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,...

  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...

  It’s inevitable. At some point in time, someone in your life is going to let you down.   Your expectation of what you thought they would say or do falls short and you are disappointed.   Someone you trusted is caught in a lie. A friend who is loyal is found to have broken your confidence. A family member who you held in high regard is shown to be deceitful.   I recently had an experience of finding out that a person I thought of as one of integrity was part of an aggressive, foolish act. It left me feeling deflated, a bit confused, and very disappointed. As I was sitting at a red light, fighting tears, I handed it to God. I asked Him what I was supposed to do with it.   And He reminded me of the life of Moses. I was prompted to dive a bit deeper and so I took a walk through the books of Exodus and Numbers. Time and time again Moses was disappointed by God’s chosen people, the Israelites. Either they were complaining, disobeying, or doubting. Moses ...

  We all describe our homes in different ways and we all have different goals for what we want our home to be to us. But, one thing we can all agree on, is that we want our home to feel safe.   On average, Americans spend $20.64 billion on home security systems every year. Clearly, we want our homes to feel secure and we're willing to shell out the money to make it that way. But while our homes may be physically safe, how safe are they spiritually? A century ago it was a lot simpler. You didn't let unknown people in your home, you could easily track which books, mail, or newspapers came in or out. You could turn off the one radio in your home if you didn't want your children to hear the news. Today it's a lot more complicated with phones, internet, and television. You can monitor it all, but things can still creep through. All of these ‘voices’ speaking into our family's lives can wreak spiritual warfare on all of us. So, while we have a handle on ou...

    It was a random Wednesday night. My husband had of course fallen asleep in about 3 minutes and I was lying there, listening to his breathing, wishing I too could fall asleep that easily. As I lay there wishing, a sense of melancholy came over me. And, as is my nature, I follow that emotion and try to figure out where the root originated. And so, my mind began to think back through the day. As it did, I started to take note of everything I didn’t get done. I didn’t get the kitchen cleaned up and decluttered like I had wanted to. I did zero work on that book I dream of publishing some day. I made no sales in my online business. I didn’t get any exercise in. At my office job I did many things, but nothing that felt like it really made a difference in anyone’s world. Basically, I felt like I didn’t move the ball forward on anything.   I eventually fell asleep, somewhere in the middle of my rumination on my failures. And, with the unfinished business in my mi...

  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....

  Thoughts Flying gives me anxiety. Well, actually, the process of getting to fly gives me anxiety. I love the lift off, the cruising through the air, the view from the window, and the sudden stop when we land on the ground. None of those things causes my palms to sweat or heart to race. What gets me is the part where you stand in line, waiting to scan your ticket, show your ID, and walk through the scanners. The process of finding your gate and making sure you are in the right spot at the right time makes my shoulders tense and my breathing to go shallow. Questions loop through my head: Is my ticket correct? Am I in the right line? What if we don't get through in time and miss our flight? What if the machine rejects my ID? What if I set off the metal detectors? What if they find something in my bag that I didn't realize was there? Can you relate? As I near the kiosk where the security guard waits, I feel akin to a fugitive, trying my best to look normal and safe ...

  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...

  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...