Living Intentionally

Callie and Elliott live intentionally. From the moment their eyes pop open in the morning to when they gather their entourage of babies, toys, and computers to take to bed, they are busy, busy… busy concentrating on the “task” at hand.

There’s something to be said about focusing on the task at hand. Women pride themselves at multitasking, but there’s a difference between getting things done and actually experiencing them. I’ve been thinking a lot of late that maybe experiencing a few things is better than doing a lot of things.

Admittingly, I’m not very good at this. Even as I wrote this journal, I paused to take the potatoes off the stove and flip over the meat in the skillet. Then, I added a few lines in the Home Depot parking lot while waiting for Jay. That’s definitely not how I like to write.

If I were to tell you how many papers I’ve graded since the beginning of school and how many more I’ll grade before the quarter ends in two weeks, how many quarts of grape juice I’ve made, tomatoes and pickles I’ve canned, and apples and peaches put in the freezer, that might sound impressive. But in reality I often need to spend more time with Jay than what I do. I need to sit and write because I just need to. I need to pick the last of the roses before the winter’s frost and stop long enough to look at them.

I like to can and I have to grade papers, but sometimes I just need to know when to stop. Jay saved me from myself today by taking the rest of the grapes to school and giving them away.

Another thing about little girls—Callie and Elliott don’t generally spend a long time on any one activity—unless you’re reading them Fancy Nancy books. Then, when night comes, they gather their stuff, throw you kisses and climb the stairs to bed. God gave us dark because He knew we needed rest. We need to be careful how much of that we rob in the name of “doing.” He gave us cool, autumn days to take in before it’s destroyed and made anew next spring. I want to do a better job at living intentionally—even if that means putting aside some things.

—the parishioner who doesn’t do anything