The Intentional Life

  As we are midway through the year , I thought this would be a good time to look back over the 7 topics of the Intentional Life and give links to one of each topic, in case you missed any of them.   I am in the process of writing a book that is along the same lines of these topics, while also addressing the effect of what living with anxiety has on all of these areas. If there is someone in your life who you think would benefit from this topic, will you please pass this on to them? Ask them to subscribe to these weekly emails so they too can begin on this Intentional Life journey.   To pass on the link for signing up to your family and friends, copy and send this link to them : https://bit.ly/intentionalmomentsanxiousdays   “Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12   The future book will help us see that as we ask God to help us to number our days, that He will in turn give us a heart of wisdom. With a heart of wisdo...

March, like most of the nation, had us looking back to a year ago. Remembering the sudden halt to all schedules, the feeling of dread that gripped many, and the slowing down of life for several months. I'm thankful for the progression we have made in a year's time. Though, in many areas, there is a long way to go. Despite the still present pandemic, some of our March was able to happen like it did in 2019. The most prevalent was the tournament season for basketball. Paul got to do the online announcing for our Boys Varsity high school Basketball team again this year which meant many nights and weekends filled up with traveling and announcing. I was thankful for the times that I was able to go along as "stats keeper." We also saw the start of soccer and track season, celebrated Hannah and her National USATF Cross Country team as they were given awards from the Mayor, snatched an ice cream treat on an unseasonably warm Sunday, visited with Grandparents, and cheered with...

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 ...

We rang in the New Year in a quiet fashion. Just a small party of 5. All 3 kids are now at ages where they can stay up til midnight without a major meltdown. So, we played games, ate snacks, and toasted the new year with  sparkling cider. We weren't expecting a huge change with the flip of the calendar, but something about saying goodbye to 2020 felt better than other years when December turned to January. Our January ended up running like any other one we've had, just with a bit of pandemic restrictions, which we've come to feel as the norm, despite our affinity for them. We celebrated the beginning of the last year of 30's for Paul.   Helped Paul with the high school basketball broadcasts by either running the camera or keeping stats. I love that it has become a whole family affair.   We enjoyed a few snowfalls, the one at the end of the month bringing enough that we finally got some sledding in.   I tried my hand at Dutch Oven bread and felt like I actually had su...

It makes me kinda sad that I've fallen off with posting my monthly lookbacks. Now that I don't have any for the last several months (eep! maybe a year!?) I'm realizing how much I enjoy having these to look back through and remember where we were, how we've grown, and what things we continue to have to work on. So, instead of sitting here beating myself up, which I am prone to do, I will choose instead to just start again.  And here we are with March 2019. It was the month of basketball if there ever was one. Between College March Madness, Owen's basketball practice and games, and our high school winning (WINNING!) the State Championship, the whole month felt like it revolved around b-ball. Like true Hoosiers. Quite a few other things were done in the midst of it and we all looked forward to the end of the month where Spring Break was patiently waiting for us. There are days I'm digging my heels in, trying to slow down time, and others I...