Five Minute Friday: "Loud"

Ecclesiastes 4:10 - "...But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up."

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Loud.

Everything was just too loud.  I head a headache most of the time I was in Alabama.

Grief rings loud in my ears. Yet I must remain silent.

The weeping of my family at my mom's graveside is a loud symphony of sorrow.  My stoic strength is what they all needed, yet stifling my loud grief hurt like hell.

The breaking of my heart is as loud as a whole china cabinet full of fine crystal and dishes being dashed to the floor all at once, yet I must remain silent to respect my family's brokenness at saying goodbye to mama.

My family coped by making noise--loud music, loud talking, cussing, and stupid questions about why I'm not married yet, loud behavior, and the loud breath of alcohol, cigarettes, and weed.  So loud that I felt sick and needed to get away--not from my family, but from the loud!

But where could I go?

Even when I got in the car and drove around Anniston, everything still felt too loud.  I got no comfort and no relief.  I was not there for me, but for others. I had to accept that.

When I got back to Colorado, I finally got quiet and my headache went away, yet the loud roar of pain was still there. There is still no comfort, only the loud, hateful noise of sorrow.

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Five Minute Friday: "Mercy"

 

 Proverbs 28:13 (NIV) - Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

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God's loving mercy is amazing.  The fact that He gives us so much that we don't deserve and sent His Son to redeem us from getting what we do deserve is mind boggling.

Micah 6:8 says, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Everyone wants to focus on the first part--acting justly and loving mercy--but neglect the second, and most important part of the passage.  We must walk humbly with our God, which includes receiving his mercy in order to know what true mercy is, and extend it to others.   Without the humility of walking with God, we try to determine what mercy is and who should receive it, which leaves a lot of people caught in the cracks and in need of God's love.

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Luke 12:48).

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4th and Five: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

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Five years ago this month hubs and I relocated from New Jersey to the Palmetto State. What were you doing five years ago this month?

Five years ago this month, I was in the throws of my new job at the YMCA and continuing to try to get my life and health on track.

What was the last 9-5 job you worked? Tell us about it.

The fact that it is assumed that those of us who answer these questions wouldn't still have a 9-5 job is telling.  My current job is an hourly 9-5 job.  No, I won't be there forever (Lord willing), but I do enjoy my work.

Plead the fifth, high five, take five, it's five o'clock somewhere, or the big 5-0...which number five phrase relates to your life in some way currently? Tell us how.

The big 5-0 is two years away for me.  I'm looking forward to it and trying to add some adventure on the way.  Some of you have probably already seen my 50 for fifty list, but if not, you can take a gander.

During this season of spending so much time at home, what distractions get in the way of being your most productive? Or have you been extra productive since this whole thing started?

Spending so much time at home has been the most distracting to my productivity.

Give us a list here of your top five anything.

Top five YouTube shows I'm watching:
1.  Good Mythical Morning.
2. Dope or Nope.
3. This Southern Girl Can.
4. Get Good Gaming.
5. Moriah Elizabeth.

Insert your own random thought here.

I got some news I didn't want.  My mother went home to be with the Lord today (Tuesday).  She was 87.  I plan to fly out to Alabama this weekend.  This is not how I wanted to go home. 

I believe God was preparing me for this though I didn't expect it (He knows it all, right?).  I have a class project I'm working on that asks us to do a word study on a particular passage of Scripture from a list provided by the instructor.  This is the scripture I chose almost a month ago:

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV).

I need these words more than ever.

In case you're interested:

* My latest Simple Woman's Daybook is here