Category: Link Ups

Writing from prompts

Well, I don’t know why, Lord.

Margaret2 Comments

Maybe you are not like me and you normally make good decisions, or at least don’t make the same bad ones twice.  Too many times I give in to temptation knowing I’m going to be guilt ridden later, but I do it anyway.  

Later, I exhaust myself thinking about what a stupid that decision was, how it accomplished nothing good, it wasn’t worth it (like any sinful or bad choice is ever “worth it”). No matter how much I dwell on it, I have no explanation for why my brain and body were in the gear of “Go” instead of “No!” Finally, I stop my obsessing about why and say, “I don’t know why, Lord!” But those five little words are packed with guilt and the shame of failure.   If we have repented, holding on to guilt or not forgiving ourselves weighs us down until we stay where we are and grow stagnant, even though God has forgiven us. Accept His forgiveness and move on.

Sometimes I amaze myself…actually, I dismay myself…with how little effort I put into not following through with a sinful idea before it becomes an action…and I’m not just talking about gluttony. It hit me one day: I have to guard what I am thinking about at all times so that when I am at the crossroad of Good and Bad Decisions, I have integrity before the Lord with the choices I make.

Instead of: “I know I shouldn’t, but I’m going to do it this one (more) time.” I will say:  “I know I shouldn’t, so I am not going to.”

By the way, the stinking thinking that put us at the crossroad where we make those wrong decisions didn’t just suddenly crop up out of nowhere.  We were entertaining things we should have taken authority over long before we got to that point.  

I’m not sure if thistle is a week for a wildflower. I know some really pretty finches will come visit your bird feeder when it is full of thistle seed.
If it is a week, it’s a rather pretty weed. These photos were taken in Tennessee.

31 Days? Why, Yes, I Think I will!

Margaret1 Comment

Table of Contents
(to be updated as entries are posted using the following prompts)

Well, I don’t know why, Lord
His Priceless Gift
Thursday’s Problematic Thoughts
Would They Listen? I Didn’t.
Thoughts From the Other Side
Things I Have Noticed Since Starting This Challenge
Photos…Not the Same Format!
Let me gather my thoughts and muse a little…
Well, That’s Simply Complicated (Join)
Scared Sinless
Deep Subject: Losing Weight is Easy…
First
Reach
What to do with a Christian Voice
Don’t Open That Wormy Can
Avoid
Consistent
Active
Strong
Tell

If I succeed in 31 days of writing in October, it will be more posting than I’ve done the whole year! This is not a really strict challenge. It is mostly to get writers writing for at least five minutes a day. I can choose a theme or not (I did). I can use the provided prompts or not (I will at least mention them), and the “Five Minute Free Writes” police won’t come looking for me if I miss a day or two!

The theme I’ve chosen is Freedom, Reflection & Photos. That’s three themes in one, I know. With my attention span, “Reflection” days could be six or seven topics! I call those posts “Margaret’s Musings.”

On Freedom days, we’ll talk about chains, choices, and losing weight (that’s a big one…look, a pun). Christians do not have to live in chains or any kind!

Don’t Even Start…

Margaret4 Comments
Tulips, University of North Alabama Campus

There are so many times I know I shouldn’t even start talking, but I do it anyway. Did you ever notice how quickly we follow up “I know I shouldn’t…” with the very thing we know we shouldn’t do. Or am I alone in that? It reminds me of a little verse I wrote many years ago:

There is no way
To undo what I have done
T’would have been better
To have never begun

I start a lot of projects in my head. I don’t always follow through, which may be a good thing considering how often my projects were so much better in my head! Cooking is a prime example for me. I truly should not even start!

I’ve started hundreds of great blog posts (again in my head) but when I sit down to type them out, I realize they really weren’t that great at all. Funny how in the middle of the night you have answers to all the world’s problems…and your co-worker’s, cousin’s, and next door neighbor’s issues, as well. In the cold dawning of the day you realize you were more tired than you care to admit when you thought that idea was a workable solution. Again, that could just be me.

I’ve started studying the book of Romans. I just finished reading it on Wednesday. I’ve read it several times before, this is the first time I’m really taking the time to study, particularly chapters 6,7 and 8. I want to learn all about our sin nature and freedom because I am writing a book about freedom, and I want it to be purely from Truth. As Christians, we should not be living in chains…yet too many of us do.

I talk to God a lot. I have started to realize that I’ve been praying from standpoints of fear (Oh, Lord, please don’t let “that” happen), selfishness (praying for things that really aren’t that important but are convenient, mostly to me) and pride (I’m ashamed to say that pride does enter my prayer life, and I may write about that later, but for now, I’m just thankful God has pointed it out to me). Praying is conversation out of a true relationship instead of a formula or addressing only immediate needs every now and then. It’s not a recitation, though praying the scripture over yourself and your family is a wonderful thing to do. Most of all, it’s not just what I say; it also has a lot to do with way I’ve lived my life before I start my prayer and end my requests with “in the name of Jesus I pray…”

This post is a Five Minute Friday link up hosted by Kate Motaung.

UNA Tulips

Where is My Head?

Margaret4 Comments

Where is my head?  On my shoulders, of course!  It’s my mind that I sometimes lose.  There are days when it takes a walk without me. 

Other than writing my story, I haven’t written about losing weight or getting healthy, which is one of the main reasons I started “In Quest of Truth.” In this chaotic world where there is so much going on, I find myself thinking America needs my two cents worth, and I write about current events.  (America doesn’t need my two cents worth…we need prayer!)

In this blog, where I intend to be open…which is hard for me at times…I want to share how much God is involved in our lives personally if we let Him.  Food has been a life long struggle for me! Freedom has taken care of the sugar struggle, but I find I have a lot of bad habits to combat. God is faithful and has not left me to my own devices.  

I really must get to a point where I bring all of my scattered thoughts together and share what Jesus is doing for me on this Freedom Road.   Don’t let anyone ever tell you it’s about the calories and exercise.  It’s about far, far more. 

My five minutes were up a minute ago, so let me end with what my friend said to me earlier today: 

“Jesus, take the spoon!” 

See more FMF “Where” posts HERE <<clicky