On Being Intentional

The other day I received a phone call from my husband's aunt.
A call about being intentional, and it could not have come at a better time.
She called me to tell me that while she was driving her car running errands that day she began thinking about our relationship and she started to get teary-eyed.

She was so thankful that God had put us together in this family and that we share so many similarities both as adults and in our childhood.
Some good, and some not so good.
But they are both a blessing because they have brought us that much closer together.
Both of us married into this family, and we are forever grateful for that.
In just a few short years-8 to be exact- our relationship has blossomed in ways I never knew possible.

She wanted me to know how much she appreciated me.

She wanted me to know how grateful she is that we have the relationship we do.

She wanted me to know how happy she is that we were able to openly talk about topics with one another that we struggle with and that she is able to counsel me through some of those.
She wanted me to know that she is thankful we were able to share and develop our faith with one another. 

She wanted me to know all of this because we need to be intentional with others, especially those we care about and love.

We need to let them know how we feel when we feel it.
Don't just let those thoughts and emotions stay tucked inside of your head and your heart, express them and share them with others.
Bless others so that you too may be blessed!

I've said it before and I'll say it a million times again...

Tomorrow is not promised.

We need to be intentional every.single.day.

Intentional with our kids, with our husbands, with our family, with our friends, with our church family, with everyone.

We need to let them know the love that we have for them...so they may feel loved.

The gratefulness we feel for them being in our lives....so they may feel grateful.

And as I was on the phone with her I felt that nudge telling me this was my opportunity to let her know how I felt as well.
I wasn't to let this moment pass.
I told her that God really knew what he was doing when he put me into this family.
I had no idea the treasure that lay ahead of me when I first started dating my now husband.
Yes I knew he was a great, gentle, caring guy who wasn't afraid to express his emotions but I could never have imagined the kind of family he was raised up in,
and the morals and values he learned growing up.
The same core values that are the center of his entire family.
Not just his immediate family, but the whole family.
The same morals and values that we are impressing upon our own children.
Morals that family always comes first-always.
Values that will allow our boys to grow up to be respectable young men and know right from wrong.
Morals that allow them to share and express their emotions and have the perseverance to work through all situations-the good and the bad.
Values that let them know that they can always come to us about anything,  at any age without fear of being ridiculed or embarrassed. 
Growing up I always knew I wanted a fully functioning, open, caring, loving, family.
A family that put eachother first before all activities, friends, and habits.
A family that was so strong at its core that nothing could shake it.
And that is exactly what I got.
For that I could not be more thankful.
I went on to tell her that from the moment my husband introduced us I knew there was something special between us.
I would never have thought our relationship would have blossomed into the relationship we have today.
I told her how I cherish our closeness, our ability to pick the other one up, our openess with one another, and her ability to make me not feel like an outcast.
I told her how I look up to her raising her 4 boys with more than enough patience, and love day in and day out.
By the end of the phone call we were both in tears and laughing at how big of blubbering babies we both had become.
Of course they were joyful tears!
But the point is we were intentional that day.
We both made the effort and made sure that we knew how the other one felt.
Honestly I couldn't tell you the last time I have done that-with anyone!
It was genuinely nice, and refreshing to be able to tell someone how much they mean to you.
In today's world it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the fast paced world that we tend to let those deep feelings and emotions fall to the wayside.
Instant gratification has become the new demand.
So today I challenge you to be intentional in all that you do.
Not just for today, but every.single.time you see the opportunity come up.
I guarantee the feelings you have afterwards will be some of the best feeling you ever experience!

 

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