Five Minute Friday – Shelley Johnson

Five Minute Friday — Easy

It’s so easy to look out the window at the red-headed House Finches fight for a place to eat at our feeder when I’m meant to be studying for my next project. It’s so easy to watch the wind blow through our naked oak tree, hopeful for the buds to break out in green, whenContinue reading “Five Minute Friday — Easy”

Five Minute Friday — Rescue

Paddling and kicking, I keep my head above the waves, water splashing and stinging my eyes. I inhale another raspy breath as I see a swell headed my way. Fighting against the current threatening to pull me under, I wonder how long I can keep treading water. Seconds from giving up, I see it. ThroughContinue reading “Five Minute Friday — Rescue”

Possible

First He prayed, “Everything is possible for you.” A word of faith. Of truth. Then He prayed, “Take this cup from me.” His honest, heart-felt cry. The pain, the suffering bubbling-up out of His humanity. “Yet not what I will but what you will” (Mark 14: 34, 36). A choice to follow God wherever HeContinue reading “Possible”

Fresh

Bright green and crisp. Loud crunch as each piece breaks into my mouth. Perfect balance of sweet and tart as the fresh apple’s juices flow. New year, fresh start. Begin again — carry with me all I’ve learned. Look ahead. Hope instead of dread. Rhythms and routines. Playlists and pauses. Leaving behind what held meContinue reading “Fresh”

Beyond

As I drove north toward Oklahoma, my shoulders tense and mind whirring, I turned on some of my favorite Christmas songs that evoked worship and praise. And sang as loud as I could. By the time I got where I was going, my worries had subsided and my focus was back on Jesus. Yes, my circumstancesContinue reading “Beyond”

Present

Trust — my word for 2020 — has proven to be just what I needed. Crazy how one five-letter word can become a sustaining anchor. A rock to cling to when life crumbles and shakes and looks nothing like you expected. Early in the year, I dug into what it looks like to fully trustContinue reading “Present”

Cancel

Since COVID-19 slammed into the States in March, our vocabulary has expanded to include words and phrases we’d not employed before — social distancing, flattening the curve, and shelter-in-place to name a few. Other expressions were familiar yet not common — pandemic, incubation, and quarantine. Then there are the words that have come to holdContinue reading “Cancel”

Vote

I find it so tempting to hide from all-things media because of our current season’s divisive and even demeaning culture. Instead, I’ve chosen to lean-in and listen. And what I’ve heard more than anything is fear. Underlying the hate is fear of change. Underlying the mudslinging is fear of rejection. Underlying all the threats isContinue reading “Vote”