The Intentional Life

Recently I have learned something about myself. I've always known that I am a worry-wart. I've even jokingly called myself, and been called that, by others.  But it goes beyond that. For nearly 3 decades I have been battling with anxiety. I'm not talking about the anxiety you may feel with a test coming up, or stress that comes with job loss, cancer diagnosis, or family crisis. No. Those things would make sense to cause anxiety. The things that have caused me to feel anxious are much simpler, and when I would voice them out loud to you, you may even laugh and say "don't worry about that! That's no big deal!" I wish it was that simple. Because for those who suffer with anxiety, it's not. But, for years, I thought everyone got this anxious, I just figured they knew how to deal with it better than me and could brush it off. Unlike me, who has tried to deal with it by suppressing, putting my head down and trying to charge through, or ruminati

Dear Child, You are a treasured child of the King.  The world is going to tell you that you are going to lose, but take heart - THEY DON'T KNOW THE RULES. Don't take it personally when some kid makes fun of your mismatched-on-purpose clothing choices or the stuffed animal that you brought in for show-in-tell or calls you some name that brings tears to your eyes.  They only call you that to make their own selves feel better.  There is something about you that threatens them.  And by calling you out on your 'lameness' somehow makes them feel like you are back to their level. I want you, dear child, to be sure of yourself, knowing God has created you as a unique individual, with unique qualities and tastes.  The best person you can be is YOU, not an imitation of someone else. People's valuation of you should not matter, only God's valuation of you should.  Measure yourself by his ruler, by His Word, not by the measuring stick of your peers. Love G

 It has been so long since I have sat down and written one of these, and I must say, I really miss it. Writing is cathartic for me. Therapy. But I put it at the bottom of the priority list so it rarely gets done (sound familiar? Can you relate?) But when we were commenting the other day that July went by so fast and we had to really think hard about what we even did in July, I took that as a sign that I needed to do a LookBack. Because I know we did things. And I know there was so much good. But, as time tends to do, it makes us forget some things. So, here is our July in pictures. Whether you care or not.  But I know it's good for me to flip back through, see God's goodness in smiles, heat, humidity, long days, lazy days, crazy days, and family time. It may not all seem good at the time, but looking back, all those times fits together like a puzzle, showing one large picture of His Goodness.   We started the month of July wrapping up our 10 day trek out West to th