Last week we finished up the Summer of Joy series with Life Coach Carey Bailey.  It was such a rewarding process for me!  Last week also, I finished the first draft of my very first eBook, so now I am going through it with a fine-toothed comb.  So excited ‘“ more on all of that in the coming weeks!

By September, we will finish the video study of Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit (F2F Friday, “Face to Face Friday”).  Kortnee is busy with a career change and will be leaving us.  Tracy is starting on a big new project too, so she is taking August off from writing.  Things are changing again here on the Blog.  But endings make room for new beginnings.

In the same way, we have had some changes in our home life.  On the homeschooling front, after two years of meeting with wonderful families in our Classical Conversations community, the kids and I have decided to simplify our weekly routine.  We will be schooling 100% at home.  We might be adding singing lessons to the music, dance, and martial arts.  We hope that having increased flexibility will allow us to visit Daddy at work and do field trips more often.

My husband has become the new Clinical Flight Commander at the dental clinic, requiring more leadership and responsibility, but he is definitely up to the task.  He has new a Commander, his big boss at work, that he really likes (an answer to prayer).

Oh, and we are getting rid of our Satellite TV and going with Amazon Fire, Netflix, Hulu…All of this is just to say that change is afoot at our house.  And it is the kind of change that feels like opportunity.

I think that we must constantly re-evaluate our choices, routines, and commitments.  Don’t we feel stuck when we stay here: “I’ve always been the one to do this” OR “I’ve always done things this way” OR “If I don’t do it, then who will?”  Here is the God we serve:

• He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
• The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3:22-23).
• Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Is. 43:19).
• I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ez 36:26).
• if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17).

As we start a new season on the blog and in my house, it is also the time to get our school supplies and start sharpening our pencils.  It is the perfect time to rework our schedules to make the most of the time that God has given us.  It is an important time to rethink our commitments, to pray for a discerning heart before we “say ‘yes'” to everything that crosses our path. Don’t “say ‘yes'” out of guilt or remorse or desperation.  Don’t “say ‘yes'” to keep up appearances or to be a people pleaser or to honor yourself.  “Say ‘yes'” to being intentional.  “Say ‘yes'” to obeying the Lord, to seeking His counsel first, to taking advice from Him.

With the lessons of the Summer of Joy ringing in my ears, I feel a real call to simplify and enjoy.  I think that, for too long, I have tried to be too many things, to too many different people.  I have spread myself thin.  I have compared myself to others and fallen short.  I have set goals based on what I am “supposed to do.”  Now is the time to shake off these chains and live in the freedom purchased for me by the death of Christ.  Above all, I am accountable to Him, and my choices should reflect this.

Won’t you join me in living more intentionally?  This next month we are all about Being Intentional.  I want to fill my “Bucket” of time with Bliss.  More on Buckets and Bliss and Being Intentional next time.  For now, what is on your priority list that isn’t really a priority?  What needs to go? I would love to hear!