Intentional

dAlmost every year, the Lord lays a word on my heart. It's always exciting, and sometimes a little scary, to see what that word might be. A few months ago, the word came to me and that word is intentional. I feel like the Lord has been directing me to be more intentional in my life now that I have two kids. Intentional about my quiet time (actually scheduling it into my day instead of just fitting it in around wake up time and naps), intentional about when I work out (yes, that means I have recently, as in the past week, been getting up at 4:45 to get both of the above mentioned things into my schedule while not taking away from family time), but mostly intentional in my parenting.

I realized that since I had Hope my days have been more free form than planned out. Not that every minute has to be planned, but that I had lost direction to what I was doing and why. With just one child, I had time in the day planned to read, read the Bible, do colors, numbers, shapes, etc. Much different with two.

My starting point was to make a plan to have a Bible time each day with the kids. I am slowly adding things to my plan. As for the time, we would work on catechism, memory verses and do our daily reading. I thought great, I'll pick one character to work on all summer, and I chose David. I was all ready to begin studying him as a shepherd, as a king, as a warrior with the kids. We'll memorize Psalm 23 together. Good stuff. I thought Grayson will love this. Grayson had other ideas. He's gotten used to the morning time around the breakfast table only he has decided he only wants to read about Jonah.

I don't know how many children's Bible books you have used, but most of them only cover the first two chapters of Jonah, right up to the point where the fish vomits him up and he actually goes to Ninevah. Hmmm...the best laid plans. Well, here is my challenge and how I am not being intentional. We read the story every morning out of one of 5 books that he has, including the actual Bible and it is my challenge every few days to come up with a new principle to teach him.

It's fun, it's challenging! How many life lessons for a 2 year old can you come up with? Jamison and I are challenged, but it has been good for me to be intentional in my thinking and teaching. Then I can look throughout the day to reinforce what we learned in Jonah.

Here's a starting point if you want to take the challenge:
1. Repentance - Jonah asked God for forgiveness and that we need to ask for forgiveness
2. God is gracious and gives us second chances
3. Obedience
4. Consequences to our disobedience
5. Omnipresence - that God was present even when Jonah thought he was going in the other direction
6. All of nature was created by God (Grayson likes to talk about the fish)
7. The fish is not a bad fish - the fish was sent by God
8. God's mercy - the Ninevites were bad people but God wanted them to know His love
9. God's love - he loved even the wicked people
10. We are to tell others of God's love
11. God has a plan for our lives