How Intentional Have You Been Lately?

Lynn Blackburn — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:30:00 +0000

How intentional have you been lately?

I’ve been hit-or-miss.

Mostly miss.

Which is a shame, since INTENTIONAL is my word for the year.

As we discussed last week, there are a lot of areas in my life where I feel like I’m wandering. Housework, motherhood, writing, etc. And as we discussed, not all wandering is bad. Sometimes, wandering is the direct will of God.

But some of my wandering is not as out-of-my-hands as I pretend that it is.

Sometimes I’m just lazy or distracted.

I want to read a book, watch TV, or chat with a friend. All nice things. Just not always the best choice.

Of course, this is where the slope gets slippery.

At least it does for me.

I can easily be so attached to my schedule that I blow a gasket whenever the day goes off in an unexpected direction.

But, at the same time, having no plan at all often results in days, weeks, or months where I go through the motions of life but make little or no progress toward achieving the dreams I believe God has placed in my heart.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve felt this tension in my spirit—as if I’m inching along the edge of a deep chasm. I’m trying to figure out how to balance my need for order and structure with my desire to live each day—each moment—submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I’m planning and scheduling and even (gasp!) outlining (for my writing). I’m writing Bible verses on my calendar and posting reminders to myself to lean into the Spirit rather than on my own understanding of how each day should go. I’m making some progress.

But I know I have a long way to go.

So I want to ask you—how do you do it? If you’re a planner, what tips can you share for not making your schedule into an idol? If you fly by the seat of your pants, how do you ensure that the most important things get done? I’d love to learn from you! Please share with all of us in the comments!

Proverbs 16:9 ~ The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (ESV)

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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

Lynn Blackburn — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 23:31:00 +0000

I’m a wanderer.

I feel like I’m wandering in my own personal desert. Walking in circles. Retracing my steps. But never getting anywhere.

I wander in my home. I had all the laundry caught up a few days ago. And I get to do it all over again today. I fixed supper last night. And I get to do it all over again today.

I wander as a mother. Didn’t I just address this attitude issue? How many times am I going to eye my children with that universal look that says, “You’d better say thank you or you’ll never taste another piece of candy?” How many diapers will I change before I suffer from permanent olfactory nerve damage?

I wander in my writing. I’ve written a book. Did you know that? I have. A whole novel. I didn’t know it at the time, but writing that novel sent me wandering into the dark forests of publication. It’s fun. Except for when it’s not. Like when you realize that all the writing you’ve done for the past six months will never see the light of day.

I don’t like to wander.

I have plans and dreams and it ~~frustrates~~ ~~aggravates~~ drives me insane when things don’t happen the way I think they should. Wandering feels like such a waste—of time, energy, and resources.

It feels like I’ve dropped the ball. It feels like I’m lost.

But “not all those who wander are lost.”

Take Joseph. In Genesis, he’s dreamed some big dreams. And he’s got plans. So when his father sends him in search of his brothers, he sets off with purpose. He knows where he’s going. He’s going to Shechem.

But his brothers aren’t there and Joseph wanders around in a field for a while before someone tells him they are in Dothan. (I am not making this up—you can read it for yourself in Genesis).

It’s a tiny detail. The kind of thing an editor might cut from the story. But God left it in.

He left in the part about the wandering.

You know the rest of the story, don’t you? When Joseph found his brothers, they decided to kill him—and they would have if his big brother hadn’t convinced them to throw him in a pit instead. And then, some Midianite traders show up and Joseph is sold as a slave in Egypt which turns out to be a crucial point in God’s redemptive plan for His children.

What are the odds of those Midianite traders showing up at that exact moment? And what if Joseph hadn’t wandered around for a while before heading out to Dothan?

That wandering? It saved Joseph’s life. And it saved the children of Israel.

Joseph may have been wandering, but he most certainly was never lost.

Sometimes God gives us big dreams…big plans…big hopes for the future. And then He lets us wander around for a while.

Not because He’s mean. But because He’s maneuvering all the pieces into position so He can do something even bigger than what we could imagine.

If you’re wandering, don’t despair, don’t panic, and most definitely do not give up. Who knows? Someday when the story of your life is written, this little “wandering” detail may be the one no editor would dare to cut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am indebted to the Bible study we are currently doing at Southside Fellowship, Read the Bible for Life, where the beauty of this part of the story was highlighted.

And in case you are unfamiliar with it, the quote is from The Fellowship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien…

“All that is gold does not glitter, not
all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep
roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a
light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken,
the crownless again shall be king.”

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How Intentional Have You Been Lately?

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost