Five Minute Friday: Risk

It's been awhile, but I'm linking up with Five Minute Friday again... here are the rules:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here at Lisa-Jo's house and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

GO

I don't skydive, or bungy jump, or jump into pools full of electric eels... but I lead a risky life.  Well, at least on my blog.  Putting something on my blog is risky; whenever I post about something I want to do, or a challenge for myself, I'm making it public.  That means accountability.  If I don't do it or achieve it, everyone will know about it.  There's nothing private about the failure.  But it gives me incentive to do it!  My "Cooking Like Grandma Experiment", my "36 to 36" challenge and many others.

I'm also taking a risk when I put my opinion out there.  Everyone has they're own view and it's often different from your own.  I've just posted about how we are potty training our daughter.  Many will disagree with our method.

I often put my heart on my sleeve... or at least I try to.  I run the risk of opening myself up to people who don't really care.  Right now I'm telling you all that our beautiful daughter was conceived through IVF.  A million reasons that can fall under the category "risk", both from the perspective of the actual procedure as well as just talking about it now and how we came to have a wonderful almost 3 year old in our lives.

STOP

Wow!  Five minutes is so restrictive!  LOL.  I always get cut off mid thought, so will need to learn to touch type much faster!

Five Minute Friday: Unexpected

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

GO:
I start crying as I wait for my blood test to be taken, not because I'm afraid of needles (goodness knows I'd had a million over the past few months, or so it seemed!), but because I already knew what the results would be: I'm not pregnant, again.

It was tense at work that morning, waiting for the phone call to confirm what I already knew. The phone rang and I jumped up and ran to the corridor to find a semi private area of our office.

"Hello?" I answer timidly.

"Hi, Janelle, it's Paula calling from the clinic. I have some good news." My mind starts racing. What good news could it be? We have extra embryos to try again. But I already know this... what other good news could there possibly be? Just tell me! Paula breaks the ranting in my head with the statement: "You're pregnant!"

I'm in shock. How can I be pregnant? I started spotting last night, so knew for sure that I wasn't!

And so began our unexpected journey to bring Little Spring into the world approximately 8 months later!
STOP

Playing along with Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Remember

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

GO:
Such a broad subject! And so many memories flooding back just thinking about the topic remember!

Remembering my innocence... my teenage years and how complicated it seemed, but it wasn't really! I remember thinking that I would be married by the time I was 21 or 22 (was actually married at 24, almost 25!) and having my first child when I was 23 or 24 (I was 32 when I had Little Spring).

I remember as a child really hoping for this one toy ("Upsy Daisy" doll) for Christmas and I promised and promised and promised my mum and dad that if I got the doll I would keep my room clean always! I promise! Especially seeing as I would be playing with her all the time, I wouldn't have a chance to mess up my room! Obviously my parents didn't believe me, but I did get Upsy Daisy for Christmas!

I remember the day the clinic rang to tell me that I was pregnant. I couldn't believe that the nurse said that I was, because I was truly expecting another negative result. I remember calling Big Spring and telling him that he was going to be a daddy and crying on the phone quietly (I was at work and had to find a private place in the office!).

My mind is full of so many memories and I love that photos can capture so many of them!
STOP

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5 Minute Friday: Relevant

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

GO:
I hope my wonderful aunt won't mind me quoting her from an email... she has summed up relevant very well in regards to worry and how relevant it is:

(background: she sent my daughter a recordable book from the US to here in Australia. It had taken awhile for it to arrive and when it finally did I asked if she'd locked it.)

"Yes I did lock it. At first I was fearful that I might accidently lose it, or for some reason it malfunctioned after reaching you, but then I realized that I could re-record it any time. (probably better the next time) I’m so glad it finally arrived!

I was really beginning to worry it might have gotten lost somewhere, but once again I realized that I could send another one if that happened. (Do you sense a trend here? I’ve recognized the past few months the small things I worry about and have tried to rethink them. I’ve known for years that there is nothing in life that I can truly control, except my attitude. Everything else is usually based on what I want or wish to happen and when it doesn’t I get frustrated, forgetting to realize that my loving Father sees the big picture which includes everyone else and their wants and needs also. So, when I start worrying about anything, I try and ask myself, “Ok, what if that happens – what will you do?” Then I usually conclude that it’s not worth my effort of worrying about it --- there are better things to think about)"

I loved reading that... it's something I really need to start using as my default thinking. It begs the question "is worry relevant?" My mind sways both ways. I think the conclusion is yes... sometimes worry is good/relevant, but if there's nothing you can do about a situation you are worried about, then worry is bad/irrelevant. That's not to say that we can actually help worrying (it's just part of our instinct!), but we need to try and curb it a little and even put our worries into the hands of our loving Father!
STOP!

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Five Minute Friday: Beyond

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

GO:
It's hard to see beyond the "now". To know what's around the corner, wondering how things will end up. We have friends in the same position now, as we were this time last year... waiting to find out where the church was sending us/our husbands as soon-to-be newly ordained pastors. It was hard to put our trust in God, knowing that He could see beyond and we just had to rely on Him. That's easier said than done, and giving that advise to them now "Rest assured that God is walking the path with you, and in fact has already walked it and knows exactly where you will be... it's really hard not knowing but my biggest comfort was knowing that God already knew. We are certainly praying for you. God bless! xxx". It seems kind of shallow when we found it hard to believe it ourselves last year!

I love the Footprints in the Sand Poem. It helps to remember that even if you can't see beyond, when you look back you'll see just one set of footprints, where God carried you.

So, even if you can't see beyond, trust that God is already there, waiting for you!
STOP

Playing along with Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday: Beauty

Through another friend, I discovered The Gypsy Mama's blog site. This blog has certainly fit in with other thoughts that I've been having lately.

Yes, it's Saturday in Australia, but Friday in the States, so I'll still call this blog Five Minute Friday... especially as I'll always be a day behind! As I've only just discovered this blog, I haven't gone through the week "Beauty Hunting", so I'll just reflect on the beauty that I've seen this week...

Sunday: My husband, the Pastor. I love hearing his sermons each week. Call me biased if you wish, but he captivates me with God's words each Sunday, even when I'm distracted by my beautiful daughter.

Monday: The beauty of reminiscing over our week with Big Spring's cousin and his family.

Tuesday: The beauty of medicine and much needed antibiotics kicking in to help with my tonsillitis.

Wednesday: The beauty of a mini date night with my husband - a DVD, 350g block of chocolate and 2L bottle of soft drink for only $15 from the local supermarket - even more beautiful - a cheap date night!

Thursday: The beauty of God's creation and a gorgeous sunset out our front window
Friday: The beauty of having lunch with Big Spring's parents and Little Spring having precious time with her grandparents

Saturday: The beauty of a day doing nothing!

So, this wasn't a 5 minute post that's required of "Five Minute Friday", but hopefully in the future I'll play along much better!