We have been enjoying some much needed
sunshine and warmer weather this week.
Levi is loving every minute of being outside.
Summer please come soon!
Happy weekend!
The Macs » Blog
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I first read Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel last year. The small group Joel and I lead had started a new Navigators series (The New 2:7 Series…SO good) last fall and part of our homework was to read Tyranny of the Urgent. I was captivated by the article after reading just the first sentence… Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day? Of course. Everyone needs more time in their day, right? I know I do. So, what do I have to do to fit more into my day? I bet you want to know too. I kept reading and was so surprised and convicted by what I read. I read the article again. I read it again and underlined. The ideas in this article and where it pointed me to in the Bible became part of my longing to be more intentional this year and for the rest of my life. When we stop to evaluate, we realize that our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically the problem of priorities. Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important. We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that the important task rarely must be done today or even this week. Wow. I thought that I was doing pretty good at keeping my priorities straight. After all, I know how short life can be and how in one day our lives can be totally turned upside down. Our time with people is precious and how we choose to spend our time is so important. But, as I sat and thought about how often I give into the urgent things, the things that are pressing for my time, I realized that I much too often let the urgent crowd out the important. Hummel goes on to give examples from the life of Jesus. The Gospel records show that Jesus worked hard…Yet his life was never feverish; he had time for people. His life showed a wonderful balance, a sense of timing. Here is the secret of Jesus’ life and work for God: He prayerfully waited for his Father’s instructions and for the strength to follow them. Jesus had no divinely-drawn blueprint; he discerned the Father’s will day by day in a life of prayer. By this means he warded off the urgent and accomplished the important. I want to pattern my life after Jesus. I want to work hard, yet have time for people. I want to have balance and a sense of timing in my life. I want to prayerfully wait for my Father’s instructions and the strength to follow them. I want to discern His will for my life day by day in a life of prayer. If you haven’t read Tyranny of the Urgent, go do it now. I promise it is worth your time. But be prepared. It might be convicting. It might even be life changing. But like Hummel says, what could be better than knowing that this day, this hour, in this place we are doing the will of the Father? I think I need to go evaluate my priorities again… **Tryanny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel
Monday.
 My grandparents came out to our house for lunch.
It was so nice to just sit around and talk with them.
 And my grandma spent lots of time playing with Levi on the floor.
I’m pretty sure he was in heaven.
She built him tower after tower out of blocks to knock over.
He thought it was so funny every time.
 In the evening Levi’s cousins came over to hang out.
They pulled all the chairs out in the kitchen to “help” Joel.
Ellie was instructing everyone where to sit…
and maybe giving a few kisses too.
 We made pizzas using the PW pizza crust recipe.
Joel and Ellie were in charge of the toppings.
 Lots of little helping hands.
Lets just pretend there were no licking fingers or germs involved.
 And here are our finished pizzas.
Ellie came up with the idea of turning the pizzas into heads.
So here are our smiling pizza heads.
They were so yummy…we will definitely be making PW pizzas again.
 I didn’t get much done yesterday besides playing and eating and talking,
but it sure was a fun day.
Lots of memories made on Monday.
Way back in December Levi took his first step.
I was sure he was going to be walking by his birthday.
But he has taken his sweet time to get past two or three steps.
And he still prefers to crawl because it is much faster.
Just in the last few weeks, he has finally gotten brave
and now is taking quite a few steps at a time.
 But every time I pull out the camera and try to capture him walking,
he gives me this look…please put the camera away Mama.
(Which reminds me so much of a similar look his sister once gave me.)
 Or as soon as I say…Levi can you walk to Mama,
he plops down and starts laughing.
He thinks he is so funny.
But today he decided that he was ready to show me his new skills.
Here he is…
officially…
WALKING!
     It is a good thing Levi has decided to walk.
He is about to wear a huge hole in the right knee of his jeans
from the crazy way he crawls.
I know…I’m sure it is only the first of many holes to come!
Levi is so slow and careful with each step he takes.
It is funny to watch him concentrate so hard.
Much different than everything else he does!
As I was thinking about how fast Levi is growing
and this new stage of having a walker now,
I was reminded of one of the verses that we chose for Levi:
True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
Malachi 2:6
That continues to be my prayer for Levi’s life.
That he would grow to be a man who walks with Jesus.
I have never reflected on the past year and anticipated the year to come as much as I did when 2010 rolled over to 2011. I have been praying about what God has in store for me and my family this year. I know very well that we don’t always know what lies ahead in the year to come. Sometimes there are unexpected joys and sometimes there are unexpected sorrows. I’d like to tell you that I know exactly what this year holds, but I don’t. What I do know is that each day that the Lord gives me this year is a gift. I know that I don’t want this year to “just happen”. I know that I don’t want to waste these precious days. I know that I want to be intentional. As I thought about my goals and priorities for this year I kept coming back to how I really needed to work on being intentional in all of those areas. I want to be intentional in my time with the Lord everyday. I want to be intentional in my prayer life. I want to be intentional in filling my mind with Truth. I want to be intentional in how I love and respect Joel. I want to be intentional in how I love and teach and discipline Levi. I want to be intentional in how I manage my time as a stay-at-home mom. I want to be intentional in creating order and a peaceful atmosphere in my home. I want to be intentional in my relationships with family and friends. I want to be intentional in showing God’s love to those around me. I want to be intentional in continuing to share my story. I could go on and on. But when I think about all the areas in my life that I need to be intentional in…all the areas that I need to improve on…all the areas I need to grow in…it gets overwhelming. It makes me want to quit right now. Thankfully, even though I will fail miserably many times, I don’t have to do it on my own. In fact, I can’t do this on my own. What a relief since it is only January and I have many months to go! This being intentional thing is going to take some major discipline on my part. It is going to mean laying aside some things that I would rather do, to invest in the people and priorities God has placed in my life. But as I seek God, he will give me the strength I need to live intentionally. Wouldn’t it be great if I got to the end of the year and could put a check in the box that meant I learned to be intentional!? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Just like walking through grief, learning to be intentional is going to be a lifelong journey of allowing the Lord to work in me.  This sweet boy needs a mama who is intentional. So this is what I am asking myself: Am I making my own plans or seeking God’s guidance for what he wants to accomplish in and through me this year? I want to be intentional. And I want to be intentionally seeking Him each day.
We plan the way we want to live,
but only God makes us able to live it.
Proverbs 16:9 (The Message)
I will share more later about what I am doing to grow in this area of being intentional. What about you? What are you doing to be intentional this year? I would love to hear.
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Rebecca - He is so stinkin’ cute!!! I love the green shirt and vest. And I am completely jealous of Kansas weather that allows you to be outside w/o any kind of snow/winter gear in January.
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Alicia - You take great pictures! What kind of camera do you have?
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Clare - We have too! We are in the KC area though so it wasn’t as crazy warm as it was around you!
Levi is such a well dressed cutie!
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Mindy Harris - you’ve got some photog skillz! yeah where does levi shop?
today was splendid outside; i ran my long run–struggled a bit, but made it.
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Lindsey - is it just me, or does this little handsome look like he’s all grown up since his first birthday? he’s so beautiful.
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Carla - Oh such a handsome boy, love the check shirt 🙂
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EricaG - I just learned of your blog a few days ago. It is a beautiful combination of a wonderful images, challenging thoughts, and huge doses of hope and faith. I’m excited to be along for your journey from this point forward.
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The Branches - He is so precious I love all the photos you take of him and how you dress him. I have an 11 month old little boy and I am so in love with him 🙂 Who said boys aren’t fun to dress up and stuff too right? He’s just adorable!
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Marla Taviano - I wish I looked that cute in MY green vest!!
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