Five Minutes: Opportunity

Each week Gypsy Mama chooses a word to write about for five minutes. No editing, stream of consciousness. Today's word is: Opportunity.

Ready.  Set.  Write.

I love starting a new book.  Why? Because it opens the door to a brand new opportunity and adventure.  Opportunity.  It's why I loved buying school supplies for a new year of classes.  There is something invigorating to have sharpened pencils, flowing pens and a blank notebook that gets my motor going.

When things change in my life, I sometimes get wary of what will happen beyond what I can see.  From losing jobs to losing sweet friends and family that pass on to ending relationships, it presents a scary future.  But, it's replete with opportunity.  Opportunity to trust in God more and rely on His Direction in my life and the brand new things He has in store for me.

A year ago today I lost one of my dearest friends, Jan.  It was a sudden passing of a life so young and it rocked my world.  I didn't see much opportunity in that, just bitterness.  But looking back over the year, I see how her impact on my life will forever change me.  She was a journeyman in ministry with me, loving on girls who felt like they were on the Island of Misfit Toys and helping them see their complete worth in Christ.  Oh how I miss ruminating with her on those opportunities.  I know, though, that I have the opportunity to carry on her legacy, of which I'm blessed and grateful. 

Opportunity...what a positive word.

Five Minutes: Perspective

Each week Gypsy Mama chooses a word to write about for five minutes. No editing, stream of consciousness. Today's word is: Perspective.

Ready.  Set.  Write.

I've always been a "glass half full" kinda girl...and even more than that..."half full with all the nutrients for your day!"  Some might look at my life and not see that all things are rosy (pun intended) and that though I may be blessed, I don't have many of the things I long and pray for.  But, it's all in perspective.

God has been showing me a lot this week...let me rephrase...A LOT.  I've been on a spiritual plateau for a few months and having a tough time shaking it.  Work has been consuming...I've had some minor health issues that aren't bad, just niggly (I love that word!)...and going through the motions but not truly communicating - two-way - with God.  I've always been told to just keep being obedient and even if it feels routine, God will continue to work even if you don't see it or sense it in the moment.

Sure enough that is true.  I see so many things from the sparkling green eyes God gave me, not always stepping out on the other side and seeing things from a different perspective.  When I'm not all self-consumed, God begins to reveal to me things to help me understand the path I'm on and teaching me lessons I can't see in my selfishness.  There is a reason I don't see things from His Perspective.  I am not God.  I'm so thankful I'm not and He is the captain of my life.

Five Minutes: Identity

Each week Gypsy Mama chooses a word to write about for five minutes. No editing, stream of consciousness. Today's word is: Identity.

Ready.  Set.  Write.

Who am I?  People ask themselves this question all the time.  When I ask that of myself, I get caught up in a lot of false identifications.  I'm a manager....a single person...a woman living with RA...all these really don't truly identify me.  The older I get and the more I long for that man God has for me, the more I detest the "single" identity.  It's a characteristic of who I am, but it doesn't identify me.  Just like my RA.  It is a part of my life, but doesn't define me.

Who am I?...really?  I'm a child of the King.  I'm a miraculous gift to parents who waited 18 years for a child. I'm a resilient soul who tries to focus on the positive at all times.  I'm a creative spirit who drinks in all outlets of expressing myself - writing, crafting, cooking.  I am a lover of people and relationships.  I'm just as happy on a 4-hour phone conversation with a friend than I am on some structured activity. 

Above all else, I want to find my identity in Christ.  He is my Sustainer, my Creator, the One who knows me better than I know myself.  I am His, and praise God, He is mine. 

Top Five Signs I Participate in Too Many Conference Calls

After a long draught of "Top Five" lists, I finally have one worthy of a blog post...straight from the home office in Pune, India...the Top Five Signs I Participate in Too Many Conference Calls...

5.  My arm naturally remains in the position posed to have the phone to my ear.

4.  I get to conference calls before the leader so often I have the hold messages memorized - the helpful tips from how to mute myself to telephone etiquette.

3.  I've enforced the college rule.  If a professor was 15 minutes late, we left the class.  If the conference call leader is 15 minutes late, I leave the call.  By then, I've been so scarred by the hold music and messages, I can't take it anymore.

2.  I can multi-task like a champ.  From muting off and on while I eat lunch to moving from my office phone to cell phone with very little meeting interruption.

1.  I have co-workers instant message me during calls the most hilarious commentary.  The best one thus far - "If I kill myself on this call, do you think it'd still keep going?"

Five Minutes: Real

Each week Gypsy Mama chooses a word to write about for five minutes. No editing, stream of consciousness. Today's word is: Together.


Ready.  Set.  Write.

I love the word real.  I love being real.  I adore people who are real.  I've lived enough in this life to know that people who aren't real aren't going to spend much time within my personal friend bubble.

When I began to disciple and mentor younger women, the first sweet soul I was privileged to grow with made a statment one day that rocked my world.  "Rose, I don't think you ever sin."  Whoa.  Reality check.  Yep, I sin.  I'm the chiefest of those, as a matter of fact.  Oh, my sin may not always be evident because the consequences vary, but I'm a sinner thru and thru.  At that moment I realized that I wasn't being real.  I wasn't being honest and open with her about my struggles.  You see, I may seem the most open person in the world when reading my posts on this blog, but I go much deeper than the written word may ever show.  And, I know how to put on the happy face that all is hearts and roses when things aren't as shiny as they may seem.

From that moment on, I realized that being real is of utmost important in growing relationships.  The older I get the easier that gets because we develop more life experiences that show us how we aren't perfect and we'll make mistakes and sin quite frequently. 

I love people the most that aren't afraid to be real, to be honest, but still praise the Lord anyhow for the multitude of blessings they have admist all their failures and sins.  Be real.  It's refreshing.