• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Quieting the Shout of Should
    • Holy Hustle
    • Holy Hustle Planner
    • You Got This
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest

Crystal Stine

Home / FMF / Five Minute Friday: Opportunity

Five Minute Friday: Opportunity

FMF

Five Minute Friday



Today’s prompt: Opportunity

GO
Opportunity is a word that has lost all meaning to me. It’s a joke-word at work, something that is used when people really mean to say “problem” or “issue” or “major mistake.” 
I prefer to call a spade a spade and move on with my bad self. 
To me, opportunity isn’t a catch phrase for something bad. Opportunity is something good, wrapped deep in layers of sparkly tissue paper, tucked neatly inside a shiny bag, complete with a cute tag on the outside that just happens to have my name on it. And just maybe..a “do not open until” instruction. 
I hate those.
I’d rather rip into the gift and find out what’s in store. Patience. It’s not my thing. But sometimes, waiting can be the best part. When you work and plan and pray toward something your heart cries out for and you finally get to your “do not open until” date? What a blessing to open that gift of opportunity, to jump up and down with glee. You might even have known what was wrapped in that sparkly paper, but I bet you had no idea how GOOD it would look on you! 
But maybe someone else did. Maybe they took a chance on you, on your dream, and they cracked open a door to something you’ve always wanted to do. 
I’m there, sister. The gift hasn’t been completely unwrapped. The tag is still on the gift bag but I’ve gotten a peek into what’s to come and all I can say? 
Thank you, Lisa Jo, Stacey, and the (in)courage team for welcoming me in. 
Thank you for giving me the opportunity live my dream with you, through the (in)couragers. 
STOP

Want to join or just want to know what Five Minute Friday is all about? Head over to Lisa Jo’s blog and find out 🙂 And while you’re there, be sure to visit & leave some comment love (no lurking!) for the other bloggers who linked up! 

January 4, 2013 ·

Previous Post: « 100 Pound Loser is a Winner!
Next Post: Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe – A Review »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marilyn says

    January 8, 2013 at 12:01 am

    Very interesting. Love the way to write.

  2. Nikki says

    January 6, 2013 at 12:47 am

    Oh yes and amen!

    (and can I whisper congratulations and that I’m so proud of you? Love how God works through you, girl!)

  3. donna oshaughnessy says

    January 5, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    Stopping by via FMF :0). I’m with ya on the patiently waiting thing. Sure glad the opportunities are there for us to grow and gain some of that patience we need to wait it out with God! LOVE you One Word!

  4. Memoirs of Me & Mine says

    January 5, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    Great post!

    http://www.memoirsofmeandmine.com/

  5. Memoirs of Me & Mine says

    January 5, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    Great post!

    http://www.memoirsofmeandmine.com/

  6. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:51 pm

    Amen!

  7. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    Thank you, so much!

  8. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    Oh no, y’all are the blessing, prayers come true and a door cracked open to the desires of my heart. I praise God for each of you wonderful, sweet, encouraging women every day!

  9. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    Thank you, sweet friend!

  10. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    That is a place I know all too well .. and have a pile of those unopened gifts around my feet even now. The shaking, dear friend, only damages what’s inside. Enjoy the slow, careful God-timed opening of each one and savor the gift for the treasure it is. Praying 2013 is full of sweetly opened opportunity-gifts for you!

  11. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:01 pm

    Oh it’s the sad truth, isn’t it? I only see it in myself when I compare my day job to this community, to the (in)couragers, to FMF…corporate America would thrive if it had an ounce of the encouragement and support y’all have for one another!

  12. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    Isn’t it the truth? That some of the best gifts from our Father come through those around us, and yet I can get so caught up in my agenda that I forget to slow down and invite them in. This year, I’m committing to community!

  13. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Amen!

  14. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Oh Julie, I could hug you! You know just the words to share with me. This community brings me such joy, so glad to be part of it 🙂

  15. Crystal says

    January 4, 2013 at 9:58 pm

    Honestly? You bring the sparkle. I just show up and proof read 🙂 One day I will write about how God ordained that we skip sessions at Allume to sit and talk and where it brought me. You are an answer to prayer.

  16. Stacey Thacker says

    January 4, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    You are awesome with all your sparkly paper all around you. Such a gift to me girl!

  17. Julie Wilson says

    January 4, 2013 at 3:51 pm

    excited for you, to be a part of the (in)courage team!! What an awesome opportunity! Oh, the anticipation of an unwrapped gift, just like our gifts from God. He want to give us so much, but we so often walk right by and miss them! thanks for your perspective!

  18. Karrilee Aggett says

    January 4, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    Congratulations! Ah yes… the waiting so often really IS the hardest part – but it – and He – is always worth it!!!

  19. thegypsymama says

    January 4, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    Oh this makes me so so happy. And hear we think WE’RE the ones with the gift of working with YOU!

  20. Becky Daye says

    January 4, 2013 at 11:20 am

    Love this perspective, Crystal! I love that God cares so much about the desires of our hearts that He uses others to provide us with opportunities. All glory to Him! Excited to see what this year hold for you!!!!

  21. Tammy_Skipper says

    January 4, 2013 at 9:22 am

    Love this! We can become so callous, sarcastic with the daily grind. May God continue to show us what He sees in the gifts we are just beginning to unwrap.

  22. Rebecca Brandt says

    January 4, 2013 at 7:09 am

    Hmmm…I wonder how many gifts go unopened – with opportunity springing around them. This is definitely a thought-provoking post – and I understand the gift unopened…. still trying to shake mine to figure out what’s inside.

    • Crystal Stine says

      January 4, 2013 at 8:55 am

      Rebecca – oh don’t I know that feeling well 🙂 I have a pile of them staring me in the face, wondering what they might hold 🙂 Praying you can open yours soon!

  23. Barbie says

    January 4, 2013 at 2:29 am

    Beautiful encouragement, and congratulations!

    • Crystal Stine says

      January 4, 2013 at 8:54 am

      Thank you Barbie!

  24. Loni says

    January 4, 2013 at 2:08 am

    We have so many opportunities, yet unwrapped – the best of all Jesus in Person, Heaven forever! Sharing FMF with you! http://wp.me/p97XK-4xz

    • Crystal Stine says

      January 4, 2013 at 8:53 am

      Yes! Oh isn’t that the truth 🙂

  25. Kayse Lee Pratt says

    January 4, 2013 at 2:04 am

    YAY!! So glad you’ve joined the (in)courage team! Your encouragement is such a blessing!

    • Crystal Stine says

      January 4, 2013 at 8:52 am

      Oh Kayse, thank you! Y’all blow me away with your love for your sisters in Christ!

  26. Sarah Scott says

    January 4, 2013 at 1:18 am

    Wonderful! Congratulations on being a part of the (in) courage team…

    • Crystal Stine says

      January 4, 2013 at 8:51 am

      Thank you! So glad to have you visit today 🙂

  • Privacy

Copyright © 2025 CRYSTAL STINE AND CRYSTALSTINE.ME · SITE BY DESIGN BY INSIGHT

UNAUTHORIZED USE AND/OR DUPLICATION OF THIS MATERIAL WITHOUT EXPRESS AND WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THIS SITE’S AUTHOR IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. EXCERPTS AND LINKS MAY BE USED, PROVIDED THAT FULL AND CLEAR CREDIT IS GIVEN TO CRYSTAL STINE AND CRYSTALSTINE.ME WITH APPROPRIATE AND SPECIFIC DIRECTION TO THE ORIGINAL CONTENT.