Intentional

**WARNING** You may not like what you're about to read-- this could quite possibly turn the world as you know it, upside down. It's time to turn off the cell phone, log off of facebook and start living your life on purpose. I'm not going the Rick Warren direction here (not that it's a bad direction, or a bad book, just not the way I'm headed today). I'm talking about unplugging all the electronics we've grown accustomed to using the last decade and personally connecting with others and being real with yourself. We've become so saturated in technology lately that we can't even enjoy the simple things in life. I'm talking about relationships. Investing time into your family (especially if you have kids) and friends.

So I just started reading Becoming Myself by Stasi Eldredge last week and I've got to share a few nuggets that have really stuck with me, as they relate to my blog subject. If you don't know the author, Stasi and her husband John have an awesome ministry called Ransomed Heart and they both have written some great books about growing closer to Jesus and learning from your history/upbringing. This book is similar to one of my other favorites by the couple, Captivating, but in this book (at least so far) Stasi is on her own and delving more into the practicality of being a woman. I finished the third chapter yesterday that discusses the importance of understanding hormones of women and how much impact they really have on us every single day (hope I haven't lost my male readers yet... this isn't all about PMS and puppies). A lot of us don't even know how a woman's menstrual cycle varies throughout the month and effects our mind, body and spirit.

Anyway, right now I am in the fifth chapter and reading about the many roles and functions of a mother. Stasi is encouraging readers who may be mothers not to dwell on oneself, but instead to think on how their mother has contributed to who they are today. Asking such probing questions like, 'Did your mother nurture, love and meet your every need or did you grow up searching for someone to fill that void?' Let's revisit the hormone mystery of a woman... did mom sit you down for a 'birds and bees' chat in early adolescence or were you left to chart those dangerous waters alone? She even uses science to support her case for the importance of motherhood discussing the connection between mom and baby during gestation. Babies develop much differently when birthed into a loving, healthy, happily expectant set of parents vice a couple that was not hoping for a new addition or a mother who is stressed, unhappy and dreading the day her baby arrives.

I won't go into all the details, but I listed a few to set up my theory here that too few families are doing what they most need; living an intentional, emotionally connected and purposeful life. I'm talking about planning a week long camping trip in the woods with your mom, dad, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, son, daughter... whomever you call an immediate family member and just spending time talking, laughing, crying, walking, running, fishing, anything without a laptop, TV or cell phone! Now don't get me wrong, one week out of the whole year for a family vacation isn't going to cut it, but just might be the jump-start you need. The core of what I am recommending here is just investing into the relationships you have. Cherish those beautiful kids God gave you, turn off the TV and play a board game. Teach your son how to build a tree house, take your daughter out to ice cream and plan to lead them through the tough places in life (first day of school, puberty, peer pressure, college, dating/courting, marriage, etc.) Too often we are consumed in the daily hustle of trying to pay the bills, save for retirement, buy a new car, watch the news, clean the house, do the laundry, wash the car that we don't make time for the things that really matter most.

Whether you had awesome parents or not so amazing ones, think about the way you were raised and how the early years of life shape your character today. What do you want to pass on, repeat and do the same? What are you going to do different, do better and make a stand to change forever? No matter what answers you come up with I can guarantee it's going to take time and reflection and intention to do. Let's get in the drivers seat of our own life and head the direction we want. Proactive instead of reactive. I want to close with one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”