The Intentional Life

 Relationships. I believe we were not made to be an island. We were created for community. For those of us who bend toward the introvert personality, that can make us itchy all over. People drain us. We need quiet and alone time to recharge and function. For those extroverts, community sounds fantastic - people all the time! You thrive on fellowship and surrounding yourself with humans. But, I think most us, introvert and extrovert alike, can find ourselves alone at times. Very alone. And I do not think this is good. Like I said before, we are made for community. We are made to be with others. It is with others that we learn how to be considerate, have empathy, and think outside ourselves. The Enemy likes to separate us. Likes to show us how we are all different and how very alone we are in this world. He wants us to think we are the only ones going through our problem, our pain, our struggle. Isolation. It's where the dark thoughts start to thrive and we begin to l

This past week there have been several circumstances, one after another, that seemed to speak the same thing to my heart, to my mind. "You are not valued."  "You are not needed." "Your opinion doesn't matter." Different events that left me feeling used, betrayed, ignored, passed over.  And not just myself, but saw it for members of my family as well.  It just seemed to be the week for some hard hits. When these circumstances happen it can be very easy to give into those thoughts that I listed above.  Pity parties are really easy to throw. And it can often be real easy to just stay at that party, to stay hurt, to let thoughts and feeling fester. But I also know this truth: Hurt people hurt people. If we allow ourselves to hold on to those thoughts and let them rule us we will end up hurting someone else, whether intentionally, or not. Instead, we need to find Truth and we need to speak it louder into our lives than what our feeli

Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. - William Morris Now, I don't agree with everything that William Morris had to say, but this line is one I have written down and have hanging in my home office. It just rings so true to what I desire for our home: practical and useful...but also beautiful. Yours can be, and most likely are, totally different words. But, stop and ask yourself, if you could narrow it down to a couple words, what words would you use to describe what you want your home to be? And then, are you taking any steps to get there or, if you have already arrived, are you intentional in keeping it that way? It's January, the month that stores have their biggest uptick on purchases of all things organization. And it's no coincidence that best-selling author and world famous organizer, Marie Kondo, has released her show on Netflix this month. After the drive of purchasing and materialism that surr

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 What better way to begin a year of intention than with the heart.  For, just as the Proverb above says, our actions flow from where our heart is focused. We may say one thing, and may even be able to 'fake' it for a time, but where our heart is, our treasure will be also. If we truly desire change and a life of intention, then our heart needs to be fixed in that direction. We are already a few days into the new year. Perhaps a few of us have already shown some backsliding on our resolutions for this year. It's OK! We're only on day 7 of 365. Today, take a moment to focus your heart, your intent. Something that we can focus so hard on when setting goals for ourselves is just that: ourselves .  Sure, we may say we want to do what God wants us to do, but then we charge ahead with OUR plan. May I suggest that as we look to live this year with intention, that our firs