else says.

Kinda fits with decisions about life right?
Doing what is right and good and fits with
your life and your calling in how to live.

Jesus did that too you know?
Driving out people from the temple
who were disrespecting it. Teaching men to
know him better and spread that news.
Choosing death and allowing life to fill
him up again. For those he loves and holds
in high regard. People he calls family.

Our decisions should reflect that you know?
His high regard for God.
Choices that hold others dear.
Decisions that say YOU are important, when
we look at those around us.

Reflect him well in our decisions eh?