Reflections from Week One

Starting a 40 day journey to live intentionally has jolted my life this week! Whenever we begin something, we’re never sure how it’s going to turn out, what will work, what won’t, what challenges we’ll face or what victories we’ll experience. Life is like that whether we’re intentional or not, but especially if we’re intentional.

We can make our plans, but God determines our steps.

“The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NASB)

My 40-day journey was planned, but wowza has God directed me. He’s been leading me every day and some surprising things have happened.

True Story Ahead

I’ve been a Christian (Christ-follower) since I was seven years old. I don’t just believe God exists. I believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He came down from heaven, born of a virgin, suffered and died on the cross for my sins, and He rose again in three days. Now He sits on the right-hand of God the Father in heaven. Jesus is my Savior and my Lord.

Because I’m a Christ-follower, I live my life actively pursuing to become more like Him and listening to hear what steps I believe He wants me to take.

One of those steps happened back in August 2015 when I felt the prodding of the Holy Spirit to get up “extra” early Monday-Friday (work days) to spend time with God. I wasn’t excited about that idea. I’m not a morning person! In fact, I’m pretty sure my brain neurons don’t all wake up until around 9 or 10 a.m.

Still I obeyed. I began getting up at 5 a.m. to give God the first part of my day. I’ve been doing it ever since and not just five days a week, but now seven days a week!

As you know, the invitation to do the 40 Days of Intentional Living meant that I would continue getting up early every single day as I’ve been doing, but now I would intentionally also write a blog post with a daily instruction from God on what He wants us to refrain from and what He wants us to embrace.

Investing in the 40 Days of Intentional Living would mean being tested and transformed.

I haven’t been wrong…so far!

Reflections from week one of 40 Days of Intentional Living

Day 1:  Refrain from Lying, Embrace Speaking the Truth

I admit, I was surprised God would start off with such a bold instruction. I kind of expected He’d start out more shallow and gradually get deeper, like a swimming pool.

Now as I reflect on it, God is bold, so why wouldn’t He is start off with a bang?

Of the seven things God absolutely hates, lying is mentioned twice. (Proverbs 6:16-19). Yikes! I think God really wanted to get our attention.

Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), makes sense He wanted to start us on this 40-day journey embracing truth.

I’m not sure how you did speaking truth with kindness and patience, but I had an easy day. Writing also came easy to me this day.

Day 2:  Refrain from Anger, Embrace Compassion

I was tested immediately!

Monday, I took a day of vacation from my job, so I wasn’t up at 5 a.m., but by 8 a.m. I was in the middle of my writing, when my phone started having a text explosion.

I quickly turned my phone over to see who was causing this commotion:  my siblings! I just as quickly turned my phone back over so that I could concentrate on my writing. A couple of hours later, I read the texts when I was done writing and posting my blog.

First emotion:  Anger!!!

Then I realized I was being tested. So, after I read all the messages, I prayed, remembered God had instructed me to embrace compassion that day. Then I calmly replied. Although I was disappointed at a decision regarding my mom’s care, I decided compassion was how God wanted me to live.

I was shocked at how fast I was tested though.

Interestingly, a friend texted me that morning and had a very similar circumstance. We were able to validate each other and laugh at how quickly we can get angry about stuff, but if we live intentionally, we can sympathize and have understanding. We both chose to not let anger determine our responses to difficult circumstances.

Writing was a bit more challenging. A little deeper research went into this writing.

Day 3:  Refrain from Wrongdoing, Embrace Goodness

My first day of getting up before a work day and seeking the Lord for direction on what He wanted us to refrain from and what He wanted us to embrace for the day.

Oh my goodness was this challenging for me. I was on a deadline! Not only did I need to seek, write, and post, but I also needed to get ready for work and get there by 8 a.m.

All of a sudden I began to realize how very challenging a particular aspect of this 40 Days of Intentional Living was going to be for me.

I’m NOT a fast writer. Years ago I realized I’d never be a good journalist because they have to research, write, proof, and get their copy to the editor by a deadline! Usually same day deadline.

Now here I was facing the exact thing I know I’m not good at.

I confess, I felt relief when the post was published, but I also admit I was a tad late for work. If I truly were a journalist, I’d have missed the deadline. Still I value good character and that includes integrity, which means I need to be at work on time.

But right before I went to bed Tuesday night, God blessed me. I received the best message from one of my sisters-in-law. I wrote about it the next morning, Day 4.

Day 4:  Refrain from Criticizing, Embrace Complimenting

I loved writing Day 4’s instructions. It was fun! I especially enjoyed complimenting my nephew Carter.

And I was very intentional about complimenting people all day long! That was fun too!

But again, I noticed my challenge was writing with a deadline. I still struggled and I still got to work late.

Day 5:  Refrain from Seeking to be Served, Embrace Serving Others

What a productive day I had. I served a lot.

Given for two days I had gotten to work a little late, I decided to set my alarm 10 minutes earlier (4:50 a.m.). It’s amazing what 10 extra minutes can do for you in the morning before work.

Unfortunately, God took me deeper into my writing and expected me to write faster at the same time. Whew! That’s so hard for me. Again, I was slightly late for work.

However, the day was good. After a full-day of work, I went home and did a lot of serving. My daughter Dani and I also started the Whole30 Program on Day 1 of this 40-day journey. So I’m truly taking on a lot for 40 days.

Doing the Whole30 Program requires a lot of cooking and prepping of food.

As I’ve written before, cooking is not my best talent. Nevertheless, I embraced the servant attitude, and I prepped and cooked plenty of food for us that evening. It was a challenge for me.

Day 6:  Refrain from Worrying, Embrace Trusting

Through my writing assignment yesterday, God revealed to me I had been worrying, rather than trusting Him to lead me on our 40 Day writing journey.

When I got to work (30 minutes late) Friday, I shared with my officemate two revelations:

• I wasn’t trusting God with this writing assignment because I’ve been worrying at night about what I was going to write about each morning.
• God is answering a specific writing prayer of mine.

I love writing and thinking about all the possible word combinations and phrases. This process brings me a lot of joy and fulfillment. But it also causes me to be a slow writer.

Since starting my blog last fall, I’ve been praying God would help me to be a faster writer.

I realized yesterday God is using this 40-day journey to help me write faster because I have to write faster each morning so I can get to work on time.

Isn’t that just like God? He develops us by having us do the very thing we need to improve. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep say it, be careful what you pray for because God answers!

Day 7:  Refrain from Protesting, Embrace Peace

This morning I was more relaxed. It’s Saturday. Still I wanted to honor my commitment, so I got up around 6 a.m. I didn’t hurry writing this morning. Truthfully, it took some time for me to discover what God wanted me to write about. I’m so glad I was patient, but kept listening.

Because just as I was finishing finding Scripture about peace, my oldest sister texted to share that her brother-in-law (her husband’s brother) passed away this morning around 5 a.m.

Instantly my heart was filled with compassion and a message of peace.

This is when life gets really difficult. When life is lost and those of us left behind grieve. This is when we need to be gentle and lift each other up, help relieve distress, trust God, serve each other, and know that our God is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Final Thoughts

For me this week has been like running a race. This 40-day journey is not a slow walk in the park for me, but I am incredibly energized and ready to tackle another seven days to see what God has in store for us.

I’d love to hear about any of your experiences you’ve had in the first seven days of living intentionally. We can encourage each other. If you’re willing to share with me and with others, please comment.