The Intentional Life

  Heart. For the last 10 years I have been training for and running half marathons. My husband and I always do a specific one every October, going to back to the city where we first lived as newlyweds. I pretty much run 3 days a week year round. But, I have a hard time calling myself a runner.   Since elementary I have loved to write. I would always get excited for any writing assignment that was given. While the rest of the class groaned, I grinned. As an adult, I have been writing on a blog for over a decade and even self-published an Advent devotional last year. But, I have a hard time calling myself a writer.   Because I’m not the fastest, haven’t taken home any awards, and don’t really have a runner’s physique, I disqualify myself from the “runner” category. Because a publisher hasn’t taken an interest in my book, I lack confidence that my writing is good, and it feels too self-serving to call myself a writer, I disqualify myself from that category as w...

  Heart. As Christ followers, our first response to any trial or difficulty should be to turn to Him. Seek Him is prayer and wait for His leading. When we see hard things around us, our first response should be to pray.   In this past year there have been events, on a global scale, that feel large and beyond anything we can impact. We may feel this is the time to step back, remind ourselves that we’re not of this world, and continue in prayer in our safe little corner.   True, we need to keep an eternal focus. This world isn’t our home, we’re only here for a time. But God’s not expecting us to just hold on and wait. He’s also called us to be His hands and feet.   His words from Isaiah 58, though originally written to the wayward family of Israel, can still speak into our lives today. The nation of Israel was going through the motions of their faith, meanwhile their hearts were not devoted to God. The following seven verses speak to the worship that God ...

  We all like the idea that our time is not wasted, yet how often do we fall into the time warp of distractions: social media, emails, procrastination, streaming videos, and lack of priorities. We know these things can suck up our time, but yet we fall into their traps time and time again. How can we break free?    Small, intentional moments.   Of the myriad of things we do each day, we want something to count– not just in a quantifiable way, but in a soul-filling, joy-inducing way.     God's word calls us to be purposeful with our time, even calling us to “redeem” it. To redeem something means that you buy it back. But, how can you take back something that is fleeting and slipping away constantly?   We have an Enemy that wants to distract us, to keep us from our mission of spreading the Gospel and God's love. Every moment spent distracted from that work is a moment that he has won. So, to redeem the moments we are in right now,...

  Money. There was this guy who had a decent house, nice car, and a fridge full of food. He knew people who had more than him, but he knew a lot more people who had less.   Due to a well-timed investment he suddenly saw himself with a windfall of money. He had so much he didn't even know what to do with it. So, he decided he needed to buy a better car, build a bigger house, and trick out his kitchen with one of those double sided fridges just because he could.   He was thrilled. He had a huge place to entertain, a sweet ride, and a fancy kitchen where his hired catering staff could create grand feasts for him. He thought, “This is it! I have made it! Now to sit back and enjoy life.”   Unfortunately, that night he died of heart failure.   If this story sounds familiar, it's because you may have read it before. It's found in Luke's gospel, chapter 12, just modernized a bit.   If you think you are no where close to where this rich young man was i...

 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....

  Relationships. No one likes an imposter. Someone who says one thing and does another. We value authenticity. Being able to believe that the way a person acts and speaks is who they really are, not just a show. We appreciate being able to trust others in this way. And I would assume others would value this in us as well. But, have you ever found yourself acting different for other groups of people than with others? Sure, there is a time for business-self and casual-self; that’s not what we’re discussing here. I’m talking about swaying your stance on things just to please the people who you are with. It may lead to temporary smooth waters, but what ripple effect could we be causing? Peter was up against this when it came to the believers in Antioch. Paul saw it and called him out on it:    But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.  For prior to the coming of some men from James, he used to eat with the Genti...

3 separate birthday celebrations A winter storm that brought a foot of snow Still trying to  feel our way along through a pandemic. And grateful for the times we were able to see family because of the antibodies we all developed over Christmas! Some peoples' lives have lots of exciting things happening. That may be our life someday.  But, for now, it's living with joy where we've been placed, working with what we've got, and shining the Light as bright as we can. Here's our corner of the world in February....   Madeline turns 11. The first, and maybe only time, I actually bought an ice cream cake. She caught me in a moment of weakness, I guess. So much snow. But we've found in recent years, if you dress accordingly, you can enjoy it so much more! Birthday celebrations with the Steffens. You can almost hear the chaos in the below picture.... A certain 5th grader had to miss her Valentine's party and instead get to have a COVID test instead. I guess the ...

  Time. A couple years ago, my husband and I spent a few weeks in Africa, visiting and encouraging our friends in the mission field there.  There were many things that were strikingly different in Kitwe, Zambia compared to my small Midwest town, as I'm sure anyone could guess. Among many things, one thing that stood out to me was the use and concept of time. One day there was need for a part for a machine that had broken down.  Here in America, we could drive to a store, find the part, check out, and head home.  With the presence of self-checkout, we could even get that all done with zero human interaction.  The amount of time spent on the whole thing could be minimal. In contrast, in Zambia we drove to 3 different parts stores, each time first asking the owner how he was, how his family was, etc, and then discussing where the part could be found (spoiler alert, NOT in their store).  We spent an entire afternoon trying to find the part and in ...

  Thoughts. It was one of those moments.   Each kid was occupied with a book, homework, computer game, something. All I know is that the house was quiet. I had dinner as prepped as it could be as I waited for the water to boil.   I had, essentially, a moment of quiet. An empty slot of time to do nothing but wait.   Your first thought may be, “Good for her. I never have those.” But, I’m guessing, if you thought about it, you just might.   Standing in a checkout line.   Arriving to a coffee shop before a friend.   Sitting in the van waiting on school to let out.   Standing at the counter waiting on the coffee to brew.   Throughout our day there are little moments of time where we are waiting but we may find it hard to identify them as such because we are so used to filling them up. Those scenarios I listed, how many of them would be quickly followed by: I picked up my phone or I tuned into a podcast or I turned on the radio   How often do ...

This year I was part of the committee to create and direct the Christmas Program with our Sunday School students at church. Drama and skits was not a “thing” for anyone on our committee, and so we focused more on music and scripture readings. Even at that, it still felt like quite the production and my easily stressed personality tried it’s best to take it in stride. Tried being the key word. The Program came, and it went. And no surprise, it all turned out fine. And now that it is done, and that responsibility if off my mind, I feel like I can finally get into the Christmas Spirit. How sad. How sad that my cheer can be so easily offset by responsibilities, to do lists, and expectations. I know there are other recovering perfectionists out there. How do you deal? How do you set aside expectations you set on yourself? How do you deal when you fall short of what you had in your mind? In this striving to NOT keep up with the Joneses, what ...