On a day when M.E symptoms are invasive, pain ever-present and mind fibro-fogged, I am thankful to God for enough energy and inspiration to join in (a little late) with the creative writing exercise that is Five Minute Friday.

Here, we forget about perfection and write free-flowing, as it comes, for 300 short seconds.

Then we link up to read one another’s work and offer encouragement, because that’s what it’s all about.

The prompt is:‘Tree’

START…

‘As oaks’

We sway, soft saplings weakly quivering in the breeze,

liable to snap, full of fragility, mere semblance of trees.

Supported, staked round, we swell slow

to sit rooted in solid ground.

Our branches thicken over years, becoming weather-resistant,

no longer so suggestive of disruption, surrender and tears.

Leaves begin to unfurl delicate to heat of Son

as sap runs through our bodies

and we expand to sing a universal song.

Tiime and tests strengthen our frame as we sit

rooted, deep in soil of Word and Name,

become as oaks ~ mighty, wide and strong,

encompassing, giving, enduring many years long.

Or bent and broken, storm~withered, dry and dying,

lifeless, weak, we sigh to ground,

longing for nourishment we need and seek.

Drinking deep draughts from waters of grace

and refreshment again, we rise high

 to tower over all our trials

and gain a view of heaven,

midst bare branches of a cross

stretched out for us.

©JoyLenton2013

STOP

“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They’re like trees planted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers ~ never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season” ~ Jeremiah 17:7 – 8

Linking here with Lisa-Jo Baker for Five Minute Friday. You are warmly invited and encouraged to join in.