Posts Tagged With: shiny

Oh Look– Something Shiny! (Five Minute Friday)

Greetings all! It is Friday (whoot!) and if you have been hanging ’round these parts for a hot minute, you know that Fridays can only mean one thing…

Five Minute FridayProductivity is optional.

(Just kidding. If you are at work, you better get busy before your boss reads this over your shoulder and you end up having a “Come to Jesus” chat with him.)

But seriously. Fridays mean it is time for Five Minute Friday.

Each week, I link up with my friend Lisa-Jo Baker. She gives us a prompt and we free-write for five minutes flat. No over-thinking, no OCD perfectionistic editing.

Just go with it. Which I do believe is a perfect attitude for a Friday.

So my fingers are itching… Let’s do this.

Today’s prompt: FOCUS

Ready? GO!

*****

Books, pens and supplies are scattered around my work station. I am deep in thought, brow crinkling, eyes focused on the task at hand. Just a few more final…

OH LOOK! SOMETHING SHINY!!!!!!!

Sigh. Does this ever happen to you? I don’t know, maybe I’m the only one. (Although I kind of doubt it… No offense, just saying based on how my friends and I function, I don’t think I am alone in this.)

Keeping focus can be a full time job. Sure, when I am by myself and motivated, its pretty easy for me to work on a project or remain zeroed in on the task at hand until it is completed. But if I am around other people or I’m having “one of those days…” I find myself distracted by something shiny.

Those distractions can stem from procrastination (Oh, look, the kitchen floor is FILTHY! Better clean it before I sit down to work on my latest project.) Or perhaps just the buzzing culture that we have become accustomed to (I really need to check Facebook. Like, now. I mean, somebody could have gotten engaged or had a baby in the last 17 minutes.) 

But sometimes the distractions that take away our focus are a little more intense. They can come from The Enemy as he tries to take our focus off of The One who is our everything in life.

Satan doesn’t just use inconveniences or “bad” things to rob our focus from following Christ. He oftentimes will use something good to distract us from God’s best. (But that’s another blog post.)

Focusing on what is TRULY important can be difficult. But let’s remember– if we are easily distracted by “something shiny,” God is the light of the world– and nothing gets “shinier” than that.

STOP!

****

Do you sometimes struggle with focusing on the important things in life (namely: God)? What “shiny” thing typically distracts you? How do you think we can stay on track and keep our focus clear? I always adore hearing your feedback. Leave a comment below.

Moving forward with focus,
SGK

“The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus.” ~Mark 8:25 (MSG) 

Categories: Five Minute Friday | Tags: , , , , | 13 Comments

Gotta Love the Shiny

Do you know what my favorite thing about April is? Go ahead, guess…

The warmer weather? Naw. April showers bringing May flowers? I do enjoy it, but not my favorite. The fact that April is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich month? Oohh close, but not quite. Do you give up?

I love April because it is my bi-annual ring cleaning month. (I will give you a moment to stop laughing… or rolling your eyes… or however you reacted.)

That’s right. My beloved proposed to me in the month of April, thus I have to have my engagement/wedding ring cleaned and inspected every six months in order to maintain the lifetime guarantee. So October and April are two of my favorite months of the year.

In the airport, moments after my beloved gave the ring... I have never felt more bright and shiny. And if you are curious-- I said yes.

Before you think I am a superficial crazy person, let me explain something. It’s not the biggest ring on the planet. And it certainly isn’t the most expensive. (I personally have issues buying/owning/wearing a piece of jewelry that costs as much as a vehicle. Uh, yeah, no.) But I love my ring because of what it represents– a sacred, lifelong covenant between my beloved and I.  And I LOVE getting it cleaned. After they work their two-minute magic on this bad boy, it looks as good as new. I don’t know about you, but I just love the shiny.

The new shininess of the ring just fills my heart with joy. The light will catch it every now and then, at which point I smile like a bozo, think of my beloved and giggle like a school girl.

Sometimes I am so excited about the “shiny” in my life, I am convinced I am part squirrel.

But here’s the thing with my newly-cleaned up ring… That awesome excessive shine only lasts a few days. As the weeks and months pass, don’t get me wrong, it still looks pretty and I always cherish it, but it gets a little… gunky. And when I do take it in to get cleaned every six months, I oftentimes have to ask for a “second” cleaning because they missed some of the inside crevices.

Getting that  ring cleaned is a lot like our relationship with Jesus. I don’t know about you, but if I neglect my Jesus time, I start to lose that Jesus shine and look/feel gunky. So I am all about  getting polished daily by spending time with Him. And just like that ring’s “lifetime guarantee,” I need to have  hardcore cleaning sessions a few times a year… perhaps it is a women’s retreat, or attend a really awesome Jesus conference or go on a mini-personal sabbatical.

And every time I come back from those big Jesus events, I feel new… fresh… clean… and of course, oh-so-shiny. Talk about some Jesus Bling!!

So I am curious– what do you do to keep your “Jesus shine?” Do you attend any specific events? Or do you have any interesting methods to be cleansed by Jesus daily to maintain your shine? Let me know by commenting here. :-)

The blood of Jesus is the ultimate cleaning solution. Get washed today. Accept His love for you, and don’t be shy about sharing it with others. Jesus is the light and He can shine through us… And I don’t know about you, but I just gotta love the shiny.

This Shine Ain’t All Mine,
SGK

“‘Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.” — Daniel 12:3

Its. So. Shiny. Thank you, Jesus!

Categories: blessing, celebrate, fresh start, God, Jesus, Love, marriage, recharge, shine | Tags: , , , , , , | 10 Comments

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