Five Minute Friday: Have I Got a Story to Tell!

It's Friday morning and time to meet up with Lisa-Jo Baker -- Tales of a Gypsy Mama, who spreads a feast before us consisting of a challenge:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

Today's word is STORY, and here's my best five minutes . . . .

READY, SET, GO!


How many times has someone said to you, "Have I got a STORY to tell!"

And you're reaction may have been, "Oh, no, here we go again!"

But think about it -- we've all got stories to tell.  We just don't always preface our stories with such an announcement.

As I thought about Lisa-Jo's word for today, I began to think about my story.  Well, actually that would be STORIES!

There are my mamahood stories.  Then my single parenting stories after the divorce stories.

My stories about working as a legal secretary for some 30 plus years.  Oh, all the soccer, T-ball, swimming, football stories.

And the stories of finding Mr. Right and marrying him, and now the stories of our glorious almost 31 years together.  In between all of that, the stories of our children's marriages, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren.

That's a lot of stories!

But there's one story so much more important than all of these . . . . it's the story of a loving Father who looked down on His creation and saw people who needed Him and His loving grace.  The Father who gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our salvation.

Now, that's a STORY!

STOP!

Attribution

Forgiving the Inexcusable

Attribution

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” ― C.S. Lewis

Inexcusable is defined as "impossible to excuse or justify; unpardonable." 

A list of synonyms for this word includes unforgivable, indefensible, unjustifiable, outrageous, unpardonable, unwarrantable, inexpiable.

Sounds like we've got a big task ahead of us if we as Christians are expected to forgive the inexcusable.

Have you ever had anything happen to you that you believed or felt was inexcusable?  Stop and think -- anything so horrible that it was unforgivable or unpardonable?

Forgive a personal reference here.  Almost two decades ago, I received a call on a Friday evening.  My mother's voice at the other end of the line held a shakiness and the sound of tears.

I was impatient.  We were to meet friends for dinner soon.  So I pushed her to hurry.  That's when she blurted out that a nephew had been the victim of thieves.  At first, I didn't quite get the gist of her words, but quickly came to understand that my nephew had been murdered.

Murdered.  Stolen from us in cold blood.  Gunned down by a man who believed that my nephew and his wife might be having an affair.  They were former high school sweethearts but had each gone away to college and married other people.  This man just happened to see them talking at a company picnic where both families were in attendance.  All a huge mistake in so many ways.

Proud of his plan to kill my nephew, this man told his wife and eldest son what he intended to do.  Of course, their words amounted to hearsay on police reports and were not admissible in the courtroom.

Because no weapon was found and the suspected murderer couldn't be placed at the scene of the crime, and despite his running away and hiding in another state for some months, the jury found him not guilty.

Murdered.  Stolen from us in cold blood.  Inexcusable act.  Forgive this man?  How were we to do that?  My brother lost a son, I lost a nephew, a young boy lost his father, my mother lost a grandson -- our family lost a whole person, leaving an empty place at the table in the heart of every family gathering.  

We were supposed to forgive this act of violence, this inexcusable act?

Yes, we were to be Christians.  We were supposed to forgive.  I have tried, and I know others in the family have tried.  Some of us have been successful.

How you might ask?  By relying on the Word of God to be our Guide and by reflecting on the truth that God gave his only Son to save us from our sins, some of which are likely inexcusable in the eyes of some.  God's Son shed His blood for us, for our inexcusable acts.

What will you do when something inexcusable happens to you, a member of your family, in your workplace?  Will you be able to forgive the inexcusable?

Attribution

Linking up with the Write It, Girl Summer Link-up!  Won't you join us?

What A Gift!

For God so loved the world

Photo credit

* * *

God loved the world, not just you and me, the whole world,

and He still does and always will, no matter what.

* * *

that he gave his one and only Son,

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* * *

He gave us a gift, not just any gift --

He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, to

bleed and die on a cross.

* * *

  

  that whoever believes in him

* * *

"Whoever" is anyone -- you, me, the boy who bags your
groceries, the woman who styles your hair,
the homeless, the jobless -- who believes His promises
through faith and willingly accepts God's love.

* * *

 shall not perish but have eternal life.

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 * * * 
 And through the added gift of eternal life,
salvation is ours -- His promise to us
through His Son.

John 3:16 (NIV)

Let us give thanks again and again for this extraordinary gift of sacrifice and love.

Rebirth, Renewal and Resurrection

spring song

By Lucille Clifton
 

the green of Jesus

is breaking the ground

and the sweet

smell of delicious Jesus

is opening the house and

the dance of Jesus music

has hold of the air and

the world is turning

in the body of Jesus and

the future is possible

Lucille Clifton, "spring song" from The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton.

Copyright © 1987 by Lucille Clifton.  Reprinted by permission of BOA Editions, Ltd.
 

   I confess my first reading of this poem by Lucille Clifton was last evening.  In fact,
I'd never even heard of Lucille Clifton until I came across this one work of hers.

   As I read the words, I was instantly reminded of the renewal we experience in these
first days of spring.  Of course, the renewal of the earth is pricking away at our
senses:

daffodils pushing up through the snow,

blue skies, high clouds and the sun breaking through,

trees long since appearing dead sharing new green leaves, and

the first dogwood blossoms opening before Easter.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NLT)

   Like the rest of God's creation, coming to life again in spring, we too have been given the gift of rebirth and renewal with the gift of God's Son, Jesus.

Sharing over at The Grace Cafe with Joan

Photo credits (top to bottom):
www.inspiredhue.wordpress.com 
www.photography.colinpurrington.com
www.freedigitalphotos.net 
Photos on Goggle+ 
www.equusvilla.blogspot.com 
www.houseofsevenpillars.com