Play: Five Minute Friday

I can't believe my last post was June 3. And yet, I can. The end of the school year was way more "full" than I had imagined.
So, I'm chiming in tonight for the Five Minute Friday linkup. In just two weeks I'll be live with the real Five Minute Friday people in Missouri! Oh wow!

Play.

"Mom, may I please play your piano?"
The sparkling brown eyes I've loved to gaze into for almost ten years look up with anticipation.
"Yes."
Those eyes remind me of another pair of brown eyes that also came alive when the small hands reached out for the black and white keys.
The sounds that resulted would either cause pleasure or dismay to the two young ears on either side of those brown eyes.
Hours spent alone and delighted, just making music on the piano.
Listening and correcting, until finally the music that was composed by others was picked out, note by note, and displayed audibly as a triumphant puzzle solved!!

To have my daughter pick up this gift is such a joy for me! I love to hear her play. She is reading music, playing songs I once played, and picking out other songs by ear.
Someday I hope we will play together. For now, I just savor her love for music, which is my love language.

Stop.

-Tammy
I apologize for not returning comments last time. It was the weekend before school ended and life was crazy!

Future: Five Minute Friday

Welcome to another wonderful week of Five Minute Friday posting! We have a website now!
Fiveminutefriday.com   So thankful to all who have worked to make it possible. :)
 
The prompt this week is "Future".

I had two thoughts in my head. One was investments. And futures. And how I know those terms are related but didn't know what "futures" actually were. Here's the internet's offering on the subject:

"Futures are financial contracts obligating the buyer to purchase an asset or the seller to sell an asset, such as a physical commodity or a financial instrument, at a predetermined future date and price."

Well. I could stop now. That's Jesus right there!

:) But I get five minutes, so I'll keep going. Jesus bought our futures and paid for them. We can rest knowing we are redeemed, but we have to claim that redemption!

The other thought? One of my favorite Hymns. "Because He Lives"

The chorus says, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives."

So, if Jesus is our life and our focus and our future, then everything is because of Him and due to Him and all for Him. Wouldn't our churches look different if we all believed this?

If I'm investing in the future, I am investing in the spiritual legacy I'll leave with my children, and someday grand and great-grand children. I'm investing in the lives of the students I teach. I'm investing in the lives of this amazing FMF community by reading and responding and encouraging and "Me-too-ing"!!

Relationships will be eternal, but nothing else will last.

And now for the corny 90s Jesus poster.

"My future's so bright, I've gotta wear shades."

Remember that one? There IS truth behind it, though.

Sunset this Wednesday

This doesn't do justice to the colors Wednesday night!

Out of time for my five minute limit, but so glad for the Future because we'll both be there together!
Love,
Tammy

P.S. Please include your linkup number or url in your comments for me so I can find you and post and comment back!!

Truth: Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday! Here's the link to Kate's Linkup!

Okay, I just noticed it's been a month since I've contributed to the linkup. Wow. And the journey has been wild in the in-between.
But tonight's prompt, "Truth" was too good to stay back from.
Also, my middle school students have been away at outdoor school which has given me a little more creative energy to pour out into the atmosphere. I have been painting their hallway all week!

The reason that "truth" is so important, is that it is the key ingredient of trust. If somebody is not truthful, they are not to be trusted. Whether this is in a work relationship, a parent-child relationship, or a regular person-to-person relationship, we don't wish to be lied to.
(Alright, except for vanity. Tell me I still look young and beautiful and I will probably appreciate the compliment)

It says that we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free. Free from what? What lie have we listened to?

Hint, it's in the book of Genesis.
⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

This was the lie. That because we were made in the image of God, we believed we could be "like" God.
And this is the struggle in our hearts that is the root of all sin. We want to be like God. We want to be God. We want the control, the power, the steering wheel in our lives.
We don't want pain, discomfort, suffering, poverty, cancer, or anything else we deem "bad". We like to see others get what they deserve. (This is a painful truth. But, since the theme is truth, I'll call it out)
We, however, never want to get what we deserve.

The last time I looked, I really couldn't control anything. And it's been freeing to realize this, though not easy to learn. You see, when the power rests in God's hands, so does the responsibility!
We get to lean on His grace and mercy which surpass our frazzled feelings and emotions. We get to smile and graciously forgive when we'd rather breathe fire and return the wounding a little (or a lot).

And, He gives us perspective. Will this matter in 5 minutes? 4 hours? 3 days? 2 months? 1 year? (calming countdown, yes?)

Oh the little things that could stir us up, but He is quietly whispering to us, "come, hide in the shelter of my wings. I will protect you and keep you from being battered by this storm. You'll get wet, but you won't drown!"

Listen, dear ones, for He is speaking the Truth. He is and was and always will be. So, why not realize He is and was and always will be in control? And you don't have to be?! :)

Love,
Tammy

P.S. Please include your linkup number in your comments. I'd love to see your thoughts on the "truth".