Intentionally Intent

Some words just won’t go away.

My head is spinning with life:

¨    dwelling in the season of Lent

¨    pondering things of the wilderness, the Cross, the empty tomb

¨    keeping track of medical appointments and tests for three of us

¨    thank you notes that must be written

¨    cards that must be sent to friends fighting one battle or another

¨    rearranging the house—downsizing—creating uncluttered space

¨    cleaning out—organizing—fixing—repairing

¨    and then there is the outside (oh shudder-shudder; too much too soon)

¨    waiting for reports from various doctors

¨    trying to get to the work-out pool 3xWk

¨    and then there are the meals, the laundry, the regular house upkeep

          Those are just the “normal,” as most of you know. [For my younger readers, I never said life got easier with retirement. I did say that multi-tasking becomes more complicated.]

          In the midst of the above and daily life in general, INTENTIONAL has bounced into my life like a brick. It won’t go away.

          The word first yelled for my attention in my first reading of Ann Voskamp’s A Thousand Gifts some 3 weeks ago.  I thought about it awhile and decided, “Yes, that is a good thing to do… be intentional about my faith.” 

 I even began naming my gifts—writing down the little and the big and the in-between things that God bestows unearned and unsought.

         
 I worked on my prayer time. I watched for God’s unexpected gifts…. I worked on my attitude…. I made lists of gratitude.

And then.. I got busy with the “stuff” above …and then I forgot.

How many times in my life have I seen the word intentional?  None that I remember until Ann’s book.

During the past 4 days, INTENTIONAL showed up in:

©    two blogs I read regularly

©    in my Other Favorite Author Number 3 Debbie Macomber’s new book God’s Guest List

©    in the fine-print of some medical information

©    and in Connie Cowan’s on-line Lenten Study Walking to the Cross.

OKAY. Okay. I’m getting it.

I looked up INTENTIONAL in the dictionary. You don’t need me to list the synonyms but you know I will:

INTENT

          Goal

          Target

          Objective

          Plan

INTENTIONAL

          Deliberate

                    Purposeful

                    Conscious

          On purpose

          Planned

          Calculated

                    Designed

                    Premeditated

          Seems to me that the funny little word, INTENTIONAL, shows up in my path, over and over, to remind me of my own mission to PRACTICE and FOCUS and LEARN and STAND FIRM.

          You know, those things Paul said. The things I just wrote about three days ago on Grappling with Contentment!!

I hope you’ll join me in keeping on keeping on and

Standing on the Promises

Liz

And Jesus said, “Why are you sleeping?

Rise and pray that you many not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:46 [NAST]