Intentionally Striving

Intentionally striving?  What kind of funny name is that?

A name that reflects what I want to become.  A name that reflects what I so desperately want for my family…let me explain:

It just keeps coming back to me – the idea of being intentional.  Being on purpose. Deliberate.

When we are not intentional, the moments, the days, the weeks, the months, the years just go by and we don’t even realize where the time has gone.  We, at times, miss the real life that goes on all around us – not because we didn’t want to engage, but just because it happened when we were unaware and not looking for it.  The longer I live, the more I am beginning to see just how short time really is.  If our life is but a vapor, then, how fleeting are the days and the moments that each day holds? And how in the world will we make the most of them if we are not intentional about each second that comes along?

And striving.  Both to endeavor AND to contend.  What is the goal?  To what end am I expending my time and my energy?  For what am I willing and ready to fight?  If there is a prize worth having, then I want to be making every effort to win.  If this life can be characterized as a battle, then I want to be prepared to take my stand. As our family began praying about where the Lord would lead and where He would have us serve, I read a verse that I am sure I had read a thousand times before.  Philippians 1:27 says, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” (emphasis mine)  I began to read it in a new light.  This became the prayer of my heart for my family – that we would be of one mind and of one spirit.  That we would strive together for the faith of the Gospel.  God has individually called us, yes; but He has not just called us as individuals, but as a unit.  My vision: our little six-membered team.  Striving.  Together. Loving God and loving others. 

But this striving won’t just happen on its own; it won’t happen just because I desire it to be so.  It will only happen if I am intentional.  And my husband is intentional.  And we intentionally train and raise our children to be intentional.  There has to be a goal in mind and we have to make every conscious effort to move towards that goal.  Thus, Intentionally Striving.

This blog will hopefully serve as a way to update and inform those who have come alongside of us to strive together with us through prayer.  It will also hopefully serve as a place to gather our family's “Stones of Remembrance” as we, albeit very imperfectly, strive to intentionally strive – together – for the faith of the Gospel.