What does it mean to “Live Intentionally” and how do I write about it?
Writers’ block kicked in…. and then, a call from my dear friend… she spoke this verse to me and the words began to pile up and my fingers began to type… because I want to be like the tree!
Noah Webster {1828} defines intentionally: By design: of purpose: not casually
So, again, I ask…. “What does it mean to “Live Intentionally?”
I never thought about living intentionally…until a few years ago.
Really, I just thought I would go through life, be a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend….and that was it.
However, as I have grown closer to my Father (especially as we have homeschooled, this change has been drastic in my thought process), I have grown in my desire to REALLY understand what living intentionally meant…and desiring to do so!
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So, how did Living Intentionally begin in our home?
It began with an overwhelming acknowledgement that God created us…period. In HIS image, He created us. Not one body, no matter how small…with 2 cells, just forming, a a fully formed adult was an accident.
What a beautiful thought! To be created in the image of God, thought about before the world was formed and He cares so much that he created our inmost being.
Why?
For His purpose, for hope and for a future.
WOW! He has plans for me, my husband, my children and not just for now, but for eternity.
Once I began to wrap my mind around this and understand that the ways of the world are upside down compared to his ways…I realized, I needed to find His purpose for our lives…in order to live intentionally.
As I began this journey, my mind was overwhelmed with identifying…how to know what His purpose for me was?
Why? Well, because the world says our purpose is to make more, have more and do more.
So… that means… He wants me to do. I have to ‘do’ to get his forgiveness. I have to ‘do’ to earn my way into heaven, right?
WRONG.
I merely have to believe.
Ok….got that.
So, where does my purpose come into this?
By living like His Son.
Being a SERVANT and finding freedom through serving!
Really? The World tells me I am to be the best…to be on top…that the one with the most toys in the end wins.
He tells me: the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
So…we homeschool.
What does that have to do with this?
Well…it’s a way of life. It’s the way he has decided to break the years of bondage my husband and I have had.
Bondage to sin. Bondage to a way of life not focused on Him.
A way of life that allows us to learn, with our children and grow in Him.
It is what God desires of us right now.
As parents desiring a life full of Christ for our children, we are heeding to His words.
Our family is working to live intentionally for Christ.
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Do we always succeed? NO……
Why? Because we’re sinners in the midst of receiving his gift of salvation…daily and through that seeking transformation through his sanctification of our sins. Basically…not working for HIM, but casting our eyes upon what he has done for us, thus, seeing the beauty in that and allowing it to guide our minds and hearts to transformation. So, here it is….where we are now….transforming our lives by living intentionally, based on where we are NOW and knowing that things will change as our hearts grow more like HIS.
- Morning prayer, together. For each other and our family
- Morning talks about the day…our opportunities and issues we may need prayer for
- Prayer over our children
- Daily Bible Reading (for me in the morning, DH…evening and on breaks)
- Morning Bible Reading with Children
- Daily Bible Curriculum
- Daily scripture memorization work
- Prayers through out the day, as we leave, return home
- Building a Biblical World View
- Finding ways to serve others
- Marriage Mentoring: Daily Work that brings us closer to God as a married couple and bi-weekly meetings with a couple who is walking with us…teaching us what a Godly marriage is.
So, living intentionally for Christ to us…means that we design our days with the purpose of growing more like Christ…not causally, but with a love for him that overwhelms us and creates a transformation that can only be explained through by his awesome and amazing power!
Living intentionally keeps us focused on what is truly important.
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How are you living intentionally? I am honored to be a guest blogger on Ashley’s series….of living intentionally. I met Ashley on Twitter early one morning. She encouraged me to join HelloMornings and B90Days. She has helped me learn how to live intentionally….I pray, if you have not read her blog, or considered Living Intentionally, you will now!
Rebecca lives in a little town just north of Atlanta, GA. She is a Child of God and is incredibly blessed to be happily married to the man she fell in love with at 17 and is blessed with three amazing children. She moved from point shoes to combat boots…and high heels up the corporate ladder before trading them in to be a Preschool Teacher. Now, she homeschools her three children and blogs over at Mom’s Mustard Seeds.
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