Guess what? We’re having another Five Minute Friday Retreat!
Back in August 2015, 21 ladies gathered together for the first ever FMF Retreat, and they’ve been begging to do it again ever since!
This year we’ll be gathering over the weekend of July 21-23 in Kansas City, MO.
Tickets are NOW ON SALE
and there are ONLY 24 SPOTS AVAILABLE!
CLICK HERE
to learn more and REGISTER!
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If you’re new to Five Minute Friday, welcome! Visit this page to learn more!
We have a new writing prompt every week, and we write fast and furious, for five minutes flat.
This week’s prompt is:
GO.
I’m addicted to busy.
There, I said it.
I have a hard time not doing anything. Even if I’m sitting still, I want to be doing something. I say “yes” to too much, feel bad saying, “no,” and get buzzed off the rush of the race.
But then I hit a wall.
I realize I’ve overcommitted, and I ask myself, Why?
Why again?
Why am I back in this same space, the space I know isn’t good for me or my family?
I need to learn the practice and discipline of slow.
Slow, deep breathing.
Slow mornings.
Slow Saturdays. Slow drives. Slow strolls.
I need to resist the rush.
I think of Mary and Martha. I’m definitely a Martha. Bustling about, planning this, preparing that. Do, do, do. Never sit.
But is that the best way? What about the critical aspect of soaking in truth at the feet of my Master, hanging on every word? Single-minded, undistracted. Just savoring.
It doesn’t come naturally for me, that’s for sure. Maybe that’s why it’s called a spiritual discipline.
But I want to crave slow. I want to take time to notice, to enjoy.
To remember.
STOP.
Link up your own five minutes of free writing below!
And don’t forget to VISIT THIS PAGE to register for the RETREAT!!
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I hear you! Have you read Jennifer Dukes Lee’s Happiness Dare? I’m a doer/experiencer–when means that doing and experiencing are my sweet spot–which makes it difficult to practice the discipline of reflection and slowing down.
Kate, I feel more comfortable being busy. I feel valued, important. But then, like you, I get to the point where it’s all too much and I slam into that wall. It’s usually colored with lies like, “Failure.” Slow is a beautiful thing. The older I grow, the more important I’m seeing a discipline of Slow is. However, it’s much easier to talk about slowing down than to make the changes to live it out. 🙂 But, I’m working on it.
Loved your post.
Oh siste, I hear ya! I think we all could learn from taking some time to slow down.
Amen, Kate! Why can we not just be okay in the still. For me, staying busy justifies my rights to keep blessings. Which is ridiculous and false assurance. I know it is God who gives and takes away and there is purpose in both. Great post! I definitely relate 😉
The Best Yes should be required reading for every woman over 21!!!!!
Kate, I hope you don’t mind that I’m writing my five minutes here 🙂
Start.
Slow. Slowpoke.
Go faster. I can easily feel like I am the only one in the slow lane as everyone speeds past me while they look at how slow I am going.
I am no longer fast. I’m not able to push myself anymore. My body and mind will screech and halt.
Like my dog when he doesn’t want to walk anymore. Not our current dog but our first dog when he reached a certain age.
The good thing about having more pages behind me than before me is that I can see how God does work in a slow way and be okay with it. Okay, more okay with it than I was ten or twenty years ago. Why? Because I’ve seen how God works.
God is never slow for the sake of being slow. He is purposeful. He doesn’t rush me. He knows what I can bear and how long it takes me to truly learn certain truths about him and about life and about myself.
I’m learning more and more the truth of Pierre T. DeChardin’s words about trusting above all the slow work of God.
Just because God isn’t working as fast as I’d like doesn’t mean God isn’t working. He is. Faith is learning to trust God’s slow work in the world, in my family, and in me.
Slow isn’t bad. Slow is God’s gracious long-suffering with me and with all of us. I sometimes think I want God to be faster but then I remind myself of God’s infinite wisdom compared to my limited vision.
End.
Thanks, Kate 🙂
I know. Why does it have to be so hard?! I had a miscarriage recently and it’s forced me into slowing down. I wrote about it https://writeitout2017.wordpress.com/2017/02/25/slow-5-minute-prompt/