In day 1 of the intentional living challenge, we focused our attention on the importance of spending time in God’s Word and seeking Him.

Today we are going to look at How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer.

Consistency in your prayer life is just as important and vital as your Bible reading.

Why is being consistent in prayer so important for us as busy moms and wives? Because God can do what we cannot do!

We can work hard to love our husbands as we should, and teach and train our children in the ways of God, but unless the LORD builds our house (family), we labor in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

When we regularly and consistently come before the Lord on behalf of our family, we are acknowledging our dependence on Him to work in their lives.

We have the power of prayer available to us, but sometimes we don’t take advantage of it.

As a result, we struggle and make things harder on ourselves, trying to do what only God can do.

So why should we maintain our priorities through prayer?

1. The battle for our kids and our marriage is fought by intentionally battling in prayer.

When we don’t pray for our family, it is as though we are sitting on the sidelines watching them in a war zone getting shot at from every angle.

However, when we DO pray using God’s Word as our weapon, it’s like we are in the battle right beside them, appropriating God’s power on their behalf.

When we pray for our husband or children, we need to do it as though we are interceding for their life, because that is what we are doing as we are fighting the enemy.

We have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle, which we can not win on our own.

Satan would like nothing more than to destroy our families.

2. When we regularly pray for our family, we are acknowledging our dependence on Him to work in their lives.

As a result of intentionally maintaining a priority of prayer and dependence on God:

• He will work in their hearts and lives.
• We will develop an even GREATER dependence on Him.
• Their spiritual growth will become more important in our daily priorities.

3. The power of God will penetrate their lives as we pray.

To make our prayers more powerful and effective, we need to use God’s Word as our weapon. 

When we declare His Word as we pray, we have a powerful weapon no enemy can prevail against. (Hebrews 4:12)

Today’s challenge is to maintain your priorities with prayer:

1. Take time to think and pray about the individual, specific, needs of each of your children, as well as your spouse.

Create a prayer journal with a page for your spouse & each child.  List their needs, as well as concerns you have about

them that you want to remember to pray about.

2. Find Scriptures to pray for your spouse and children.

Create a section in your prayer journal to write the verses that you want to use.

3. Pick a specific time to pray daily.

Make an appointment with God, and KEEP it.

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind?

Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there! But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible. The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Better relationships in your family
– Managing your home efficiently
– Making the best use of your time
-Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using coupon code Intentional20. (Offer good through 1/25/20)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

• How To Remain Intentional With God And His Word
• Intentional Living: How To Honor God With Your Health
• How To Live Intentionally And Build Relationships In The Home
• How To Manage Your Household Intentionally
• Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life
• How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

Just doing the 6-day intentional living challenge won’t automatically “fix” everything in your home. It won’t keep you from being overwhelmed and neglectful of things that matter unless you discipline yourself to use your time wisely. 

Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life

All of us have the same amount of time each day. 

Remember, it isn’t a matter of not having ENOUGH time, but rather how we USE the time we do have!

1. Look for your time wasters.

The truth is most of us waste time every day on things that don’t matter, and that keeps us from accomplishing our goals and priorities.

I would dare to guess that for most of us, one of the biggest time wasters is electronic devices. 

That could be TV, checking your email and Facebook, or even reading good blogs. 

I know I have sat down at my laptop for what was supposed to be just a couple of minutes, only to have it turn into an hour or more.

Set a time limit for being online, and also decide how often you need to do it. 

For example, give yourself 30 minutes in the morning to check your email and Facebook, and maybe read your favorite blogs.

Set a timer to go off when your time is up. 

This will make you be efficient online, and keep you from just aimlessly spending hours browsing.

2. Recognize the small windows of time that you waste during the day. 

For example, I will sometimes finish what I’m doing when getting ready to go somewhere with my son. 

Rather than start something new while I waited for him, I tended to waste that time thinking it’s not worth starting something.

I decided that it would be better to start something and get 5-10 minutes of a job done than to just waste that time. 

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in short windows of time when you know the time is limited. 

It usually helps me to be more focused and efficient when I know I only have a short time to get the job done.

Take an honest look at your day, to see where you are wasting time.

Make a list of those time wasters, then determine a plan to stop letting them steal your time.

3. Set up a daily routine that includes your priorities.

A daily routine is a bridge that goes from good intentions to ACTION. 

If you don’t have some kind of daily routine/schedule, your day is left to chance, and often circumstances end up controlling the day, rather than you being in control.

Take advantage of technology and set up reminders on your phone or Ipad.

Not only will YOU benefit from a daily routine, but your kids will do much better when there is structure and routine to guide their days. 

If you have a Bible and character lesson every day after breakfast, they will get used to that. 

If you have them clean for 15 minutes every day after lunch, it will become something they know is expected every day. 

Keeping your kids on a routine avoids boredom, and helps keep your home more peaceful.

Today’s Challenges:

1. Take an honest look at your day to see where you are wasting time, then make a plan to stop letting them steal your time.

2.  Make a list of your daily priorities.

3.  Set up a routine to include your priorities.

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind?

Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there!

But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible. The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Developing better relationships in your family
– Learning to manage your home efficiently
– Making the best use of your time
– Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using coupon code: Intentional20 (Offer good through 1/25/20)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

• • How To Remain Intentional With God And His Word
  • Intentional Living: How To Honor God With Your Health
  • How To Live Intentionally And Build Relationships In The Home
  • How To Manage Your Household Intentionally
  • Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life
  • How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

Here’s How To Manage Your Household Intentionally while being efficient as homemakers.

Being a homemaker is not an easy job! It is one that is never-ending, which requires us to be wise managers of our time, and also requires self-discipline. 

If we are going to be able to keep our homes well cared for, and care for our husbands and kids, we have to be intentional.

We must discipline ourselves to manage our time and make the most of it.

We can make time regularly to manage things in our home so they won’t get to the point where they seem unmanageable.

If we are consistent in caring for the different areas, it won’t take a large amount of time to maintain it.

When things get out of control, it’s often because we are not managing our homes or our time the way God has called us to.

There is always something that can distract us and keep us from being intentional in managing our households.

Sometimes as women at home, we just get lazy. We get distracted by TV, Facebook, books to read, etc.

We are called to be keepers of the home, and it is up to us to discipline ourselves to prioritize.

If your home is in chaos, and you don’t know where to begin, don’t just despair and do nothing.

Make a list of what is most important to take care of first, then take time to get some semblance of order back in your home.

If your kids are old enough, get them to work with you.

The key to good goal setting is making sure that your goals are reasonable and achievable.  Accomplishing a little each day is more realistic than cleaning the entire house in one day.

Break it down into reasonable expectations for your family.

Realize that if you have two or three little ones running around every day, your home probably won’t be quite as spotless as it was before you had kids.

Once you decide what is realistic, you have a better idea of where to put your energy and focus.

Next, I would encourage you to sit down and write a list of the jobs that you do want and need to accomplish regularly in your home.

Using the list of jobs that need to be regularly done, assign the tasks to a day of the week.

Schedule 15 minutes each day to work on the area of the day. Once you feel you are caught up a little, you can spend more time if needed in these areas. You can also consider using Saturday for deep cleaning in areas, or for bigger jobs.

If you have kids, it may make this a little bit more challenging for you.

I suggest that you involve the kids in helping! That gives you the opportunity to teach them how to clean, and how to help.

It also ensures that you get the job done. 

When our kids were young, I rarely did dishes, vacuuming, laundry, dusting, etc. 

I taught the kids how to do the jobs, and gave them daily chores.  We rotated things so they all learned to do different jobs. 

This not only helped me maintain a somewhat clean house, but it also helped my kids develop character, and learn to be good little helpers and workers.

Today’s  challenge:

1. Determine what your (realistic) housekeeping goals are.

2. Creating a cleaning schedule – (Get a free one here: Creating An Effective Chore Routine)

3. Spend 15 minutes on one area today.

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind? Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there!

But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible.

The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Developing better relationships in your family
– Learning to manage your home efficiently
– Making the best use of your time
– Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer!

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using coupon code: Intentional20.  (Good through 1/25/20)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

• • How To Remain Intentional With God And His Word
  • Intentional Living: How To Honor God With Your Health
  • How To Live Intentionally And Build Relationships In The Home
  • How To Manage Your Household Intentionally
  • Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life
  • How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

Are you wondering how to live intentionally and build relationships in the home?

While it’s important to be a good homemaker, it also involves caring for those who live in the home – our spouse, and our children.

You need to intentional about building the relationship with your husband and kids, and keeping those relationships strong while also training your kids as God wants you to.

Let’s look first at building a relationship with your spouse.

My husband and I agreed when we began having kids, that we needed to keep our marriage as the first priority. The kids don’t come first.

That doesn’t mean we don’t take care of them, love them, or meet their needs.

It just means that we love them enough to give them the security of a strong marriage.

As you probably know, this isn’t always as easy as it sounds. 

Often without realizing it, life gets busy with the kids, and your relationship starts to get a little distant.

You need to be intentional to keep that from happening, by watering your marriage and by intentionally connecting with your spouse daily. 

We also need to focus on being intentional in our relationship with our children.

In today’s society, it is normal for family members to often be off doing their own thing.

Many families don’t even eat dinner together each day, let alone spend time together with both parents and their siblings.

As moms, we can help to orchestrate better family unity.

I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to be close to each other, and also to take lots of good family memories with them when they leave home.

What can we do to live intentionally and build relationships in the home?

I would encourage you to eat at least one meal together as a family daily and to also plan a weekly family night.

We started this when our kids were young and continued it into their teen years.

This means we had teens, toddlers, and a few in between involved for these family times.

Sometimes the activities would be more for the younger ones, and the older ones would help us make it a fun time for the younger kids.

Just laughing together and doing something together made it enjoyable for all.

This doesn’t have to be something expensive or difficult to plan.  Kids just enjoy doing things together with you, so make it simple.

The most important thing is to make it a priority – something they can count on each week.

Let it be known that once a week a certain night will be set aside for the family to do something together, then guard that time!

Let’s live intentionally and build relationships in the home. We can cherish the times as well as grow strong connections between all family members.

Today’s Challenge:

1. Do one thing today to connect to your spouse. 

2. Plan a Family Night activity for this week.

3. Eat a meal together as a family today.

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind? Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there! But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible. The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Developing better relationships in your family
– Learning to manage your home efficiently
– Making the best use of your time
– Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using coupon code:  Intentional20 (Good through 1/25/20)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

• How To Remain Intentional With God And His Word
• Intentional Living: How To Honor God With Your Health
• How To Live Intentionally And Build Relationships In The Home
• How To Manage Your Household Intentionally
• Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life
• How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

Let’s look at how you can be intentional with your health and honor God.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.   I Corinthians 6:19,20

Our bodies are not indestructible, and there is only so far we can push them before they start to fail. 

Unfortunately, it’s easy to wait until physical problems occur to start taking care of our bodies! 

I love the following thoughts by Rick Warren regarding taking care of our body and our health. They are rather convicting!

Your physical health is an important part of making your life count. Keeping your body in shape is a spiritual discipline. It’s not just about losing a few pounds, wanting to live longer, or trying to look nicer.

I want to look at the right motivation for getting healthy – what God’s says about the importance of your body in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20:

*The Holy Spirit lives in my body. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit … ?” (verse 19). Your body is God’s temple. If you were walking down the street and saw some gang vandalizing a church, you’d do something about it, right? When you don’t take care of your body, you are vandalizing God’s temple.

*Jesus bought my body on the cross. “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (verse 20). If you want to know how much you’re worth, look at the cross. Jesus with his hands outstretched says, “This is how much you’re worth to me. You’re worth dying for.” You are infinitely valuable.

With the Bible as our motivation, let’s learn to be intentional with your health! 

How many times do you answer the question, “How are you?” with the answer:  “BUSY!”  

I  realize that as moms it is NORMAL to be busy.  However, we have to be careful that we don’t find our worth in busyness, rather than in our relationship with the Lord.

Time spent with your family, with the Lord, and with His Word are what really matters! When you guard your heart, it will be in tune with God and HIS priorities for you.

Many moms get sick and have bad health because they are trying to “do it all”. 

They stay busy all the time, and even though it may be with “good things”, they are doing more than they can handle, causing them to neglect taking time for self-care. 

It is such an easy trap to fall into! 

Determine to just let some things go today, and take time to really be present in the moment, rather than rushing from one thing to the next. 

Along with slowing down today, take time for YOU. 

Relax in a warm bath, go for a walk, or do something that refreshes you. 

You can’t just go and go while giving of yourself without taking time to refill your own well, or you will run dry.  Then you have nothing left to give to your family and those you love.

Rushing and being constantly busy leads to stress. 

You’ve probably heard it said that stress kills you, so it’s important to stop the cycle of constant activity. 

This cycle not only leads to stress but often it also leads to feelings of guilt because in our busyness we realize we are often not doing the things that are most important.

One of those important things is taking care of your body! 

This includes drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, exercising, and nourishing your body with healthy foods.

When was the last time you were intentional with your health? When did you slow down and take time to relax and care for yourself?  

Today’s challenge:

1. Try to drink 64 ounces of water each day starting today.

2. Go to bed on time to ensure that you get enough sleep.

3. Choose one improvement to make in your diet.  (This could be cutting back on sugar, eating more vegetables,etc.)

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind?

Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there!

But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible.

The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Developing better relationships in your family
– Learning to manage your home efficiently
– Making the best use of your time
– Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using coupon code  Intentional20. (Offer expires 1/25/20)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

• How To Remain Intentional With God And His Word
• Intentional Living: How To Honor God With Your Health
• How To Live Intentionally And Build Relationships In The Home
• How To Manage Your Household Intentionally
• Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life
• How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

Today I want to challenge you to remain intentional with God and His word.

This is SO important because your time with the Lord is what enables you to fulfill His plans daily.   

It’s what helps you to see the areas where you need to be intentional each day.

Everything you do as a Christian mom should rest on the foundation of your relationship with God and the guidance He gives you in His Word.

As busy wives and moms, we can’t begin to accomplish the things He wants us to in our own strength! 

Yet many times we let ourselves get too busy, and like Martha, we struggle in our own strength trying to accomplish all these things.  As a result, we neglect what’s MOST IMPORTANT:  time with the Lord.

“But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42

In this Bible passage, we see that Mary realized the one thing that was needed. 

She realized it was important to stop with all her busyness, and be intentional in focusing on the Lord. 

It’s easy to get so busy doing things FOR the Lord, that we neglect spending time WITH Him. 

Mary made the intentional choice to spend time sitting at His feet.  She gave Him her time and her attention, realizing that nothing can take the place of time in God’s presence.

Before you get caught up in ANYTHING for the day, take a few minutes to give it all to God. 

Give Him your time, your kids, your spouse, your worries, and your to-do list. 

Ask HIM to guide your thoughts, and show you His plans for you that day. 

One of my favorite verses that helps me with this is Proverbs 16:3: Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

I love that promise! 

If I will just commit it all to God on those mornings when I feel overwhelmed and don’t know what to do first, He WILL establish my thoughts! 

Even better, when I let go of MY plans, and what I think is important, He will show me what is important, and what I need to be intentional about.

This, in turn, will take away the stress of  “trying to do it all”, and help me to stay focused.

Take time to seek God intentionally before you get busy with your day. 

Maybe you have young ones, and it’s hard to find time alone.  If possible, get up just 5 or 10 minutes before they do.

If that doesn’t seem to work, read it out loud TO them, or give them a Bible book to “read” while Mommy is reading her Bible.  This is a great way to show them the importance of daily reading God’s Word!

What can you do today to intentionally put God first, before all the busyness of the day?

TODAY’S CHALLENGE:

1. Read a few verses or a chapter from the Bible.

2. Write down one verse that speaks to your heart from your Bible reading today.

3. Commit yourself and your day to God.

So what about you Mom?

Are you tired of living in overwhelm and feeling like your always two steps behind?

Do you have a nagging feeling you’re not making the best use of your time…. but you don’t know where to start?

I understand. I’ve been there! But Mom, stepping out of overwhelm is possible. The secret is intentional living!

To start living more intentionally today, I encourage you to join me for my Intentional Living Course.

The videos and workbooks will give you an in-depth look at how to develop clear God-focused goals for your life.

It will help you layout the steps you need to be intentional in key areas such as:

– Your relationship with God
– Better relationships in your family
– Managing your home efficiently
– Mainge the best use of your time
– Maintaining your priorities through intentional prayer

It IS possible to live life with more purpose and meaning, as well as more peace and success tomorrow!

Start now with a special discount of $20 off using code Intentional20. (Offer expires on 1/25/20 so don’t wait!)

GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Don’t miss the other days in the 6 Day Intentional Living Challenge!

• • • How To Remain Intentional With God And His Word
    • Intentional Living: How To Honor God With Your Health
    • How To Live Intentionally And Build Relationships In The Home
    • How To Manage Your Household Intentionally
    • Intentional Time Management For Busy Mom Life
    • How To Intentionally Maintain Your Priorities With Prayer

As the new year approaches,  we usually start thinking about making goals or resolutions for the new year.  We think about what we didn’t accomplish this year, that we hope to in the new year. 

We have fresh hope and are excited as we think about a new start. However, we are still going about it the same old way. We are writing down those resolutions (again!), maybe with the wording changed a little bit, or calling them new goals.

What Could Be Better Than New Year’s Goals?

Often we aren’t realistic and the goals are too overwhelming to really stick with and follow through on.  As a result, we start off with excitement then we gradually forget about those goals and before we know it, it’s the end of the year again and we have failed in our goals.

I know I have been guilty of this many more times than I care to admit!

This year I am going to try something different! I’m going to focus on PRIORITIES or my values, rather than resolutions or goals.  

Why? Because by focusing on my priorities and being intentional about keeping them first daily, I will also accomplish my goals. That is better than New Year’s goals that I never reach!

I have made a list of Biblical priorities that I feel I should focus on, and you’ve heard me mention most of these before!

• Focus on My Heart – developing my relationship with God and His Word
• Caring for My Health – taking steps to better self-care
• Nurturing My Family – building strong relationships in my home
• My Home – managing the housekeeping
• Prioritizing My Time – managing my time to better achieve priorities and goals
• My Prayer Life – maintaining it all with the power of intentional prayer

The key to living by Biblical priorities and not letting them slip away like broken resolutions is to be intentional in how you live each day.

It requires being a purposeful mom, who daily chooses to focus on being what God wants you to be.

I have been thinking about this a lot the past month or so, and asking God to show me HIS desires for me. 

The word that He kept bringing back to my mind is INTENTIONAL. 

Intentional:  done in a way that is planned or intended; done on purpose; deliberate

My life has gotten so busy, that I tend to go from one thing to another, often getting distracted from my original purpose. 

I feel like I am always busy, but yet not accomplishing the things that MATTER.  My days are driven by the urgent, rather than by intention.

I don’t want to just rush through my days in a preoccupied daze, hurrying and rushing from one thing to another. 

Instead, I want to make deliberate, intentional choices. 

Making the days count, and accomplishing what I feel God wants me to is important to me, and requires making intentional choices each day, based on His leading. 

The verse I am claiming to go along with my desire to intentionally live by priorities is Proverbs 16:3:

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Intentional priorities are better than New Year’s Goals

If you want to join me in being intentional in this new year, I encourage you to join me for a FREE 6 day Intentional Living Challenge!  

The challenge will focus on Biblical priorities for moms and will include a small simple challenge to help you focus on what matters each day. 

I hope you’ll join me, and begin taking some baby steps to keep you living intentionally and getting back on track daily!