All in a Matter of Time

Thoughts on goal-setting and more purposeful living...

The New Year always brings about a fresh motivation for change and growth. Resolutions I've never been so keen on, instead I usually like to pick general themes for the year. Last year I focused on patience and gratefulness, which yielded a lot of personal growth in areas I never imagined being stretched.

My theme for 2012 is the all encompassing phrase "Live more intentionally", which covers quite a bit. Personally, I thrive on goal-setting. It kinda goes hand-in-hand with my incessant list-making. Every few months I try to sit down and reanalyze life and my own priorities. Shortly after we moved into our house last April I sat down to create my 'Home-Making Journal', which has pretty much become my catch-all for any and every to do list, shopping list, menu plans, list of goals, and just about everything else. On the front page I jotted down my life verse: (Psalm 73:25,26)

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever."

as well as one of my favorite Elisabeth Elliot quotes:

"One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime."

I then jotted down a few very broad life goals for this stage in my life:

Live more purposefully.
Keep a clean, simple, organized home.
Manage my time effectively.
Cultivate calmness and patience.
Workout regularly.
Remain on top of Menu Planning.
Be more 'in tune' w/ God and what His will is for my life in this season.
"Wear out" every day.

I then created a list of priorities, followed by a list of questions to ask myself in preparation for each week. Depending on my current life season these priorities and questions will change:

Priorities for this season:
1.) My relationship w/ God.
2.) My family. Steve and baby, followed by the rest of our family.
3.) Making our home a calm, peaceful place to live.
4.) Ministry and cultivating relationships. "Doing life" with our friends. Encouraging and upflifting others.
5.) Work, doing everything joyfully and for the Glory of the Lord.

Weekly questions:
1.) How is my walk with God? How can I grow in godliness this week?
2.) How can I bless Steve this week? What can I do to prepare to become a mother?
3.) What is one thing I can do to make my home a better place this week?
4.) Who can I minister to/encourage this week?
5.) How can I best serve God at work this week?

My hope with these goals is to do a weekly analysis and plan for the following week every Sunday night with prayerful, thoughtful, intention. Using these questions as guidelines my weekly to-do list might look something like this:

1.) Stay consistent w/ Bible reading plan. Spend time in one-on-one worship.
2.) Pray for Steve every morning. Plan a fun date night. Continue sorting/organizing baby clothes.
3.) Do the dishes every night. Try my hand at making home-made bread. Clean out fridge.
4.) Send an encouraging note to a friend. Make time to have coffee with my sister.
5.) Work on having a joyful attitude, no matter how tired I may be. "Do everything without complaining."


I have come to realize that most of what I want out of life won't just 'happen'. Most of the habits I hope to break and the new ones I want to create will take time, effort and a plan. I am never going to be a very rigid planner, but with a few simple goals and more thoughtful preparation I hope to greatly improve on this, starting with baby steps of course.

You Look Like The Songs

At this very moment I am so completely blown away by my God's decision to pour out favor upon my life, despite the absolute crappy job I've done serving Him. 

I mean, as a person I need serious work. I always tend towards pessimism and impatience. My polite friends say I'm a realist, but I know what I am. I'm sarcastic, crabby, and ill-tempered. 

The majority of the time I get absorbed with self-pity, self-centerdness, self-loathing, and self-righteousness. My eyes stray from the Prize so very often. Just look at me now, I'm happy and excited when things are going well for me. 

And yet 

LOOK AT WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE IN MY LIFE!

Why?!?!??! One reason alone: I am His. 

With as weak as my heart has been at times, I know the God I serve, and I clung to this hope, which I will repeat one more time: 

Sometimes what comes easily for others, God reserves and holds back for a supernatural revelation of His glory. Hallelujah!!!! Would I ever wish to trade this testimony? Never!!!

Our Father delights in pouring out His favor on His children. There is nothing any of us can do to earn it. It is a gift. And if this is how much He loves me, with the darkest parts of my heart completely exposed to Him, He must be aching to see His love be made complete. To see as many of His children as possible rejoicing in His name. He wants to see you abounding and overwhelmed with joy. 

OUR GOD WANTS US TO ENJOY HIM!!!! To enjoy the blessings He gives us. To enjoy our time on Earth, and then have a rad party when we go home. 

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"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." 

                              ---John Piper

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I've been belting this song out all day:

We Share a Name, We Share a Wonder

I've had a bit of a mini-revelation start forming in my mind over the last few days/weeks. There's a book I really want to start reading called Sacred Marriage, and the tag line sums up exactly what I've been thinking/feeling for a while now:

The idea started to bloom in my mind when I was in a worship service several weeks ago now. Our marriage had been at a really rough point for a few months, and to be honest I was completely at the end of my rope. I had been sick and I was exhausted emotionally and physically. Both Steve and I had really been struggling with sin problems and were fighting constantly. 

I literally heard the Lord speak these words directly into my heart:

"Your marriage isn't about your loyalty to your husband.  

It's about your loyalty to ME." 

Man alive---that changed my entire attitude. Taking that a step further, any opposition to that is directly caused by sin nature and the influence of the Enemy.  

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Satan wants to steal the joy out of my life and my marriage. He wants to kill the love and destroy the hope for a future. And more than anything, He wants to separate me from intimacy with the Lord. This makes me angry. Bloody angry. 

When I consider that everything marriage-related is directly related to my relationship with the Lord it makes me want to selflessly submit to my husband with love, respect, and ((most of all)) kindness. 

I have a feeling I'm not done with this revelation. 

Stay tuned for a possible sequel. 

l   Post title inspiration: "Colors"  -The Rocket Summer   l

Small Seeds Gracefully Do Grow

For my beloved Gram. 

Light My Way

The other night the Lord gave me a neat word picture I would like to share: I was praying for a friend of mine, praying that the Lord would focus on her, shine His love upon her and directly connect with her heart, like a beam of light focusing from afar. The word “spotlight” came to mind and it perfectly describes what I meant; I couldn’t help but think on it a bit more.

      I.     Light gives heat, especially focused light, such as a spotlight. One of the best feelings in the world is to lay out in the sun and feel it’s warmth. That’s what it feels like to bask in the Lord’s love. It is freeing, releasing, comforting and peaceful. Satisfying and breathtaking. I want everyone to experience the joy this brings, and this is what I was originally praying about for my friend.

    II.     A spotlight is impossible to miss. I want the Lord to be real and powerful in my friend’s life in a way she has never known.

  III.     A spotlight gives distinct focus and direction. It is God-to-person. His love, focusing intently on a specific individual. 

 IV.      Light allows things to melt.  A dish of butter set in direct sunlight will begin to soften, just as a hardened heart begins to soften when the Lord’s love is fixed upon it.

   V.     Light brings sight. Some imperfections are difficult to see unless analyzed underneath a light. Sin goes unnoticed when we are walking in the darkness, but when the Lord shines His light, we are able to see. Even our smaller inconsistencies, like a bad attitude or unwise choices, are pointed out when we are put under the spotlight. Sometimes we need to pray that the Lord will shed light on these areas that we remain blind to.

I like when the Lord gives me a specific phrase to pray to Him because, frankly, it cuts out me having to find ways to explain it. It sounds lazy but since He knows our thoughts anyway it makes sense to me to have certain code words with Him so I can just cut to the chase. From now on I will see a person, or think of someone I want to pray for and simply be able to say “spotlight” and He will know what I mean: shine Your love into their life. I think I may even dedicate a “spotlight” page in the journal for a list of people to consistently pray for the Lord’s impact.

On a slightly similar note, lately I've been looking at modern lighting fixtures for the dining room in our soon-to-be new house. Is this not the most beautiful pendant light you  have ever seen in your life?

Is $200 too much to spend on a lighting fixture? Because I need it.

Spirit, Take Me Up In Arms With You

That's my very favorite Switchfoot lyric, and, if you may not have noticed, all my blog titles---ever---are lyrics. This one so perfectly describes my relationship with the Lord right now.

Lately He has been showing me a lot about contentedness, and how to enjoy each minute. So many days I am in a rush to get through the day, week, month, season. I'm always looking into the future and thinking about what I'll do for God then. Over and over lately He has been showing me that bringing glory to His name is what I do here and now. Relevant Magazine featured an article this past month about God's will for our lives and how we get so caught up in the "What's God's will for my life?" question that we forget to live for Him in the present. Here's an excerpt:

It really makes me breath a deep, refreshing sigh of relief. 

"But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1st Tim 6:6

One of my all-time favorite books is Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I first read it about 6 years ago and it's one of those books that I can pick up again and again and find new relevance to. It seriously transformed the way I view Christianity. The Lord wants us to enjoy Him. What a gracious, generous God we serve, that we are encouraged to live life to the fullest by the means of diving deeper into His presence and the manifestation of His glory. When I consider this I am so content living a modest life doing meager things in order to saturate myself in Him. 

The other pivotal thing the book taught me was that almost everything we do can be an act of worship. From work to play to enjoying nature, to eating to physical relations with our spouse. Yes I went there. The Lord is the Creator of our senses and He is to be magnified when we appreciate them in the matter of which He has intended, exclamation point, exclamation point!

"The Lord is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." (DWYL)

A few moments that I enjoyed today: 

1.) A very delicious cup of soup in my new Caribou mug.

2.) The companionship of my husband and the way he looks at me with adoration I know I don't deserve. 

3.) The first day of near 60 degree weather!

4.) Quiet moments at night like this one.

5.) Finding the perfect gift for a friend and the anticipation of her reaction, even if I have to wait 4 months to give it to her.

6.) Going to work after a day off and feeling glad to be back and grateful that I missed it after just one day.

7.) Excitement over a dinner party tomorrow and spending time with friends over yummy food.

8.) Finally finding a few houses on the market in our price range that are structurally sound and move-in ready.

I hope that over the next few months I will be able to identify more and more the little victories each day that the Lord has gifted me with. I want to cultivate a grateful heart.