Living With Intention

Sometimes people ask me what I've been up to and I draw a complete blank only being able to answer, "Ah, just the typical mom stuff." Sometimes I wish I kept a list of all the amazing things I do in my pocket so I could rattle them off to others. Then I remember two things: I wasn't created to live for the approval of others and the last "amazing" thing I did was nurse Tula standing up in the bathroom at the Puyallup Fair.

So, even as I write about living intentionally, I do so with caution. I am very prone to wanting to create color coded schedules and "to do" lists for planned fun to the point that my planning sucks the fun right out of life. I am learning to think about intentional living in the freedom that it is not my job to create a perfect home and perfect kids. I just want to think about doing more things on purpose.

Here are a few things I've been doing in this process:

1. Before Tula came, Nathan and I spent an evening interviewing our very respected friends who have 4 kids to gain some insight, advice and ideas. I think this idea of seeking out role models is huge for every phase of life, single, married, kids, divorced, retiring,etc.

2. I process a lot through writing and have been working through these qestions:

• What’s important to me in raising kids, being a wife, friend, family?
• What does that look like?
• How does it happen?

3. Put things on a calendar. It might seem silly to write "do something nice for someone" in your planner, but sometimes those intentional plans turn into habits. The trick is doing things on purpose that are rooted in your heart rather than being something you think you "should do".

Some things we are doing on purpose at our house:

1. Lighting a candle at dinner. We got this idea from our friend Chantal. We personalized it with our own family twist. We all stay at the table while the candle is lit as we know meal times together are precious. Finley nominates someone to blow it out at the end of the meal. We believe a meal is so much more than filling empty stomachs. We talk about how God fills us, how the food we eat sometimes died for us so we could live. The candle reminds me of a lot to talk about at dinner...sacred and even silly.
2. Celebrating together. We believe that because of Jesus there is a lot we have to celebrate. Family movie night is just one fun way to celebrate together. Weekly, but the day is flexible. Homemade popcorn, something fun to drink and Nathan adds a little "Family Movie Night" shout before we start.
3. Baking to be a blessing. We're going to be doing some baking together about once a month and thinking ahead of time of who to take it to. We have been richly blessed by God. We have clothes, food, and a roof making us wealthy compared to many people in the world. I want my family to bless others rather than just bask in this easy life we have. We hope to do more than just baking in our pursuit of being a blessing but this idea will get us started.

Please, please add to this with what you do intentionally in your life and why you do it.