Five Minute Friday: Lonely

Five Minute Friday:  Lonely

 

I have been on both sides of being lonely.  I have been in a crowd of people and felt lonely.  I have been by myself and been lonely.  I have lived in the darkness which loneliness can present.  And, I have lived in the sunlight which loneliness can afford.

I have wallowed in it.  I have waded through it. 

I have given way to despair of it.  I have risen to great heights of hope through it. 

They say “hope is a thing with feathers which perches on the soul” 

Loneliness is hope reversed which tears down all the possibility of perching…. 

Or…..does it? 

As I look back of the seasons of loneliness I have endured, lived through, survived, I more often than not see something surprising…

I see surrender 

In my own smallish life, I see those times of loneliness as some of my greatest seasons for personal growth….for internal development and for spiritual renewal. 

One of my favorite quotes is,  

“when you get to the bottom of yourself, you get to the beginning of God”…. 

And, that is what I see when I glance over my shoulder and back on my life….

Surrender…. getting to the bottom of myself...and, the beginning of Him....

Growth 

Faith

Perseverance 

And, so many other qualities I would not have developed had I not been, at one time, lonely. 

And, just as significant… 

When I turn back….when I reach back….when I purposefully think back…. 

It was when I was at my most lonely of days that God’s presence was most revealed to me…. 

Because out of my loneliness, I was able to look up…to look through….to look into….in a way I which would not have been possible had I not at one time, first…been….

Lonely.

And, greater still….when I pause for reflection of those seasons in my life of loneliness….I see now the myriad of people God sent into my life to hold me, encourage me, love me…. 

And, I am grateful. 

While I do not want to pass through that curtain of loneliness any more than necessary….I know now that when I do, to understand that this may be a season for reflection, for growth, for healing…. 

For my faith to widen and my heart to expand….my spirit to increase and my love to endure… 

There is always the opportunity for growth… 

Even when…. 

Lonely

Our “Senior” Moments…….. 

Tuesday, August 06, 2013, began what is certain to be a quick ride to the graduation assembly in 2014.  Johnson and Kenton have come a long way since their pre-school moments at “MY SCHOOL” pre-school under the leadership of much beloved Patty Rhodes. 

Then, on to Central Christian kindergarten (twice), Garden Springs real kindergarten and eventually a move to Scott County Schools as they entered first grade and now enter twelfth grade. 

To say time has flown is a major understatement….. 

When they place your little bundle (in our case bundles) in your arms in the hospital, you are told to hold sacred every moment because they will fly by fast….”they” were not speaking in jest.   

Yesterday….really….yesterday, my babies were babies….in my arms…. 

I blinked twice and now they are boy-men. 

Where did the time go when they were so small that I could lay them on my smallish foot stool and they both fit nicely?  What happened to those little bare feet which loved to slide across the hardwood floors in white-soxed feet?   

I confess, I don’t fully understand boys….even though I have mothered two for 18 years now.  They are just different from us girls.  From the very beginning, they were.....well, just different. 

They can scare me to death with their antics, they can make my heart burst with pride with their serving, they can melt my heart with their words and actions.

 

I love my children with “a purple passion”……and, I wish I could take credit for any of the good that can be found in them, but I cannot.  It is all God. 

And, now, I can sincerely say….THANK GOD they are all God’s doing for if it had been up to me, I am confident, I would not have done the job of raising them they deserve. 

I am always honest in my blogging (perhaps sometimes too much so for some), but I write what I write for my children…..and, no one else.  I simply share with you because I know you love me and my children…and there is comfort in that. 

So, as we head into my children’s senior year, and especially my boys….I ask you…. 

Please pray for them….for God to reach deep inside their hearts and pull out the very best…HIS very best out of them.  Pray that they are safe and that they make wise and good decisions.  Pray for God to direct them on the path He would have them go.  That He will walk with them every single step of every single day that they are walking.  Pray that they are challenged academically.  Pray that they are humbled in real ways which drop them to their knees in the knowledge of whom it is they should live for.  Pray for their fun to be good, clean fun with good, clean kids.  Pray that they shed some bad habits and grow into some new ones.  Pray that they keep their true and real friends and let go of those who would draw them downward.  Pray they are good, solid citizens who grow into the understanding of what it means to have good work ethic and integrity….honesty and compassion. 

Pray that they live up to the very God given potential that He intended them to have…..

And, I will do the same for you. 

 

I truly believe praying for one another's children...especially our seniors....is one of the greatest gifts of friendship we can give one another...

 

 

Blessings…. 

Lesa 

 

P.S.  There is a reason our boys rode to school in a limo....a bittersweet story for another day!