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[alert color=”black”]TODAY’S READING – Part 4 – Step 3: Set Purposeful Goals (Pg. 175 – 189)[/alert]

My life has been chaotic with a capital C lately.  With new responsibilities at my job, an extra weekly class I’m taking and working on my hospitality skills in hosting a couple of large gatherings with sweet friends, new and old, from my church, my mind has been running in endless circles of what needs to be done to accomplish task after task.

And unfortunately one of those tasks that got pushed to the back burner was this very blog post.  Very much like Staci shared for Day Fifteen’s post, I have been putting off sitting down in front of this screen to compose something for you.

What do you do when you feel like you’re chasing your tail and aren’t making any headway towards a more balanced or surrendered life?  Well burn out is one option, one that I can feel licking at my heels, but another is to set new goals and develop a corresponding action plan of how to make happen the things that I feel will put me more on track with the PURPOSE that God has called me to be living.  Before burn out can catch up with me, I’ve decided to take the road less traveled and the one that will actually require a bit more effort on my part.

Sounds counter-intuitive, right?  Put forth more effort in order to find a better balance.  But when thinking back to those high school science classes where you added weights to one side of the balance, what did you have to do to the other side so that one end didn’t spring to the sky and the other crash into the table top?  You added more weight.

Setting goals and making plans for change is no walk in the park. I’ll be the first to admit, that it’s not something that I find fun.  It’s especially hard when growth and change are not overnight occurrences.

During my small group’s meeting last week, the couple hosting has a fourteen month old little guy who spent half of the night walking around showing off his belly.  We laughed and wondered aloud at what age is that act no longer cute.  But it also lead to an interesting discussion of growth, as humans and as Christians.  In the time that we’ve been attending, we’ve watched this little boy grow from a newborn to a toddler who has mastered the art of walking backwards.  The changes we have witnessed in him have not happened overnight, but over a period of many months.

God’s growth in our lives also doesn’t take place in a short 8 hour snooze session.  The refining process is one that is not always pleasant and it can sometimes be painfully slow.

But just like that sweet little toddler, we need to take our tentative first steps towards growth and change and we also need to take pause and recognize how God is working in our lives.  It’s easy to overlook when you’re just looking at a period of a few weeks or months, but if you look back over the history of your life, I’m sure you’ll be able to more easily see how He has woven His work throughout the tapestry of your life.

Lara challenges us with many questions in Step Three.  Don’t allow these to overwhelm you.  Instead, I want you to focus on just one of those questions today, one that I considered many months ago when I was going through some transitions here in this space online; my legacy.

All of us are traversing different journeys in our lives.  Some of us are mothers of young children, some have children who are grown and out of the house, some are nurturing teenagers, and some of us are still looking for Mr. Right.  No matter where you are in your journey or what it looks like, I would like for you to consider what kind of legacy you want to leave behind.

I love the examples that Lara shares about lending something to future generations, through instruction, setting examples, writing emails or letters to your children, or even a special memento that holds some of your valued treasures and memories.

As you begin considering what long and short term goals you will be making for the future, I hope you’ll take some time to consider what kind of legacy you want to be leaving for others.  It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or showy, but something that can help others see the impact that your life made on this side of heaven.

What will be your legacy?  What will you do today to plant that first seed that can become just a small portion of the harvest?

A little music for the journey…

It’s been a few years since this song came out, but what better lyrics can be sung than…

Not well traveled, not well read
Not well-to-do or well bred
I just want to hear instead
“Well done good and faithful one.”

 

 Supplies for the journey…

• Have you joined our exclusive Facebook group?
  The Intentional Filling is a place to grow in your faith individually, but also grow through the life experiences, prayers and support of the community members.
• Want a daily reminder to be strong and courageous?
  Order the Print Pack of 3 – 8×10 digital prints designed by the community’s own Betsy Gettis, exclusively for the Intentional Filling community.

[divider type=”dashed” color=”grey”] [row-start] [three-fourths]Bree Blum is a 32 year old cardigan-wearing blogger who loves Jesus.  She lives in Wheeling, WV where she serves in her church as a sign language interpreter and works full time as an Administrative Assistant for a technology firm.  She has a passion for women’s ministry and speaking life into others despite her own introverted tendencies.

You can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.[/three-fourths] [one-fourth][/one-fourth] [row-end]