The Year of Living Intentionally: January

My husband and I spent lots of hours on the road over the holidays, and it gave us plenty of time to talk. We talked about what we wanted to do in this fresh new year, and both of us had a common goal.

We wanted 2014 to be a year of living intentionally.

What exactly does living intentionally look like?

Well, here's what we thought it would look like.

We thought we'd be more intentional with our finances. We need to cut expenses and make plans for how we will finance the last year of our son's college tuition. We want to be better stewards of our resources and increase our giving.

We thought we'd be more intentional with our time. We want to set aside more time with our family and with each other. We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, and we want to plan something special to mark the occasion.

We thought we'd be more intentional with our calendar. We want to do a better job of planning family vacations and special events. We don't want another December to roll around and realize that we haven't taken our kids anywhere.

These were the things we intended to do.

And then we found ourselves smack in the middle of January, and God threw us a curve ball. Suddenly, our thoughts are consumed, our heads are reeling, and our best intentions seem like folly.

How can we live intentionally, God, when life is out of our control?

And that is exactly when God taught me how to live intentionally.

"Remember 'In all things, prayer'? This might be a good time to get a little more intentional with your prayer life."

Oh, yeah.

Living intentionally does not mean that I am in control. It means that I surrender to the one who is in control. Martin Luther said it best when he taught that we need to get down on our knees and pray as if it all depends on God, and then get up and work as if it all depends on us.

I am beginning a seventy day prayer odyssey with the help of Beth Moore's devotional book "Whispers of Hope". Ten weeks of intentional prayer. More Jesus, less me.

A daily cup of grace. Intentional, nonfat, with whip, and a generous drizzle of prayer on top.