My Year of Intention.

My word for 2018 is intentional. For the third year in a row I've given my year a theme and for the first time that theme is comprised of a single word. Intention. I want to have a year filled with intentional living and speaking, a year that doesn't just unfold by accident or happen by chance. In order to make that a more tangible goal, I wrote out 4 areas of my life that I want to focus on this year. Places where I've grown a bit complacent, gotten too comfortable and began to go through the motions. 

These intentions live on my bedroom door and every morning when I get out of bed and go to start my day, it's the first thing that I see. It's kind of the mission statement for my year, so when I'm about to make a decision or a life change I first see if that decision aligns with these intentions. If it does then I move forward and if it doesn't then I sit down and really think about how it fits into the plan that I believe God has inspired me to set for my year. So without any further explanation, here they are, my intentions; 

2018 : Personal Intentions

"It is not enough to seek truth, justice, honesty and goodness for our own sake. We have to do so in loyal obedience to Him who is the source and spring of all goodness, justice and truth and on whom we feel absolutely dependent." - The Cost of Discipleship 

1. Invite Jesus into my year. Allow him to interrupt my regularly scheduled programming. Allow him to be the determining factor and the thing that is always on my calendar, never canceled, never crossed off. Allow Jesus to come into my year. 

2. Take control of my finances. Create a food and spending budget and stick to it. Be mindful of how much is left over every month and if it exceeds a certain amount put an additional amount in to savings. 

3. Be intentional about everything you do. Friendships, work, church, writing in your journal, working out, eating. Give things your attention and focus and be intentional about everything that you do. 

4. Patrick. Love him better this year. Speak kinder, write him more notes, give him space when he needs it. Pray for him, give him grace, serve him, do nice things for him, cook for him. Love him better. 

Having the quote and those four things on my door and seeing them every morning and having them in the forefront of my mind when I start my day has been so beneficial for me. As I talked about in my post last week, starting my day with Jesus has given me so much peace in every aspect of my life. The Lord has shown me the importance of starting my day in prayer and worship and bible time. Setting aside 30 minutes every morning has not only taught me discipline but has helped me to develop a routine for my morning that truly helps me to start each day on the right foot. 

In regards to my finances, I've always made wise decisions but in regards to debt I was so passive about paying things off. I would make payments on time but I wouldn't go above and beyond, even though I had the means to pay things off quicker. Now I'm being diligent about keeping a tight budget and using my money wisely and paying off debt, saving money and being more frugal. Now I don't just spend money on impulse but rather if I'm buying something it's because it's a planned purchase that I've budgeted for and won't regret. Already this year I'm leaps and bounds closer to financial freedom because of a few small changes and it's an amazing feeling. 

When in comes to all around intentional living, I can so easily just flow with the river. When it comes to my friends, myself and the things that I spend my time on I often just go through the motions. I don't want to be like that anymore. This year I'm committed to reaching out to friends that I want to spend time with. I'm committed to planning out my workouts and giving my health 100% of my energy and focus. I'm determined to not just eat whatever is in front of me (even though that sounds great) instead I'm going to give my body the fuel it needs to thrive. I want to think about what I'm doing. I want to be present in every moment and I don't just want to go where I'm invited I want to go where I'm lead. I want to live a life that truly means something and I think that starts by putting more thought in to the ways that I spend my time. 

Finally, last year I got really comfortable and used to how amazing Patrick is. I think that it's safe to say that I even started to take him for granted a bit. I do not want Patrick to ever feel like I don't appreciate how patient and kind he is, how he prays for me and goes out of his way to make me happy and take care of me. I'm making it a point to be intentional when interacting with him. I want to aim to always speak kinder than I feel. I want to ask him what makes him happy and what makes him feel loved and I want to do my best to do those things for him. Patrick loves me so well and I want to do the same for him. 

So there you have it, here are my intentions and I hope that they encourage and inspire you to set a direction and an intention for your year as well. I pray that this year brings you more purpose, joy and freedom than all the years before it. 

Until next time friends, 

XOXO -Nico