Still...A Five Minute Friday

The challenge, write for five minutes, no more and no less. No edits, no going back. Add links and images after.  Five free minutes with no editor - really?  No perfection, just heart pouring out and sharing by linking up at The Gypsy Mama to share and read other Five Minute Friday posts.  

Today's prompt: Still


7:55 am. Friday.
I look outside.
No breeze. No wind.
Still.

I listen to the house.
Air conditioning rumbles.
Little boy plays on his bed.
Computer hums.
Be still.

Mama reading her Bible.
Reaching deep for the waters.
Reaching deep for the grace.
Praying for His touch on her.
Soaking it in, still.

Note books, devotionals, guides,
study Bible, pens,
gratitude journal.
Blessed still.

Holding my breath,
waiting for something.
Not sure what.
Can I breathe?
Waiting...still.

The rush of the day,
pants at the door.
Waiting to devour me.
I pray for patience,
for saving grace.
Waiting on Him - still.

Dances to "Rise Up"
as only a little boy can.
Shouting his love for Jesus
as only a little one can.
They seek Him still.

Waters rest. Frogs rest.
Birds rest. My heart rests.
We wait for the whisper
the promise of being here
with us.
Always.
Still.

Still I love Him.
Still I seek Him.
In Him I can
be still.
In Him
I can
be.

8:00 am. Coffee is hot. Still.

Poem copyright Shanyn Silinski 2011

Waiting for Wild Flowers

God asks us to plant the seeds and He asks us to be good stewards and tend them.

He never tells us what we planted!  That is where faith comes in.  We have to believe what we cannot see and in that belief we actually know Him.

My husband is a farmer, and he is used to planting, tending and waiting.  Me, I work with our animals, and am not so good at the waiting for seeds.  I love the land, love the soil, but waiting for seeds is so hard!

 Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

We have two flower beds that my sweet husband planted to wild flowers for me.  Waiting for wild flower seeds taught me a lot!


This is what  I learned from wild flower seeds...

• they are tiny, for the most part, and you don't plant them too deep or they won't come up
• they are wildly varied and can be very competitive with weeds
• they need to be watered consistently too little and they get tight in the soil and won't come up, too much and they can wash away
• there is no such thing as weeding wild flowers until they are all up and almost blooming
• wild flower seeds do not look like their photos on the seed packets instead they are so much more marvelous and varied and beautiful
• they will only come up and bloom and bless you with their beauty in their own way, at their own time just as God designed them to do

How can we, walking with our God and sharing our faith, use these lessons from wild flowers?

This is what comes to mind...

• Don't plant ideas and concepts too deep or people may struggle with them
• while the weeds of life and the dark ones can cause us to feel like we are strangling we are stronger than they are even the smallest one of God's children is
• no two people are alike, not even identical twins, and each needs to come to God on their own
• just like watering wild flowers you cannot drown someone in your words and you cannot stop helping tend the seeds of their faith.  God's word is planted, we can help tend it in person, through prayer or by our silent presence in their lives
• like wild flowers only someone who knows weeds from flowers can do the weeding and that job is God's.  We do not weed out believers based upon what we imperfectly know or understand we let God do His work
• people will have a relationship with God based upon what God plants in them and it won't be what we expect, think or desire but it will be amazing beyond measure because it is God's hand in their and our lives
• God requires each of us to tend our own gardens and be not only good stewards, but loving, faithful and encouraging children of God - people will come to God as He designs we are to be faithful in the loving, praying and stewardships He gives us.

2 Peter 1:5  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; 

and to goodness, knowledge;

One thing I learned from my husband's time in University doing the Ag Diploma program is this: Weeds are plants we do not understand the true purpose of yet.  Some can be useful and good and others noxious and deadly but many are just undiscovered wild flowers!

How Many Stand Silent

How Many Stand Silent? 

Like watching a storm on the horizon....

How many stand silent,

Watching as you quietly die?

How many stand silent,

Watching as you are abused?

One, a dozen, the whole world.

What if no one spoke for any of us?

Would you speak if the hand raised,

was raised against you and yours?

How many stand silent,

Knowing who deals death

Just beyond their door?

How many stand slient,

Knowing cruelty lives and thrives

Just beyond their door?

One, a dozen, the whole world.

What if no one looked at any of us?

Would you cry out or would you cower away,

if the cruelty was coming through your door?

How many stand silent,

Waiting for someone to speak?

How many stand silent,

Believing the lies, "I've changed"?

One, a dozen, the whole world.

What if we stopped believing them?

How many stand silent...

How many stand silent waiting for...

Just one person to say, "Stop! Enough!"?

How many stand silent...

How many stand silent waiting for...

Someone else to make the world change?

copyright Shanyn Silinski 2010

A repost from my blog, Scarred Seeker, this poem resonated with so many communities of people I wanted to share it here with you.  Whether we are speaking for survivors of abuse, advocating for those facing troubles, shouting out against animal cruelty or looking for strength to speak our faith - there are always, it seems, too many who stand silent when their voices need to be heard.  

I would love to invite you to visit my other blog, Mystic-Mom, for more poetry, stories of ranch life and photos.

Bright blessings!

One blade of grass

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." John Calvin


I put the camera on macro and wander about the yard, seeking Him in His creation, and the wonders I find bring prayers of joy and thanksgiving to my lips and bless my eyes and lighten my soul!


Have you wandered in your bit of creation lately?  Take a closer look at the wonders God has blessed you with right where you are.

Bright blessings, always and in all ways...

Five Minute Friday: Gratitude

The Gypsy Mama has another great prompt for her Five Minute Friday.  Take five minutes and type, no editing or critiqing or tweaking.

Time's A Ticking...Gratitude


I'm at almost 800  in my Gratitude Journal.  It amazes me that I can have so many things in my life that bless me and that I am able to sit down to record them.  Flowers and birds, laughing boys and the help of friends.  Husbands coming home safely and so many wonderful little things!


What am I grateful for?  Everything!  Even when I'm not sure what is is I'm thankful for I know with confidence that God has a plan for my good and His Glory!  That means I truly have reason to be grateful no matter what!


The angry days, the arguing days, the hot muggy humid days - yes those days!


The laughing, giggling, creating, sharing, loving and serving  - oh yes those days!


The fast getaway on a rocking horse days, and the days where nothing goes right - those days too, although a bit more quietly!


The getting it done, making things happen, taking names and kicking down doors - those days are challenging too because I need to remember the Source is NOT me!


With one minute left, gratitude is what we have left when the day is done and all that is left is the Thank you Lord for...and gratitude is what you have when  you get past the moments, through the tears and into the sunshine.  From the eyebrows down angry faces to the smiling and laughing loving the Lord faith of an almost 6 year old.  For them I'm grateful, for this all I'm grateful.

Humbled and grateful.  Awed and grateful.  Washed clean and saved by grace. Grateful!

My Prayer

When I sit down in the mornings, my Bible with me, my journal and my other devotional books.  

I read my prayer by Ogilvie and I open my Bible.  

Placing hands upon the open pages, this is a version of what I pray.  

I wanted to share it with you.

Bright blessings.

Shanyn

"Lord, please be with me as I am reading your word.

Let me be immersed in it.

Let it wash over me, through me, around me.

Let Your Word reach through my soul,

and through my spirit.

Lord, please let the words soak through my being,

let them become part of my thought,

my breath, my being.

Let Your word wrap around my heart

and entwine in my fibres.

Lord, please let the words become part of me,

for this day and for always.

My life and my living.

Let Your Word surround us, together and apart,

Bless us Lord and be with us.

Amen."