Five Minute Friday: Visit.

Five minute Friday is a link-up where we write for five minutes.  No editiing.  Just writing.  And what you see from this week's results are here.

Today's topic:  Visit.

This is a photo taken about 1983 of my grandmother and her brother when her brother and wife were visiting from Florida.  (Left to right:  my step-grandfather, my great-uncle, my grandmother, my great-aunt.)

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My Uncle Ira was one of my favorite people.  Both of my biological grandfathers passed before I was born, and my (Great) Uncle Ira stepped in and filled a grandfather-type role to me.  He was my first pen-pal, and he'd tuck fun things into the envelopes -- one of my favorites was a handmade card where he used my head on different characters.  Often I'd get $1 for bubble gum.  Our paper had a bank advertising IRA investments and I'd often send him those clippings that said "I love my IRA"

Nothing beat when they would visit, though.  I can remember one time the phone rang, and my mother said, "Guess who is over at Grandma's?"  I didn't answer her, I was out the door faster than if the house had been on fire -- I couldn't wait to see Ira.  I remember I didn't stop running until I was hugging him.

I loved his visits.  I just loved having him around.  I'm not sure what the connection was between us, but I thought he was fantastic.  A WWII veteran, he once sent me a photo of him on D-Day that was printed in a Florida paper that he was in -- the fact he was in it and it was printed in his paper was totally random.  He refused to talk about the war.  

I especially loved how he took a walk every evening.  He had to "Stretch his legs".  Walking with him was so neat, I loved the attention, being able to talk to him and it being the two of us, or three of us if his wife came along.

I loved his visits and remember them fondly.

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You can read more Five Minute Friday posts here:

Five Minute Friday: See

You can find out all about Five Minute Friday here.  Basically we are given a topic and we write for five minutes and publish whatever comes out.

Start. . . .

See.  The world around us is a great big place, but how many people go through their lives without seeing what is right next to them?

Recently my boyfriend and I were driving through West Virginia.  I've grown up here.  Lived here my whole life except for two years I spent in college in Tennessee.  We were driving through what I call "The most boring stretch of Interstate".

What did he see?   He saw mountains, hills, trees, the New River Gorge where people bungee jump each year.  Tunnels through mountains, interesting shops with unique names peppering the Interstate.  He said when he moved to West Virginia how many people told him how lucky he was to be moving to such a beautiful area.

What did I see?  Concrete.  Mile markers.  Miles of boring nothingness.  I'm used to it. 

I've traveled that road many times.  He hasn't.  He saw.  I did not.  

Sometimes we become too familiar with our surroundings to see.   Our focus becomes not of the beauty around us but on the mundane.

. . . Stop

Five Minute Friday: Simple Gifts

The Shaker Hymn says "'Tis a Gift to be simple, Tis a Gift to be Free", and sometimes the best gifts are just that -- simple thoughtful things from one person to another.  Good manners is an example.  Many times you don't realize the person has good manners, but you certainly realize it if they don't.  Manners help make the world a better place.  Giving things that are simple but of yourself are also wonderful gifts.  I remember the time  a friend called me on a day that holds lots of bad memories for me.  Every year on my birthday I wait for a friend to call me.  She only missed the summer I was in China and she was in Russia!  I remember a neighbor lady when I was growing up would sometimes see me playing and bring me a piece of fruit to snack on.  Small things can sometimes be big things to the person receiving it.  Think about what small thing you can do for someone.  I know lately some of the smallest things have meant a lot to us.  I've been in the hospital, my mother has been in the hospital and a number of things just haven't gotten done.  Someone to pick up a few items at the store was a huge help, as was someone willing to drive me to the emergency room the night I needed to go.  Why not think of someone who could use something simple done for them, pick up the phone and suggest it.  If you're going to the store anyway, why not see if someone who might have a difficult time getting there could use a gallon of milk or if they have enough eggs?  That might make their life a lot easier!

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How Five Minute Friday works:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat on the prompt- no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Meet & encourage someone who linked up before you.

Five Minute Friday: Tuba Greetings!

Back in college, I was on a retreat.  It seemed like the most peaceful thing to do was to find a tree, take my Bible and enjoy some time reading it while looking at the beautiful scenery West Virginia displays in the fall.

Then all of a sudden I heard the loud sound:  the Omph, omph, omph coming from a nearby tree.

There was a college aged boy playing the tuba under a neighboring tree.

First off, what college student picks the tuba as an instrument to take on a retreat, and secondly, didn't he see me under my tree, Bible in hand.

Turns out, playing a tuba is a good way to meet someone.  At dinner that evening, he came up to me an apologized saying he hadn't seen me there.  It sounds strange to say it, but that started a good friendship between the two of us.  I haven't seen him in years, but we spent many hours together in college.  I was already a coupon queen back in the mid 1990s before it was cool, and there was a couple times he'd join me on shopping trips.

To think our friendship started over the loud sound of a tuba while on a retreat!

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Want to play Five Minute Friday? It’s easy peasy! 


1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Meet & encourage someone who linked up before you.
OK, are you ready? Give us your best five minutes on: LOUD

Five Miute Friday: Bravey Crockett

Baby Crockett became "Bravey Crockett" to me.  He had more dental problems than any guinea pig I'd ever had.  I've been a guinea pig "parent" to eleven pigs, and I know when they are ready to give up and when they are wanting to keep fighting, and I was determined as long as he wanted to keep fighting, I'd keep fighting for him.  Through tooth trims, through having to be hand fed for over six weeks, he never gave up, and I wouldn't either.

When I was in the hospital for nine days last month, I kept thinking of him.  I never had pain so severe in my life as the raging infection in my jaw bone.  A month later, 9 days in the hospital, and 10 doctor visits later, I'm still not well, although I'm some better.  I can't help but worrying about finances as well, since I have no insurance.  But not being well, the most important thing to do is get well.

I keep thinking of Bravey Crockett.  He didn't quit fighting until his body started shutting down months later.  I miss him so much and wish he was still here to hold him and get some courage from him when my mouth is hurting so bad or I'm on another liquid diet, or have another doctor appointment.  He showed me how to be brave in the midst of medical problems.

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About Five Minute Friday:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back  To The Gypsy Mama and invite others to join in.
3. Meet & encourage someone who linked up before you.

Five Minute Friday: Empty in Israel

Walking around Jerusalem, my friend had what I have come to realize as a profound statement.  When in Jerusalem, we were visiting the emptiness of the places around us.

The Garden Tomb?  We were not visiting the tomb as much as the significance of it being empty.  (In fact, I e-mailed my priest the next day I would have brought him a keepsake from inside the Garden Tomb except there was nothing in there.  He told me later the joke didn't dawn on him for a few days.)

The Western Wall?  Well, that's all that is left of the Temple.  The Western Wall wasn't why we were visiting that site, but the holy site that was destroyed.

Even when I visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, the emptiness of the world because there were six million murders, that was what we were honoring.

The Mount of Olives was a defining moment of my trip.  Why?  Because I felt the emptiness in me beginning to be filled.

The emptiness around us is what we sometimes honor.  Be it an empty tomb, an empty world because people have died, or a missing building where God has been worshiped.

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1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

Five Minute Friday: "Relevant"

Relevant.  What is relevant?  "Is THIS relevant?" is a question I always asked myself in college when I was writing a paper and needing to add extra information to get the word count high enough for the requirements.

Now that I'm no longer in college the word "Relevant" is often used in church.  We want to be relevant to the world.  Be in the world but not of it, be relevant and not cheesy.  I'm sure everyone remembers some of the 1970s Christian movies and TV shows that are just laughable.  The church tried to be hip, but in the end got laughed at.

Do we really need to model the world to draw people to Christ?  I don't think so.  The love of Christ is relevant to all generations, and we don't need to make it popular because it's just not going to be.  Who is going to think that sacrificing your life for the will of God is going to be the cool thing to do?  The Bible says many are called but few are chosen, so I'm not sure that trying to make the Gospel cool, popular, and the 'latest thing' is really honest because when we strip away all the fun, what is left is still the Gospel truth that whoever wants to find his life will lose it.

Being relevant is all about showing love and compassion, not about being cute-sy or fun.

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This is part of "Five Minute Friday" where we write for five minutes on a topic.  It is unscripted and unedited.  Then we link back to http://thegypsymama.com/2011/10/five-minute-friday-relevant/ to encourage others to join in with the writing fun!