The Intentional Life

Rejoice in our confident hope.  Be patient in trouble and keep on praying. Romans 12:12 Reading this verse for the month of August transported me back to February .   I was struggling with the definition of hope, and how exactly its defined in a Christian's life. As I was learning through the darkness of that winter, it all matters what you place your hope in. Where is your confident hope ? Your home?  Your job?  Your family?  Your bank account? If you are answering even just a little 'yes' to one of those, your hope should not be all that confident. Sorry. There is only one place where we can place true confident hope. Confidence: the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust   Hope: to desire with expectation of obtainment Only One place where we can place our belief that we can rely on them with firm trust and the expectation that they WILL deliver what they promise. You know where I am going ...

Twelve years ago we were two 20 year olds, unsure of a lot of things.  Moving out of my parents house, our bank account just about as low as our age, but we were confident (in God!) that we were  taking the right step, joining in this union they call marriage. 11 jobs (oy), 9 cars (eesh), 6 houses (sigh), and 3 children (yea!) later.... we are still unsure of some things, our bank account continues to be smaller rather than bigger (meh), and we continue to place our confident hope in Christ. It's been sort of a roller coaster of a ride, but I'm so glad that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with!

This post is part of the Adoption Journey Series. See previous posts, “Adoption: 3 Ways to Prepare for the Journey” & "Adoption: 5 Funding Ideas that Work!" .   You made it. After all the paperwork, emails, phone calls, times of waiting and waiting and waiting, your child is finally forever home.  Now what?? Being home together as a family may be all that you envisioned and expected, but most likely, there may be some challenges and adjustments to work through. Whether that be with your child you just brought into your home or your bio kids. Change can be tough, especially when your new forever child has come from a hard place and may have many emotional walls and culture barriers to break down. The good news? You're not in this alone. Here are a few resources and ideas for families post-adoption... 4 Ways to Thrive Once They're Home Find a Support Group. During the transition, you will need godly friends and family surrounding and encouraging y...

Well, we didn't quite get all the projects done that we wanted to get completed in July.  There are quite a few things outstanding.  Our poor neighbors will be forced to look at our sad yard and landscaping for another year.  Meh. But I can say that we got a few things accomplished.  Things like:  Gardening: and all the rocks that the kids dug out  Carrying on the Gateway tradition:  Friday night Pizza Night!  The LEGO movie is in full-force around here now that it made it to DVD.  We have our own set of Master Builders...or at least ones that can quote the whole movie.  Spent the weekend with Sam and Kat in Toledo before the Poisonous Water hit.  We checked out the Toledo Zoo...  and took a picnic lunch.  Walked downtown Perrysburg   And enjoyed some ice cream  Photo Ops by the Maumee River  Our newly planted peach tree gave us one peac...

We bought the house in the Spring of 2013, hoping to live in it someday.  While we knew our time at Gateway was continuing, we thought we were closer to the end than the beginning. The house was therapeutic as we painted and made it our own.  Spending time on our off days and the mornings when the kids were at school. The house was a flip, bought off a Sheriff's Sale.  The flipper painted everything creamish brown and stuck about 5 different trims up in the entire house.  The living room has 4 different trims in itself.  There were various 'window' openings of different heights that made the room feel off.  We loved the layout of the house, but it needed some TLC to make it our own.  I felt in some places things were painted over just for presentation while there were things under the surface that needed worked on. Picture taken on the day we closed on the house I was literally in the process of painting the last room, after 9 months of p...

Never be lacking in zeal,  but keep your spiritual fervor,   serving the Lord. Romans 12:11 As so many of these Romans 12 verses have done, this one is so relevant for the month of July. For so long Paul and I have felt used up entirely.  At the end of the day we did not have anything left.  We would literally sit on the couch and stare at the wall.  Party people, that's us. Some people get out of something before they burn out.  And perhaps we should have done that. Maybe we should have moved on when we still had something left in our burners.   Go out on a high note. But if anyone knows my husband well.  You know that Paul does not do things partially or half way. Full tilt all the way .   So, I married into that, and sometimes I have to hold on for the ride.  It comes with the territory. As we were nearing our final days on campus I felt guilty.  Felt bad that I didn't have more to give....

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.   Honor one another above yourselves.  Romans 12:10 OK.  First I will start off the disclaimer that yes, this is June's verse.  And yes, I am publishing this in July.  No excuse.  Let's move on. As you know, life for our family has been full of transitions in this past month or so. One such transition is from being a Houseparent (along with the authority it holds) to being a mentor and friend (and the responsibility that holds!) As I focused on this verse for June, I thought about the 50+ relationships that I have started in the past 6 years with teenagers.  Some, unfortunately, have fallen off my radar.  Due to them being juveniles, it's hard to find them once they've changed an address or phone number. I can't remember if it was in my thoughts when I first took on the challenge of houseparenting.  If I knew that these kids wouldn't just be in my life for 9 or so months. ...