Five Minute Friday: Bloom

I have been a participating member of Five Minute Friday for almost two years.  I had reached a point where I was drawing a blank every time I sat down to blog and then one morning there was Lisa Jo Baker and her Five Minute Friday.  There are a few rules to participate and none to just read what everyone else wrote.  The rules are simple"
1.  We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt that I post here starting at 10pm EST on Thursday night and all through Friday. And we connect on Twitter with the hashtag #FMFParty (It stands for Five Minute Friday Party).
2.  There is no extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Unscripted. Unedited. Real. It started because Lisa Jo had been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And so she figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing. So now on Fridays a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write without worrying -
See more at: http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/#sthash.9OiHogPc.dpuf
if it’s just right gather to share what five minutes buys them. Just five minutes. You can meet them over here on our Five Minute Friday Facebook page. Your words. This shared feast. It’s easy to join in, just:
1.  Check what the prompt is on my blog.
2.  Write a post in only five minutes on that topic on your blog. {And if you don’t have a blog, no worries! Just leave your writing as a comment on my post}
3.  Link over here and invite friends to join in.
4.  Select the permalink to your post {so not your blog url www.lisajobaker.com but your post url www.lisajobaker.com/2012/07/five-minute-friday-2/ } Using the blue linky tool at the bottom of her Five Minute Friday post enter your link. It will also walk you through selecting which photo you want to show up in the linky. Your post will show up in our Five Minute Friday linky. Be sure and encourage the person who linked up before you! Our most important requirement for participation: There’s really only one absolute, no ifs, ands or buts about it Five Minute Friday rule: you must 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.
So, if you are ready....the word for today is BLOOM


I love flowers.  One of my favorite things to do is photograph them so I can look back and enjoy the bloom that is present in my picture long after it has faded from the plant.  Mrs. Betty Jean, Mrs. Shirley, and Mrs. Jean's houses give me constant blooming pleasure.  I have plants in my own yard now from all of them.  I am thrilled when that first bloom opens up and shows it's face. 

I am a pastor's wife and I have learned in following my husband's ministry to bloom where I am planted.  I am one of those people who has roots that run deep and so wherever we go I become part of the community, the church.  Blooming takes on many forms in my life.  When I was expecting my daughter people would tell me I was positively blooming.  I laughed because I thought they were talking about the baby bump I was growing....but I found out later they were talking about me....I was blooming.  When I held that precious bundle I watched as she bloomed and went from being a scrunchy faced little bundle to a beautifully soft open-eyed bundle.  I watched her bloom right before my eyes.  Throughout her whole life she has bloomed....and now she and her precious husband are going to bloom where they are planted.

  She and Brian will be leaving Sunday to go to Moldova.  There they will serve as full-time missionaries for Stella's Voice and work in orphanages there.  They have been doing this in the summer for the past three years.  Now....Now....they will plant themselves and begin blooming.  Growing the love of God and showing children how to bloom too.  Moldova is a depressed third world country.  The countryside is gorgeous....but it has a sad story for children....and their parents.  There is no joy blooming there.  I know that once Kat and Brian begin blooming where they are planted.....joy will be blooming abundantly.   Can I get an AMEN?