Intentional. It’s a word that God brought to me a few months ago and I have been musing on ever since. I wouldn’t have told you this because I didn’t know it but I had just kind of slipped into the rut of life. Day in day out. Basically doing just what needed to be done for us to survive. There definitely wasn’t a lot of intentionality happening. That is not the way I want to live life but that’s the way I was unintentionally living it. When God brought intentional to my mind I started thinking of all the ways I was missing it. All the ways I just wasn’t being intentional. It was a sobering moment for sure. I want to write about a few of the areas I want to live with intentionality and not just let them pass by unintentionally.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
First of all my relationship with God. I got to the place where I was praying a lot throughout the day (not a bad thing) but wasn’t having undistracted time with the Lord. I’d read my Bible while nursing and while being constantly distracted by my children. (Also not a bad thing and I do hope to keep doing that). But that is not enough for me. That is not the best I could give God. So I’m committed to being more intentional about having non-distracted time with God. At this stage of my life making that happen is a challenge and I can’t spend an hour of quiet time with the Lord like I once was able to. My sleep is disrupted many times each night and in order for me to function well I need a certain amount of sleep. But I can be intentional about getting to bed earlier so that I can get up earlier. I can be intentional about getting up when the alarm goes off instead of turning it off and going back to sleep. (There are times when it is necessary for me to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep but I don’t want that to be my habit.) That gives me a little window of uninterrupted time with God first thing.
“To live intentionally applies that it is not going to be always convenient, but it is what will take you to significance if you do not give up.”
The second place I want to be more intentional in is my marriage. It’s easy to just let each day go by without doing anything intentional about our marriages. While that might make a good marriage it doesn’t make a better marriage. So I committed myself to being much more intentional in our marriage. Putting the phone down when my husband is speaking to me and making eye contact. Limiting my time on the phone after hours as we call it, when the children are in bed. Instead of wasting our after hours time scrolling social media or binge watching YouTube videos being more intentional with our time. Investing in our marriage by using that time to talk, play a game, exchange massages, read a book, and many more things. I have committed myself to being intentional about greeting my husband when he’s done with work for the day and when he comes home from somewhere. I’m committed to being more intentional during our times of intimacy and also being intentional in making it happen. Once I stopped and thought about it there are just so many ways I can be more intentional in my marriage. Many things I can do to help us move from a good marriage to the best marriage.
“Live less out of habit and more out of intent.”
The third place I want to be more intentional is with my children. Stopping to really enjoy them and the things they enjoy. Listening to them when they talk (again not having a screen in front of me and making eye contact). Staying off the phone as much as possible while in their presence. Inviting them into my work space. There is so much they willingly help with if I ask them. Helping cook, wash dishes, fold laundry, and clean are just a few of the things they can help do. Taking the time to read a book, go with them outside, color a picture, laugh, dance and sing funny songs, the list goes on. But I think you get my idea. To intentionally invest in them and intentionally let them be a part of my life and me a part of theirs. Yes, my house might not be as clean and my work might not all be done but if I’ve intentionally invested in my children that’s all that really matters.
“The busier you are the more intentional you must be.”
Another place that I want to be more intentional in is with my church family and friends. Well, not just them, I guess with people in general. Being more involved in the lives of my church family. Giving a note or gift to that Sunday school teacher, blessing the pastor’s family with ice cream, remembering birthdays. Intentionally inviting people into our home – believers and non believers, friends and friends to be. Remembering to pray for a friend on her test day or the day she has a doctor’s visit scheduled and then following up afterward to see how it went. It’s easy to just wave or say hi to the neighbor in passing. It takes intentionality to stop and chat with them, find out how they are doing. People have so much value to God. I want them to have value to me too. I want to be more intentional with the people in my life.
“Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest – well, that’s a choice.”
To sum it up I think what I’m really desiring and feeling the need of is to just be intentional in every area of my life. Not to mindlessly go through my life but to invest and enjoy and get everything out of life I possibly can. To live with such intention that once I’m gone people will be able to say of me, “She was a woman who lived life intentionally”. Life is short. We only get one chance at it. Let’s make the most of it. For God first of all, for our families, for our friends, for strangers, and even for ourselves.
“We were never meant to live life accumulating stuff. We were meant to live simply enjoying the experiences of life, the people of life, and the journey of life – not the things of life.”
I’d love to hear from some of you how you are living or want to live with intentionality. Leave a comment or message me so we can chat and encourage each other more. Happy intentional living!
“A more intentional life purposely slows down enough to enjoy the very process of living life more intentionally.”
Rays of Joy 