I participate in “Five Minute Friday” from Lisa Jo Baker’s Tales from a Gypsy Mama blog. She provides a writing prompt, and I have five minutes to write to that subject. No editing, no fussing. Just. write.
People all over the web join in the free-writing exercise. You can too. I’d love to see your writing in the comments of her page or shared on your blog. Just let me know what to look for and I’ll cheer you on.
Last week, I wrote about “here.”
Today, I write about “connect.”
READY SET GO
CONNECT.
Connect. connecting. connections.
con·nect/kəˈnekt/
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And that’s what I’m doing. I’m joining together to provide communication.
I’m creating a community (or at least joining one) as I blog. If I didn’t want to connect, I would have left my privacy settings at “max.” I wouldn’t work to share my words with others. But I want to connect. I don’t simply want to shout words out into the unknown. I want a voice to respond back. To say “I’m here” and “I hear you” and “I feel the same way” or “You are so wacked.”
That’s what I’m doing. I blog to bring together into contact, to establish a link.
My blog brings me into contact with myself. It connects the dots of all the crazy parts of my life and makes them a coherent whole. I write to re-connect with who I am apart from weary mother and worn out wife. I write to connect with that small part of myself that gets neglected as I fold laundry and make school lunches… the part of myself that was shoved in corner and told to HUSH while I changed diapers, wiped noses, caught vomit in my hands, and saw the wrong side of 3am.
In doing both, I connect with something bigger and more amazing than I can possibly express. I connect with God’s plan and purpose for my life. I connect with some kind of big divine plan for the universe, orchestrated by God himself.
I didn’t just randomly wake up one day and start blogging. The posts aren’t normally simply random items written out of my middle aged angst. Granted, sometimes I write to amuse myself. But the blog has a life of it’s own. It has a direction and a pace that just feels right… although at times it is not what I would choose. And in THOSE moments – the moments when the blog’s voice says “dig deeper, write the scary thing” I know that I am there – connected with God’s plans, somehow writing the words another woman needs to read.
In those moments, everything works. I am connected to God, to myself, and to others.
It is beyond description.
STOP.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
That’s it for Five Minute Friday.
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Welcome to my little corner of the web. My passion and mission in life is to encourage other moms to find joy in everyday motherhood. If you're new to my blog, you can get to know me better on my 
Twitter: comeforcoffee
August 11, 2012
That was beautiful! I think you described why many women blog. I know you got my reasons nailed down. Thank you for taking the risk of pouring the words out there and letting us read them!
i love how God talks to me through the five minute challenges. i never know what the topic will be or what i’m supposed to say. by the time i finish typing, i’m always open mouthed at what’s on the page. i look at it and think “did i just write that?”
Twitter: twitter (username)
August 10, 2012
I like this.
glad you could stop by! i’ll pop in and say hi when i’ve tamed my kids a bit.
Twitter: mrs_karenvc
August 10, 2012
that was beautifully written, its so true, wipes my tears away. We are all connected, we truly and sometimes if you slow down and listen you can really see what is going on.
thanks karen. i love my friday posts because i’m always being reminded of something important as i write them. it’s a total God thing because i never know what i’m writing until it’s done.
Twitter: TheBusyMomsDiet
August 10, 2012
Well said! I’m glad we’ve connected in this wacky world of web words.
i’m glad we’re connected too! the WWofWW wouldn’t be the same without you.
Twitter: sonotorgainized
August 10, 2012
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this one. Isn’t that what we all want is to feel connected to something bigger and better than ourselves?
absolutely! if i don’t feel those connections then my life feels confusing and fragmented. i can’t make sense of all that random stuff without feeling connected to something bigger!
Wow! You’ve written my story here, too.
I love this: “I write to re-connect with who I am apart from weary mother and worn out wife. I write to connect with that small part of myself that gets neglected as I fold laundry and make school lunches… the part of myself that was shoved in corner and told to HUSH while I changed diapers, wiped noses, caught vomit in my hands, and saw the wrong side of 3am.” Oh, how I understand. So glad to have found your blog today!
(And I don’t think you’re wacked at all)
Blessings,
Jana
jana, thanks for saying i’m not wacked.
i love the seemingly random connections that get made each week through five minute friday. i always find something that i can relate to and that touches me deeply. there’s always someone who writes something that humbles me beyond description. i feel honored to know i’m a tiny part of something so big and amazing.