five minute friday: Surprised by a Gentleman

I’m an online chicken. Get me face-to-face and I’ll talk your ear off. I even enjoy the challenge of getting an introverted person to open up and start talking in these face-to-face conversations. But when I’m online I feel weird. Even trying to talk to people I’ve known for years, but have never met face to face.

I used to be more bold in any given situation, but I once heard somebody say that he doesn’t like to talk on the phone because he can’t see the other person’s face responding to what he is saying. For all we know they are rolling their eyes, or playing a crossword puzzle while they wait for us to shut up.

After that I became afraid and crawled into my rejection-safety-zone. The only problem is, rejection is never a safety zone. Rejection, or even the fear of it, causes us to push the other person away.

There is no community in that. Just a lot of lonely people surrounded by walls.

Today, I am making extra effort to stretch myself in love, in faith, in boldness, and walking away from the fear of rejection. I am reaching out to strangers, previous online acquaintances, and joining community where I can.

For years now I have known about an online community of writers called Five Minute Friday. Each week a new one word prompt is given, and the writer is to write for 5 minutes without overthinking it or being concerned with grammatical errors. Next, you are to post what you wrote on your blog (or in the comments of the Five Minute Friday Facebook page if you don’t have one), and link up with the host blogger, Kate Motaung. Today I am joining the community of Five Minute Friday!

In the last several months I have embraced my calling as a writer like never before, shushing all the excuses that have defined me for too long. I may not always post what I write, especially if what I wrote doesn’t apply to the goal of this blog, but will still enjoy the benefits of being stretched!

This week’s prompt: Surprise

START

I read a testimony today, and one sentence just picked itself up off the computer screen in front of me, turned itself into a sword, and went right in and pierced my heart. When I woke up today, I thought I was alright with God. I had been dealing with my sins as He showed them to me, or the obvious ones. What I didn’t realize was that I had deceived myself.

Justin says when they say, “He’s agreeable,” in the old chick flicks it means he avoids arguing despite how he truly feels. God isn’t like that. He’s a gentleman for sure, and will deal with you in gentle ways. Yet sometimes, He stands up above the crowd for what is right like a true gentleman.

I remember when an elder in our church, Tracye, said at one of our ladies’ retreats, “Jesus made us righteous, but the Bible says, ‘Be ye holy.’ You have to choose to be holy.” I remember one of the ladies sitting straighter in her chair, like straightening out the chill in her spine. She didn’t like what she just heard.

But God is like that. He gets you sometimes, and it can be quite a surprise.

STOP

I have to admit, I spent a few extra seconds adding quotation marks. 😉

How has God surprised you lately?

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