My plan for intentional summer living

hey all.
Summer is here! Yahoo!
Like the kids, I've been counting down the days until we're all home together. There's just something about summertime.

Walking into the hot days ahead, this one thing I know: I don't want to blow through our days, merely surviving.  I want to be intentional about this little block of time we have together. 

This year, I've decided to write out my commitment to intentional summer living.  It's not really a commitment to you, but to me.  However, the idea of throwing it out into the blogosphere demands a certain amount of accountability, which I need.  So, without further ado ...

Here's my commitment to an intentional summer:

#1:  Eat more bread.  Making the choice to read God's Word is the most important part of my day.  I don't just read the Bible to read.  I read it to find life. But let's be honest - it becomes more difficult to carve out time to read when the house is filled with kids all day long. If I'm not intentional, the thing that I claim to be my most important thing gets lost in a day filled with kids, water and loads of sun screen. 

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4
This summer I'm committed to eat more bread by consuming more Truth. My kids will see their mom choosing God first. Period.

#2:  Be present.  When I'm with my kids, I will choose to be present.  Face to face.  Hands free.  That means my phone will not be a constant appendage and my computer will be closed.  Not all day but for a lot of the day - on purpose.  My kids are growing up so fast, and I'm afraid at times I'm missing it by being distracted by a little glowing screen. Not anymore!

#3:  Lead in making healthy choices ... be Brave! Sadly, my kids are horribly picky eaters because of me - their ridiculously picky mom.  This summer, however, things are going to change.  Thanks to a brilliant idea from my friend, Shannon, The Rogers family will be embarking on a Rainbow Food Revolution.  Each week we focus on eating a color of the rainbow - fruits and vegetables in each color group. Red and green week are particularly intimidating to me ... but I will be brave and lead by example.  3 bites of everything.  That's the rule.  My husband, Erik, will be so proud! :)

#4:  Lighten up.  Here are the facts: when the kids are home, the house is constantly undone.  Some messes are fine, but constant chaos drives me nuts.  This summer, I will choose to lighten up about the messes.  I will practice saying "YES" to the kids more often - even when what they're asking seems inconvenient or is destined for disaster making.  Our summer pace will be slow and my attitude will be light ... by the grace of God!

#5:  Focus on doing the next right thing.  I have the tendency to get stressed out by the big picture and long list of "should haves" and "need to's" associated with it.  In doing so, I put unneeded pressure on myself by creating a load that I was never intended to carry.  However, here's what I know: God is faithful.  Because He knows me better than I know myself and He knows the plans He has for me, God knows all I can handle is the next right thing. This summer, I will be intentional about listening to and obeying God in the next right thing. 

Short and simple.  That's the plan.
This summer, I'm going to be intentional. 
What about you?

Sometimes I need to be reminded

[I came across this the other day - written almost four years ago - and it took me down memory lane.  How time flies ...]

Yesterday wasn't a great day for me.

I didn't take a shower and stayed in my PJ's all day long (even though I smelled like twice used breast milk - sorry, it's true!)  My 3 year old tested my every last nerve and my almost 1 month old cutie wailed all. day. long ... so I did too.  Poor, pitiful me!  

At 10 pm I sat down and wrote this prayer, based on this verse ...

Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Ephesians 5:15-16

Father God, I truly desire to make the most of every opportunity I have with my family, especially while my kids are young.  Enable me, by your power, to show my children your love, grace and mercy every chance I get.  Enable me to honor and respect my husband in all circumstances, and empower me to seize every opportunity to reach out to those around me in need.  In Jesus Name, Amen.  

This morning while I was in the shower (hurray!), I was thinking on this verse when these words hit me, "Each day is a gift and every moment is an opportunity."  Ugh!  What am I REALLY doing with the opportunities God has given me?  They may not be earth shattering, world changing opportunities – or are they?

     Isn't spilled cranberry juice on the carpet an opportunity to show my kids grace?
     A talking back, sassy mouth child an opportunity to teach authority?
     A crying baby an opportunity to show unconditional love?
     A long story by my husband about work an opportunity to honor him?

Like I said, Ugh!  

So, I'll take today (a gift) and start anew.....

What amazing opportunities have you been given today?

Today's Challenge:  If you are alive and breathing - God has purpose built into your day.  Make the most of every opportunity and you'll find it!

The thing I'm after ...

I want so badly to write today - to let my fingers dance on keys and spell out words that my mind is holding captive - but the words won't come.  So instead I find myself longing for this: 

photo credit

Can you imagine yourself sitting there too?  Surrounded by blue.  Gazing out over the still waters.  Away from distractions and noise.  Alone and quiet.

Silence and solitude is spiritual discipline I long for more of.  Over the last week God has shown me plainly how quick I am to fill every void with noise.  I am a silence thief - stealing away from every quiet opportunity by filling it with noise.  Are you addicted to noise too? "Noise helps us live on the banks of denial.  Noise keeps us concentrated on something else - anything else!"* 

When you're in your house alone, do you turn on the TV or music to suffocate the silence?  Does a perfectly quiet car have a way of torturing you?  Is every pause in your day filled by reaching out for your cell phone to check email or Facebook, or is it just me?

God is calling me towards more solitude - "the practice of being absent from other people and other things so that you can be present with God." He's creating opportunities for silence - "the practice of quieting every voice, including your own, so that you can hear the voice of God."

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

In Silence and Solitude, we can: 

Learn to practice God's presence  "Only in silence is heard the beating heart of God" (Father Bernardo Olivera) ... and that's what I'm after.  To sit and rest with Him there.  To allow every recess of infinite void to be filled with the infinite fullness of God. "When our emptiness has been replaced by the fullness of His presence, we begin to view all other parts of our life in a new way.  God removes the "continual lust for more" (Eph. 4:19) that results from a life apart from Him, and replaces it with contentment and ridiculous generosity."

Learn to sit in God's peace The world offers us many things, but peace will never be one of them.  Only in God can we find peace - "A peace beyond all understanding" - a peace that "will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7)  "Even when we’re in stressful circumstances we can learn to maintain a silent center, a stillness of soul that flows in God’s peace. We come into this peace by training with Jesus in silence and solitude. As we go into the solitary place with the Lord he purges our souls of the distractions, anxieties, and sins that rise to the surface. Then his Holy Spirit like a dove settles on us and leaves us with the gift of peace, a deep and soul-full sense of well-being."

Learn to see and hear The voice of God becomes clear when we learn to embrace silence. "We must develop habits of being unavailable to the voices all around us so that we can learn to hear the Divine Voice."  The question is not whether or not God is speaking.  The only question is whether or not we can hear Him.

OK.  Maybe God gave me something to say after all. 

Today's Challenge:  Carve out time in your day to focus on the Lord in silence and solitude.  Start small and build from there.  Are you motivated to know that God is waiting for you there - in that quiet place of silence and solitude? 

All quotes were found here and here.  

My opporunity to apply ...

Tonight is one of those nights when I feel defeated.
I'm worn out.
The house is a mess.
And the laundry ... oh, the laundry.  When my oldest was picking out clothes for school in the morning and couldn't find anything to wear, I told her to pick something out of her dirty clothes.
And she did ... without a second thought.

(sigh)

Motherhood has a unique way of bringing me to the end of myself.  It has a way of exposing my flesh like nothing else.  What do you do when you run out of nice before you run out of day?  I can tell you what I do.  I become a drill Sergeant.  Barking orders - hurried and impatient - I race my kids to bed.  Forget snuggle time and bedtime talks.  When this momma's done, I'm done.

So now, here I sit - comfy on the couch and convicted.

Why? 

Because I remember what I wrote on this same page just days ago.  Practically apply the Word?  Not so much tonight.  Over a week ago, God gave me a verse to cling.  A feel good kind of verse that I can recite by memory.

Look to the Lord and his strength;  seek his face always.  Psalm 105:4

But what good is this great verse that I've memorized if I don't learn how to apply what it says?  I'll beginning to learn that when a verse sticks in my head {kinda like this one has}, then I need to receive it as God's Word for me - that's how the Word gets personal.  But like I said before, what good is this verse if I don't learn how to do what it says? 

Look to the Lord and His strength ... yep.  I could have used some of that today.  This verse has been lodged into memory to remind me that I was never intended to walk this road alone.  I can't keep up. I don't have what it takes.  And I don't have to.  God has given me (and you) permission to draw from His strength - to look to Him throughout our day for strength and energy.  How many times today should I have confessed, "God I need you to make it through the day.  Live through me so that I can learn to draw from your strength.  I don't have what it takes apart from you."

Seek His face always.  What a difference that would have made - if I would have navigated through the day pursuing His presence instead of my agenda.  God's presence is always filled with joy (Psalm 16:11).  I missed that today.

So - tomorrow I will start anew because I know this to be true:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

And when given the opportunity again to practically apply His Word, by the grace of God, I will choose to obey!

Today's Challenge:  What is the last verse God spoke to your heart?  Have you learned to how to practically apply those words to your day to day?  God's Word has the power to transform our lives! Participate by actively putting His Word into motion. 

Let's Get Practical!

Is your faith practical? 
Is your walk with Christ really based on a real life relationship?  Is it truly something you apply and live out in your day to day?

For about a month now I've been mulling.  I've been thinking long and hard about a comment a friend made on Facebook.  This friend was seeking advice - practical advice - and she didn't want to be thrown any Christian mumbo jumbo.  Well, she didn't say that exactly, but I'm pretty sure that's what she meant.  You see, my friend's husband is fighting cancer, and she's tired and hurt and undone in ways I cannot image.  So she wanted to know what to do with pain.  What's she supposed to do with her brokenness right now? 

This friend - she knows all the right things to say.  She knows what Bible verses to cut out and apply like a bandage to the pains of her life.  And she knows they're true ... but are they practical??

That's what I can't stop thinking about.  Is our faith practical?

And my answer is ... it has to be!

The Word of God wasn't written as a feel good book, although that's how many of us approach it.  It was meant to be applied.  In most ways literally but certainly practically.  Applied.  We can't just read our Bibles, pick out a verse that fits our wound and call it good.  We have to actually and practically do what it says! 

Didn't James have something to say about this?  Oh yes ...

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

Have mercy, girls!  If we can't find a way to take God at His Word and do what He says, then why bother with faith at all.  Our Bibles contain the Living Word of our Most Holy God, and the words written there are intended for us today!  They are meant to be applied today. 

I get that sometimes the problem is knowing how to apply the Word to our day to day, and I hope that this blog one place where we can learn to live and walk out the Word together. But other times I'm convinced that we've all just been lulled to sleep - we've grown accustomed to coasting in our spiritual lives ... and it's time to wake up!

Yes.  This is all started with a Facebook post. 

And now it's time to get practical!!

Today's challenge:  The next time God speaks to you through His Word, make a plan to do what it says.  Write down the date of when you are going to put His Word into action and obey.  Just a simple committment and plan to act may be all that it takes for God to radically {and practically} change your life through the power of His Word.