In the book Choose Joy: Finding Hope and Purpose When Life Hurts, Sara talks with us about what living a life of intention meant for her. Being intentional was such an important part of her life, that she made it one of her life goals..."To be intentional in all things."
Sara believed that "everything we do, no matter how small, carries with it an impact. The decisions we make about who we want to be, how we want to live and how we treat others affects more than just our immediate surroundings. If we come in contact with someone we either leave them feeling better about themselves or worse, but we never leave them unaffected." The way to make sure we are living intentionally is to first be sure we are really present in the moment.
It is important to make living with intention part of our day to day events and decisions, such as greeting people that we pass by, or to stop what we are doing and give our full attention to the person talking with us. Living with intention can also exist on a much larger scale. Living with intention is being open to whatever God has in store for us. Sara said, "her biggest fear was that God had a purpose for her and if she wasn't paying attention, she'd miss it. Sara prayed for guidance and prayed that she would be intentional in all things. She paid attention when she felt a tug on her heart or had an idea of something to do for someone else." Sara taught us that those are God's ways of letting us know when we are needed.
Are you living a life of intention or a life of default?
Living with intention means living according to a plan in order to achieve our purpose in life. Living by default means just following the crowd and letting things happen as they go.
Ephesians 5:15 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."
Living a life of intention requires us to surrender our lives to God. If we are not present and listening to the tug on our heart or the Holy Spirit whispering in our ear, we may miss God's calling when we are needed. Remember...your life is precious...living with intention allows you to live your life to its fullest!
