Intentional

When you hear the word “Intentional”, what do you think of?

For me, it has a negative connotation. It’s used when describing hurt to others. “I was just being honest- I wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt your feelings.” Or in a courtroom, lawyers try to prove that the defendant intentionally tried to kill another person (aka pre-meditated). We wrap the word intentional up as being very serious when examining behaviors- especially others.

But, for ourselves, we are much more unintentional (aka willy nilly). We go many weeks without contacting a dear friend. We forget to make routine doctor appointments. We accidentally delay necessary maintenance on our vehicles. Life is so busy that we unintentionally skip the details because we are carried away by the big picture- schedules, family, work, life commitments, travel, and so many other things.

It’s so easy to live life in an unintentional way… Handle issues as they arise instead of preventing them, over committing ourselves to others or activities, and living in a constant state of busy. We jump on a rollercoaster and mid ride we realize it’s too fast, too long, or too scary but can’t do anything until the end.

We have to make a conscious decision to be intentional. We have to be intentional about checking on family and friends, we have to seek time daily with God, we have to schedule time for rest, and be sure we are able to listen for God’s call in our lives.

Next time, we should think twice about the ride we are choosing to jump on and be intentional about saying yes or no. We are the only ones who control our calendar… And no one else values our time as much as we should.

What can you do in your life to be more intentional about your faith life?

love, brooke