Welcome to Five Minute Friday!
I’m so thrilled you’re here. As you may have heard, last week was my first week hosting this amazing community, after the fabulous Lisa-Jo Baker founded Five Minute Friday and hosted it on her blog for the past four years.
And speaking of Lisa-Jo, have you heard what the Lord is doing through her and through this amazing blog community? It’s BIG, you guys. Really big. Click here to be part of it.
But first, let me just tell you, I loved reading your words last week as you FILLED the internet with stories of how you fill your time, how the Lord fills you with His Spirit, how He fills the empty cracks in your lives. Well done, you guys .. well done. (And did you notice the Featured Five Minute Friday post in the sidebar over there?)
If you don’t know how Five Minute Friday works, all the details are right over here:
https://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/
But what you really wanna know is the word for this week, right?
Okay, here you go … This week’s prompt is:
Think about it, mull it over, chew on it .. but you only get to write for FIVE minutes! And don’t forget to visit the blog of the person who linked up before you to leave some comment love.
All righty, whenever you’re ready, set your microwave timer the ol’ fashioned way like I do, and ..
GO
I opened the birthday card, the one from the family at church that we’ve only known for 18 months, and “We love you, Kate,” it said.
And my heart stepped back at the words, because they show it everyday, but this time they said it.
And I couldn’t help but think, “Why don’t we tell people more often what we think of them, and what they mean to us?”
Why do we so often save those words for funerals, for eulogies when it’s all too late?
Why don’t we even tell God, for that matter?
So I decided it’s time.
It’s time to sway to the rhythm of Lauryn Hill and tell Him. Tell Him that we need Him. Tell Him that we love Him.
Tell of His marvelous deeds, His amazing ways.
Tell it wide, tell it deep.
Whisper it to dirty cheeks resting on Spiderman pillows and sing them to sleep with the words.
Tell it to the scraped knees and the hungry tummies.
Tell them love.
Tell it in the cracks and between the shards, in the empty cisterns and in the echoes of the heart.
Tell it to the broken and tell it to the whole.
Tell them grace.
Tell it to the smiles and tell it to the tears and the hurts and the happy.
Tell them heaven.
Tell them hope.
STOP.
Postscript: I wrote this post on Monday afternoon, just hours before the tragic news broke about the death of Robin Williams. Suddenly social media erupted with messages of admiration for the actor, including challenges by Ann Voskamp to tell people what they mean to you before it’s too late. She tweeted with the hashtag #BecauseRobin and thanked people for the impact they’ve had on her life.
I had actually chosen and written on a different word for this week before Monday, and scrapped the whole thing, sensing a burden for this word at this particular time.
It’s no accident that this post appears now, this week, for such a time as this.
Tell them heaven. Tell them hope. And then tell them again.
***
Don’t forget to click here to check out the action over at Lisa-Jo’s .. Because telling with words is one thing, but when you tell with action, your words will come alive.
Okay, show us what you’ve got in the link-up below!
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Yes, we need to do more telling… telling others just how precious and worthy they are, not in our own lives but in HIS eyes as well. I needed this reminder. Thank you.
Amen! Tell everyone they are loved and especially your loved ones because tomorrow comes before today is finished many times and then it is too late! Thank you for opening your home to this beautiful community!
Thanks for taking on the mantle of hostessing with such grace, Kate. What a great conversation going on tonight!
Cool!
;-}
Yeah- so glad to be a part of FMF this week- thank you for your gracious hosting Kate!:)
It’s so important to tell others of how much they are loved. “Tell them grace. Tell them heaven. Tell them hope.” Oh that my words would be laced with His grace, bringing heaven and hope for the hurting.
Five Minute Friday- Tell
We need to tell others close to us how much we love them. They are the ones we take for granted the most .
We wait for Birthday or some other special occasion. If we are in a good mood . If every things at work is going well.
We always think we have tomorrow . We have to do it on purpose. Make it a point to say what’s on your mind the good things. How many people have lost a love one and they tell you I wish I could see them one last time. What would you say if you had one more day . Tell them befor it’s to late .
Oh Amen! And then tell them again! We need to hear the urgency of these messages – Tell them love, tell them heaven, tell them hope. Thank you!
This is beautiful. Thank you for hosting FMF! So glad to be a part of it.
May my words and actions and thoughts all tell of His love and mercy and grace.
I never read the beyond the word till after I have written mine. We were kind of on the same track
Great post
Beautiful words today, Kate. And you are right, it was no coincidence you changed your mind. And it was no coincidence I wrote about Not Giving Up with the burden of friends suffering depression and the threat of suicide…this past Monday. It’s like God was preparing us for this message for such a time as this. And how can I ever doubt a God that shows up like that? Love you and your heart and your words. I’m ready to tell of His love more than ever now…thank you! xoxo, Meredith
Thank you for this lovely, poetic piece. Love is show and tell, both together.
A beautiful reminder to us to take risks and let others know that we do love them, we do see them, we do appreciate them. Thank you for this.
Hi, Kate! Thanks so much for agreeing to host Five Minute Friday! I really enjoyed your post – it seems many of us are on the same page this week. 🙂
Hello fellow writers!
I just discovered this lovely opportunity a few days ago. Since then, I have been looking forward to Friday when I would discover the new writing prompt and get the chance to practice my writing skills. It doesn’t matter if a single person reads my words, but sometimes it helps for me to have a deadline to challenge me and an audience to whom I am accountable. I am not qualified to craft stories with such writers as yourselves other than the fact that the LORD has given me the desire to write and, more importantly, I have a story to tell. That being said, I shall now begin.
A new trimester is starting at the university. The LORD willing, I plan to be there. It’s my hope to get there early on the first day, find a chair near the front of the classroom, (so as not to be distracted any more than a person like I find myself to be can be), and study with all my might. I look forward to learning under one professor especially. He is a genial, older man and I hope to receive much learning under his direction. I am, yes, still, a bit apprehensive about the other students who will be in my class. What will their names be, their mannerisms, what will they think of me? All these questions, while floating in my head, are not nearly as pertinent as this: What image of Christ will I show to my professor and classmates? This is a most important question. I fear pursuing education without the essential desire of pursuing Christ and, in love, pursuing those I will meet on campus with the wonderful message of my Savior. How will I tell them? How will I communicate this passion in my heart for the One Who so passionately pursued me? Will they scoff at Him based on my presentation of Him, through words, appearance, and actions? Oh! my LORD, I pray not! Such a desire burns within me to reach out to those who do not know the mercy offered by Christ to fallen man. I heard once that those who pray for the LORD to send out workers in His harvest should be prepared, for they may find themselves soon to be one that the LORD sends out. Without knowing my future, yet knowing that my LORD is absolutely trustworthy, I say, “LORD, send out workers to tell others about You. I do desperately want to be one of those. Use me as You will.”
So glad you joined us! Thank you for sharing your heart! Blessings to you on this new semester ..
Beautiful thought! I wish we or atleast I could abide by it all the time.
To start with, I take this opportunity to tell you, how thankful I am for being a part of this flash mob.
It has helped me to be a better writer and this is exactly what I wrote about in today’s post using the prompt- TELL!
-Tanya
http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.com/
Such an inspirational write. Linking up for the first time and so glad I found this group.
Welcome, Suzy! So glad you’re here!
Kate! I love the word prompt, I love your words and I love the agenda. You’ve chosen an important subject, and an important word this week! God bless you!
-Ava Sophie
Beautiful, heart challenging and very hard words. Because to do this: “Tell them heaven. Tell them hope. And then tell them again,” we have to let our telling be directed by the needs of others and not by our own needs… our own desires… our own interests. I’m more naturally interested in telling my stories that serve me and my needs instead of telling God-stories to serve and minister to others – and I think that message, the importance of “my story” is one that can easily get out of balance…
Hi Kate
Please could you pop me a mail – I cant seem to find your contact info, I am a writer/journalist here in Cape Town and want to get in touch with you. My email is aliyahreflections@gmail.com
Thanks