Intentional Living….It’s a topic near to my heart, and as with a lot of my personal writing on this blog, I felt that it needed to be talked about more as a reminder (if only to myself) to be more accountable with my thoughts and actions. As I stopped and started multiple times, I kept coming back to the echoes of my dear friend Rachelle’s advice. She is my “Intentional Living” poster child. She’s the homeschooling mom of two-business owner-pastor’s daughter-pastors wife-and just all around awesome-woman of God. A gal I am truly blessed to call my friend…. and the best part – is the whole sentence probably made her cringe because she is as humble as she is amazing.
If you don’t already, I encourage you to follow here blog here.
So rather than give you my version…I’ve invited Rachelle to guest blog on her thoughts for those seeking to live a life with dedicated intention. Thanks so much Rachelle! XOXO ~ Angie
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When Angelsea asked me to guest blog about intentional living I said yes right away.
I love talking about this topic, because I feel like living in an intentional way has made my life so much easier!
It’s a funny thing…intentional living, because it does not come naturally!
I naturally prefer sleeping late, eating whatever looks good, going for a run when it’s 65 degrees with a cloudy sky and light breeze, disciplining my kids when I have had a good night’s sleep, and 2 cups of coffee.
Not: getting up early, eating healthy, running in the rain, disciplining when I’m exhausted and lacking caffeine.
However.
Those are the times that I am going to need to be consistent the most.
The most important word of practical advice I feel like I could give is this:
Decide your convictions and standards before you even need to use them!
Sit down and write out your list of priorities.
Make your big decisions and write them down.
Now…obviously your list will look a little different than my list, but that’s just the point.
Your life is about finding a way to live intentionally the way you have decided is best for you.
BUT…you need to make sure you are actually finding that way, not just letting life happen!
For me? It has to all start with my Bible.
I have to tell ya, my moods can very easily change my convictions if I let them!
One minute I could be convinced that something is totally wrong. And then another day of the week I can see sides to it that I never noticed before.
That’s why I use the Bible. It is unchanging, and it helps keep me balanced and focused.
Because I like to number things when I write, to help all of you skimmers out there, I thought I would give a list of ways that will help us live more intentional lives.
1. Keep consistent with your relationship with God.
My relationship with God is my first priority. I spend every morning reading my Bible, with a cup of coffee and praying. When I start out that way, I find the rest of my day runs much more smoothly!
2. Remember that family is forever.
I know..totally cliché. But really…you are going to have friends come and go. It is so vitally important to remember that our family is going to be with us forever. If you are married with children, you have to remember to keep your husband and his needs first, even above your children. This is so hard to do! But ultimately, we are raising our kids to leave the home. We will then be left with just our husbands! We need to make sure that we are growing that relationship to be as strong as possible.
3. Stay humble.
This may seem obvious, but if you are anything like me, you may struggle with good, old fashioned mommy-guilt. Do you know that that can be a form of pride? Pride is when you are thinking of yourself more than you need to. This includes thinking less of yourself! The more you are thinking of yourself, the less you are able to think about the needs of others.
4. Laugh a lot.
Even this can take a lot of thought out, planned practice! If you are realizing that your first reaction to a spilled cup of milk is frustration, irritation, annoyance…maybe you should try laughing the next time! See how it makes you feel. See how it makes whoever spilled it feel! Laughing can make you feel better about everything, and it also puts people at ease! BUT…it is an intentional choice to realize the things that are not worth getting upset at!
Now..back to my most important word of practical advice.
Decide your convictions and standards before you even need to use them!
You can easily break this down by topic:
Personal life, entertainment choices, dating, marriage, parenting, religion…fill in the blank.
*Make the decision how many, if any, drinks you are going to have with your friends before you even go out for dinner.
*Make the decision what rating of movies is ok for you to watch before you friends even pick the movie.
*Make the decision what words you are going to allow to be used in your home.
This way, everything is not a guessing game.
Here’s the thing. You can still be care-free and crazy fun…in fact, I think you can be even more so when you choose to live life intentionally!
When I have already decided how I am going to act in certain situations before I go out?
I have so much more freedom to just be myself!
It relieves any pressure in the back of my mind that is screaming, Should I be doing this? Should I be saying this? Should I be watching this?
Because I have already made my decisions while I was in a right frame of mind and I am confident in what I have chosen.
It is also helpful to have someone you trust know about your decisions…this accountability can definitely help you stay strong when you start doubting yourself!
Living intentionally gives you the freedom to live a confident, fun and amazing life.
I hope that you can take one or two things from this and really start deciding to live intentionally. It’s a pretty amazing place to be…
you’re going to love it!
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Ron Townsend - I love my sister!