Being Intentional

I’m finding that being intentional in parenting is not easy…. for that  matter being intentional in life is not easy.  It takes prayer, planning and thought, but honestly, I just don't want to do that sometimes.  However, the example I have in Jesus shows me that He was intentional in everything.  His ministry, his relationships, the words he chose, the people he healed, the people he touched...his entire life was intentional.  I can't get around that!  So if I am trying to become more like him...I need to be intentional. 

I have been convicted recently about the need to inspire my children. That may sound a little strange, but I don’t mean from a worldly perspective, but to inspire them to see God in everything around them and to actually marvel at His creation.  Unfortunately, I’m realizing that too many times I take God's creation for granted and I have lost a sense of awe of it.  Now, of course, if I am in the mountains or at the ocean it is easy to be in awe of God's creation, but I mean be in awe of the every-day things like spiders, bird's nests and creeks.  Things that we see every day but have lost the wonder of that fact that God made them and he is such a creative God!  Sally Clarkson in her book Ministry of Motherhood says "Walking with God without the moment by moment awareness of our companionship with a divine being becomes just a hard, taxing obligation.  A child who does not have the opportunity to marvel at the bigness of God, the wonders of his creation, and the reality of his supernatural work will tend to measure the questions about "who God is" according to his or her finite, limited perspective."  I so badly want my children to grow up marveling at God...never taking him or his creation for granted!  This is where I’m beginning to see that intentionality comes in...as their Mom it is my job each day to point them back to God, even in the so-called mundane things that we see all of the time.  I have found that in doing this, not only are Jake and Elyse seeing God in a whole new way, I am too.  I love it!!  I love that Jake walks around looking for spiders (even though he doesn't like them) just because he is fascinated with the way God made them. I love that Elyse is obsessed with birds and their nests and looks for them in every tree and marvels at how God takes care of them. 

Paul says in Romans 1:20 " Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made."  It is my prayer that my children not only learn about God through his word but also through His unbelievable creation!  I pray that they see his glory everywhere!

  The heavens tell about the glory of God.
      The skies show that his hands created them. 
  Day after day they speak about it.
      Night after night they make it known. 
  But they don't speak or use words.
      No sound is heard from them. 
 At the same time, their voice goes out into the whole earth. 
     Their words go out from one end of the world to the other. 
 Psalm 19:1-4

Love

Tracy