Five Minute Friday scribblings, FMF Reach, Risk, Uncategorized

Reach: Reaching Beyond Myself

Jeanne Takenaka

Bright Zinnia

By +Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka

My Five Minute Friday prompt this week is—Reach. This largely unedited “rough draft” form of writing stretches this perfectionist, in the best of ways. I write for five minutes on a given topic. If you’re interested in learning more about 5-Minute Fridays, check out our hostess, Kate Motaung’s site. Or, click on the link at the bottom of this post. As you read my simpler Friday posts, I hope you’ll join in the conversation!

REACH

Reach is such a challenging word. It can mean stretching beyond myself, my comfort zone and extend life, words of encouragement, actions to another. Sometimes reaching involves risk. Reaching for a dream a goal to satisfy a deep desire.

When I reach for something I’m stretching myself. Whether it’s a physical stretching of my hand to touch another in comfort, to stroke a blonde head, combing fingers through a child’s hair.

Or perhaps it’s reaching an arm around the shoulders of one sobbing or hurting. Reaching can involve the risk of rejection.

Is it worth it to reach out? To reach in the hopes of ministering to another?
Stepping Up

Is it worth it to dream and reach for said dream?

Yes. It is.

We may or may not achieve the dream, but we learn in the process. We can aspire again and reach forward with more wisdom, and perhaps achieve the dream in the future.

Even more importantly is reaching out to people. People are eternal. When we reach out to another, offer comfort, pour on love, we are being a glimpse of Jesus to them. When we reach out with words that speak life and truth—even the difficult truths—we are giving a taste of eternity.

Does this involve risk? Yes. We could be rejected. Does this mean it’s not worth it to reach?

What if Jesus hadn’t reached both arms, spanning the width of the cross?

We’d be lost now.

So, yes, I believe its’ worth it to reach beyond ourselves, to touch another skin-to-skin or heart-to-heart. Reaching out with Jesus’ love to be a salve and to be truth spoken at a proper time.

What about you? When have you risked to reach out to another? What dreams have you reached for?

Kate Motaung’s FMF: Reach

Published by Jeanne Takenaka

Award winning aspiring novelist, Jeanne Takenaka, writes contemporary inspirational fiction that tackles real life issues with a heart to draw women closer to God and those around them. She lives near the mountains in Colorado with her amazing husband and two exuberant boy-men. She loves being God’s girl—always learning about His grace, hanging out with friends and enjoying a great cup of coffee. When she’s not writing you can find her with a camera in her hand, looking for #alittlebitofpretty in her days.

10 thoughts on “Reach: Reaching Beyond Myself”

  2. Reaching–I pull a muscle! Seriously though–it does make me think of what I might be reaching for–and whether it lines up with God’s Word and direction, or if it’s me just reaching for more–a better house (Colorado is expensive! And Jeanne, if you have a writer’s workshop sometime or conference, I’m heading south from Ft. Collins to Colorado Springs to attend!), a new sofa, a better metabolism. Ultimately, it is all vanity unless I’m reaching for God first and middle and last.

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    1. Cindylou, your first line made me laugh. I pull muscles too when I reach. 🙂 You bring up a great point in weighing whether what we’re reaching for lines up with God’s word and direction for our lives. Yes, it’s ALL vanity unless we’re reaching for God first and foremost.

      And yes, we do have some writer’s conferences on this side of the state. 🙂

      Thanks for the smile today!

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    1. I’m with you. It’s fun to see what comes from the hearts of bloggers on a one-word theme. It can be painful stretching, but it leads to depth in our relationships and our character, doesn’t it?

      Thanks so much for stopping by my place. 🙂

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  4. Another interesting, complex post! Well done.

    I used to reach out to people a lot more, but I’ve learned that it’s not a great idea for me, and no favor to others. My life experience has been a bit singular, and in most company it’s just uncomfortable, an I end up leaving quietly and unmourned.

    My wife says I’m like a coiled spring, and it makes others nervous. For good reason – tap me on the shoulder at the wrong moment and bad things happen. So I guess there will be no writers; conference for me anytime soon!

    Reaching out for dreams is something I used to hold in contempt. I thought of life as a zero-sum evolution, in which what’s claimed by one person is unavailable for another; saw enough dead people in underdeveloped countries, and whenever I saw a restored ’57 Chevy I thought of how long that amount of money could feed a village – and hire people like me to make sure the food got there.

    But this is shortsighted, because dreams are give birth to generosity. When we can chase a dream – grand or modest – we’re usually at our best, and most open to God’s gift of our having a generous and giving heart.

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    1. Andrew, almost every time you comment, you give me more to think about. As for reaching out to people, you do it in your way—with words of life written in comments and in other ways. This brings encouragement in beautiful ways.

      As for dreams, I love what you said: Dreams give birth to generosity. . . . when we are pursuing a dream we’re most open to God’s gift of having a generous heart.

      Beautifully said my friend.

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