Being intentional is very very challenging

I am still struggling with how to be more intentional with bringing the Lord more into my life and making Him be the central part of my life. Dealing with issues with life, especially when it comes to your kids is time consuming and exhausting. I started to try to be more intentional by putting my bible right at my spot at the kitchen table that way I can read it as I have breakfast. I also thought I need to get my prayer cards going again. I started these by reading the bible and choosing something that just stood out and writing it down on an index card and writing a prayer that goes with that scripture. I have taken these to work to read throughout my day when my Outlook reminds me. LOL. I very much like doing those and it does help to stop for just a minute and read a prayer card and just let go of the work at hand and think about God. I am working on our family bedtime prayer at night to not be the standard stuff we pray for all the time but to add in at least one thing related to praying for someone else or our country or anything out of the norm. I have been considering what I can do for children but still am not sure on that one. I do think that I will sponsor a child through Compassion but I want to also look into other possibilities like Big Brothers Big Sisters and possibly a ministry that helps with young women faced with making the choice of life or abortion and/or helping children in divorced families. Those are two that are very close to my heart since I experienced them both. I am reading AD Cronicles by Brodie and Brock Thoene and am loving the whole idea seeing what the bigger picture is. These books are set in the time of Jesus and the stories are about his life here through the eyes of others around him. The first one is about the blind man that Jesus puts clay on his eyes and says go wash in the pool and he can see. He was blind from birth so this is super miraculous! Another one centers around Lazarus and how he ends up sick and dead and of course, the part we already know from the bible about Jesus raising him from the dead. The one I am reading now is about before Jesus' birth and it's about Mary and Joseph and their thoughts, feeling and things that happen on their journey with being chosen to be the mother and step-father to the son of God. I am really loving these books because it makes the bible seem so much more real and I am learning so much more about the culture and times of Jesus which makes understanding the bible that much easier. I have only read 4 books so far of I think a 10 book series. I guess you can say reading these is keeping the Lord in the forefront of my mind more because the stories are about and surrounding Jesus. So, I am making progress in being more intentional about my faith but I have to tell you it is and will continue to be a daily challenge. I will keep praying for the Lord to guide me. My hope is you too will let the Lord guide you.

On being an intentional Christian

It seems like again and again I am hearing and re-learning that being a Christian isn't just about taking that first step and believing that Jesus is the son of God and asking for forgiveness. We are hard-wired to have this desire within us to draw closer to our creator but in order to do that we have to become intentional Christians. We have to plan, prepare and prioritize how we live our lives so that we are doing, thinking and being in every way more like Christ, our Eartly example of who God is. Jesus is holy, selfless, loving, humble, zealous and more. For us to drawer nearer to God we have to strive to be more like Jesus and be more God-like. The seed of the Holy Spirit was planted in us when we made that decision to believe but we have to take the next step and the next and the next. Everyday it is a challenge to put the focus on God and being intentional in cultivating that relationship and therefore feeling his presense in our lives more. The fabulous thing is God is always right here, right now with us but we don't often feel it. We have to be active participants in this relationship through prayer, praise, worship, song, study, fellowship and whatever creative way you can come up with to spend more time with God. Before starting work full-time a couple of years ago, I really enjoyed my one hour class a week called Holy Yoga. What a wonderful creative way to worship the Lord and get in some good exercise in and respecting the body he gave us. I am working on finding a yoga class that works in my schedule but it won't be the same but it will get me going again and I will be more likely to be motivated to do it at home too like I was before. I have also loved working on scrapbook pages that are geared around a sermon, book, scripture or something that puts my focus on God. I think the hardest part is there are many ways we could be more intentional and doing more of those next steps but they are often inconsistent. I start reading my bible for a couple of days in the morning and than one morning I am struggling to just wake up or I have too many other things on my mind that need attention so they get it first and reading the bible doesn't happen. Priorty is the key to consistency. I have good intentions but have not made them a priority. I have to give myself some grace and plan it right this time. I can't change everything today but I can take one piece of my puzzle of my life with God and starting fitting it in to the space it should go. I am going to ponder all my thoughts today and come back tomorrow and make a more detailed list on ways I can be more intentional and than I will choose to set my goal on prioritizing on the one and getting that consistent like breathing. So what do you intend to do today that will draw you closer to God?

On Reading Christian Fiction

I have been reading a book series called AD Chronicles by Brodie & Brock Thoene. These books are fictional stories based on the time of Jesus' ministry on Earth and some of the people we know of by name in the bible like Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus and many that aren't called specifically by name like the blind man that Jesus put mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool. In reading these stories, you realize how much more is involved in and around the stories in the bible. There really just isn't enough room to put in all the details surrounding everything in the bible. It is a pretty thick book as it is! I have no idea of any of these fictional stories could be possibly based on any true stories except for the aspects that we know of in the bible like when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead but it's interesting how the authors helped develop a plausible story that lead up to the story in the bible of Lazarus. I have always considered my imagination to be pretty good but I wouldn't have thought of that so I think a lot of the stories are also based on the culture of the time and just how things were done, etc which is all historical stuff that I don't really know except when I hear it from a pastor in a sermon. I am reading a story now about a leper who was cast out for leparosy when she was 12 years old. I think one of the neat things about these stories is putting yourself in their position and getting a better feel for how much suffering others have gone through. It does make you count your own blessings. Lepers were considering the living dead and were totally cast out from society, stoned if they came near and just the most rejected people ever. It's really not fully imaginable to put yourself in their shoes since we do not have to deal with leporacy today as they did in their time. I am thankful to live in a time with better healthcare and better understanding of sickness. I just pray that if there are any people out there living like the living dead that they will find comfort and peace through a relationship with the Lord and know that this life is temporary and their future life in heaven will be so much more. Blessings to all who read this today. Have a great one.