The Intentional Life

  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 we,...

       A few years back we moved into a new home. It had a decent sized yard, so the first thing my husband wanted to do was start a garden. Unfortunately, the whole yard was grass. There was no previously cut spot of exposed dirt for a garden. We had to start from scratch. This involved cutting up the sod and tilling up the dirt. Many sweaty and exhausting hours later we finally had a rectangle of space for our garden! We planned out the rows, decided on what we wanted to plant, and put the seeds in the ground. Within a week or two, the sprouts started to appear. But, they weren’t the only ones. The grass wanted to take it’s space back. For a time, we let the grass go, mingling in with the newly sprouted seedlings. But the grass was more aggressive than the beans and peas and we couldn’t let it go any longer. We took to weeding, pulling out the grass and weeds at their roots. Unfortunately, because the weeds had become so prevalent, it was hard to pul...

  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...

  Home. Laundry. Dinner prep. Dishes. Sweeping. Toy pick-up. More laundry.   There are just some chores that, no matter the size of your family unit, require almost daily attention. And often it’s all we can do just to stay on top of those daily tasks.   You’ve got other housekeeping items you would like to get to. But they all seem to require more time that what you have on a Tuesday evening. If you find you are stuck in getting started on any of those big-sized cleaning projects in your home, then it's time to start small.   Look at the large project as a whole, and then break it down into smaller tasks that can be accomplished bits at a time. This will help you start to make progress without leaving the house feeling like it’s been pulled apart in the middle of a big undertaking.   For example, I know our kitchen cabinets need cleaned out, everything wiped down, and reorganized. I generally don't have a 2 hour chunk of time that I can devote to ...

  Heart. Can we talk about worth for a moment? Specifically, our own worth?   Webster’s defines worth as “the level at which someone or something deserves to be valued or rated.”   Now, if you are a Christ follower, we know that our worth is found in Christ alone. We know that we are sinners in need of a Savior. And that a price had to be paid for our salvation. We know that because of the shed blood of Christ we have been redeemed and can now be seen as worthy of eternal life in heaven because of what Jesus did for us.    We know all this. We know our worth is not in our own actions and deeds.   But it doesn’t stop us from falling into the trap of thinking that it does.   A couple months back, I went to donate blood. I have Type 0 Negative blood. The universal donor. And I had been getting emails for weeks (well, really months) telling me that I needed to donate. Because any blood type can have my donation, my blood was so “desperately needed...

  Money. When my husband and I first married, I was newly graduated with an Associates Degree and he still had two more years to go at a major State University. We married young, we were both 20, and did not have a whole lot of cash between us. When we combined our bank accounts the number was 4 digits....barely. Thankfully, we both lean towards saving versus spending, and were content to live on cheap noodles, a zero dollar entertainment budget, and even went as long as possible without heat (the apartment reached 50 degrees when we finally turned on the furnace). Back then, it was fairly simple to keep track of expenditures - we just didn't make any.  But, as life goes on, a mortgage is added to the mix, children add to the expenses, and things like medical issues and car breakdowns seem to be more often than not. We didn't really have to create a budget in the early days, we just saved as much as we could. But once kids came on the scene, it was clear that we...

  Health. I’m always excited about “volunteer plants.” The random vegetables that just start growing in the Spring without any help from me. Maybe it’s because I’m not that great at gardening, so when plants spring up green and thriving, I get a little giddy.   One year it was pumpkins. I had tossed the remains of a pie pumpkin in the tired-out Autumn garden the October before. April came around and we planted a few rows of green beans. The beans came up alright, and right in the midst of all those beans, were some sprouts of pumpkin. I wasn’t expecting those sprouts, but there they were. Because I loved the idea of a bountiful harvest of pumpkins, I let them go, to see how they would fare.   Hindsight came to show, that, despite them being small and welcome in May, they became overwhelming and intrusive in July. The green beans that came up 6 weeks earlier could barely see the sun, choked out by the explosion of pumpkin vines. We ended up with some pumpkin...

  Home. Practice hospitality. It's right there, a two word sentence, right on the tail end of Romans 12:13. If there was ever a verse that I would skim over, it would be that one. The first part of that verse - Share with the Lord's people who are in need - that one I'm in full tilt. But then there is the second half of that verse. That one is a bit tougher for me. Helping someone out? I'm there! Practice hospitality? ... excuse me a moment I think I'm needed ... somewhere ... else ... I love the idea of hosting others in our home.  Opening up our doors and inviting people in. It sounds so fun, friendly, and warm. But I often choke on the implementation of it. It's hard to swallow the sweetness of hospitality when you've got a knot of perfectionism caught in your throat.   I want to be OK with the pop-ins.  The visitor who calls 5 minutes before showing up.  The guest who knocks on the door without warning.  To happily ...

  Thoughts This past week I received some disappointing news. It was in the form of an email, letting me know that I was not selected to be a part of a class focused on preparing our manuscripts for publishers. Truth is, I kinda knew in the back of my mind that I wouldn't get picked. Thousands of people apply and less than a hundred are chosen. But still, I had a bit of hope. I know the email was a template, something sent out to all applicants who didn't get in, but the correspondence still stung. My initial reactions were “I'm not good enough.” “My whole book I've written is a failure.” “No one wants to read what I've written.” And perhaps the worst of all, “Maybe I've heard God wrong.”  You've faced it, too. Rejection. You offer something of yourself, hoping to be accepted, and instead you are turned down. You are not invited to the party. You aren't included in the planning of an event. That potential job never calls you back. That coll...

  Intentional Time It wasn’t super convenient. I had places to be. Kids to pick up. Work to do. Dinner to make. It didn’t really fit into my schedule. I didn’t have time. But she needed help. Needed someone to listen. Needed someone to take the time. So, things were put on hold, shifted around. Time was made. And I still got where I needed to be. The kids got picked up without disrupting any coaches schedule. Work got done and dinner was made. Turns out I did have time. I’m sure I am not the only one to fall into the trap of thinking that my time is the most important time. Sure, we’ll give some of our time to others….when it’s convenient for us. When it doesn’t disrupt what we already wanted to do for ourselves. The next time you start going down that road of “Me,” stop and consider the occurrences that people stop and gave of their time for you. Picked up a child from practice for you. Stayed on the phone with you for bit longer than normal because you needed to vent....