This may sound judgmental, but I’d say most people pretty much only look out for themselves.  It’s rare to find a person that truly puts others above themselves.  If you’re a follower of Jesus, isn’t that what we’re called to do?  Isn’t that what Jesus did?  He gave himself as a ransom for many and humbled himself even to a death on a cross.

Wow.  I know I don’t live that way most of the time.  Sure, I’ll get a good one in every once in a while and then I’ll hold on to that one for too long.   “Hey, I did such and such for so and so 3 months ago!  Isn’t that good enough?”   Um, well, no.

I’ve been chewing on this verse for a while now:

Philippians 2:21  For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Go and read Philippians 2, it’s so good in The Message.  Now that's what I call living an Intentional Life.

What do you think?

[image by Jeff Kubina]

If you've been following this blog you know that I'm on a quest to live a more intentional life.  I'm trying to live a life of purpose and meaning.   For me, this starts with God and my relationship with Him.  It is intentional worship.  It is putting God first in my life and really meaning it.  

Second, it is being an intentional husband in my marriage.  It is loving my wife the way she needs to be loved and putting her first above other things I'm trying to accomplish or other things that try and steal my attention.  

Third, it is being an intentional father.  Any parent with older kids will tell you how fast the time flies by.  My boys are 6 and 3.  I don't want to look back and wish I did things differently with them.  I want to be as intentional as possible today to enrich their lives.

Fourth, well, it's pretty much everything else.   It's my business, golf, mountain biking, friends.

Recently I've been pondering the thought of giving up my social media endeavors for a while.  How long?  I don't know.   Why?  I'm still trying to figure that out.   I feel like it's a personal thing.  A journey I'm being called to take.  One that is led by God, but will take a lot of work on my end.  I'm excited about it, but I have to admit at the moment I don't know where it's going.  That's the cool thing about faith.  If you feel God leading you, you walk.  You can't see where you're going, but you follow the lead.

As I think about why I got involved in social media (twitter, facebook, etc), I had a few good reasons.  Reasons most people probably have:

-- Perhaps I would meet some cool people

-- Perhaps I would interact with "real-life" friends and keep up with people 

-- Perhaps I would add value to another person's life

I am doing these things and accomplishing the main goals I set out for myself.  However, I'm questioning my motives and looking into my heart.   Recently a Bible verse really struck me to the core:

John 12:43 for they loved praise from men, more than praise from God.

I've noticed recently that I'm more concerned about my social network than I am with God.   Sure, I spend time with God each day, but it isn't what it used to be.  Many days I'm more concerned about what's going on in my social network than what God is doing.   Many times I'll stand in line at a store and check Twitter instead of reaching out to real live people right next to me in line.  Some days I find I'd rather check Twitter than have a conversation with my wife.   Some days I find I'd rather check facebook than play with my boys.   That kills me to think I've behaved like that. 

It's time for a change.

I'm taking a social media sabbatical.  I don't know how long it will be, but I'm going to re-engage with God, my wife and boys.   I'm going to sink back into His Word and chew on it and meditate on it.

Like I said, it's a personal thing for me and not something I'm saying anyone else should do.  Unless, that is, you can relate in your life to what I'm saying about mine.

If you'd like to join me on this journey, you can subscribe to my blog RSS.   I still plan to blog about things God is revealing to me as I feel prompted.  I do still plan to keep up with certain blogs I follow as well.  Personally, I don't consider blogs true "social media" (don't argue with me in the comments about this :).  My blog is for me to express ideas I have and other blogs are places I read to help enrich my life.

I'm excited to see where God leads me.  For me, this is a true mark of living an intentional life.

Facebook and Twitter friends:  I'll most likely see you again sometime in the future as the dance goes on.

[image by danielanob]

I enjoy reading bumper stickers while driving.  It entertains me.  While I don't have any stickers on my car, I appreciate those people that choose to decorate their cars.

I saw this bumper sticker today and I thought it was so basic yet very descriptive:

Have you ever met a person and instantly liked them?   Alphonso Bailey is one of those people for me.   He has this amazing positive spirit about him and an amazing heart for the Lord.   Alphonso runs a ministry called "Down But Not Out Communications".   You can read more about it.

I recently got an email update from Alphonso that I thought was a great story about his daughter who is an amazing track athlete.

Here it is:

I wanted to bring you up on some of the joy I had this weekend with my daughter, Portia, winning the state in the 100 hurdles at Indiana University. Two weeks before this she had suffered a stress fracture in her hip which caused her to set out of the county and conference meets which she holds record in the 100 dash, the 200 dash, and the 100 hurdles. The pain from this fracture caused her to run just so fast just to win; she won the sectionals with a time of 15.09, and the regional with a time of 14.96. 

All week before the state meet we prayed that she would mount up on eagles wings, and I would take this structure that my friend Kurt gave me of an eagle with his wings spread which said, "they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on eagles wings" and I would put it on her bed, and she would see it each time she came home from track practice. She knew I was putting it there, but she never said for me to stop. She ran in the second heat of the trials at the state finals, and it was called the speed heat. Two of the fastest times were in her heat, 14.5, 14.6, and in spite of all that, Portia won her heat with a time of 14.65. I looked at my wife Marsha, and I said she's back, but still I had to remember that this is only the trials and those girls could be saving it for the finals. 

Portia came up in the stands where Marsha & I were and told us how good she felt, and she even said she pulled up a bit at the end.
Right as she was about to go to prepare for her finals she looked at me in the middle of the stands with everyone watching and said "Bless me and pray for me dad".  I held her in my arms and she held me, and I prayed that "she would mount up on eagles wings and run and not be weary"  Portia pulled back and looked me in the eyes and said " dad pray that I win". I pulled her back to me, and I said  "Oh Lord bless Portia with the victory today".  She kissed me and took off. As she was at the starting line getting set in her blocks I prayed for no pain in her body and that she would Mount Up. Portia took off and she had a lot of heat from the girl to her left as they crossed the finish line it was so close. Not even the runners knew who had won. They were looking up at the big board to see who would be posted as the winner. It was about a 10 minute delay as they looked at the pictures to decide the winner. Last year Portia waited like this only to come out as state runner up with a time of 14.75 and the winning time was 14.70.

They posted the the winner: Portia Bailey 14.48! Glory! It was wonderful, the runner up time was 14.49.  I finally got to see Portia after all the smiles and joy and she said to me "look what God did".  I say to Portia all the time that with God all things are possible. I want to say to each one of you to always remember, with God all things are possible.

Enough said.   Be sure to read more about Alphonso here: http://www.downbutnotout.org/founder.html

Be honest:  Why did you start blogging?   Perhaps it was to try and just get some of your thoughts out of your head.   I would submit that's what a good old pen and paper journal is good for.   Did you start blogging because you thought other people might have an interest in what you had to say?   Not all bloggers would fit into this category, but I would argue that most do.    I have a journal that I keep that I've been writing in for many years.   When I started to blog it was because I wanted to share some of my thoughts with the world.  I thought perhaps I could speak into a few lives and help pass along a little bit of experience I've gained in this life.

That's why I think most bloggers are like teenage girls:    We just want to be affirmed, appreciated, well thought of, communicated with, valued and liked.

It's a funny balance because when I started blogging I wanted to get a bunch of readers and I find that takes time.  However, when I realized that I blog because I like to express myself and dig deeper into some of my thoughts, that's all that really matters.  It's soothing to me.     That's all that should really matter, right? 

Why do you blog?  What are some other traits you would add to this list about why we blog?  Share your comment and a link to your site in the comments.

[image by claudio_ar]

How does it feel when you accomplish a goal or task?   Do you take time to celebrate?  I think as leaders there are a few key things we need to do when we cross the finish line on a project:

1.  Remember those people that helped you cross the line.

2.  Celebrate.  Whether big or small there is reason to celebrate and this helps build team spirit and dedication for future projects.

3.  Look Ahead.  Even though you may have just finished a big project, the next one is probably right around the corner.   If we get too lax in resting in our past accomplishment, the next one will run us over.

What else could you add to this list?   How have you celebrated crossing a finish line?

[image by cole24_]

Remember, when you're consumed with a project, task, goal or anything you deem as "important", you may think it's the most important thing in the world.  However, the world keeps spinning.   Your spouse, family, kids, friends all keep moving and living.   Make sure you keep spinning with them.

Hit the pause button and evaluate your situation and make sure you're keeping your priorities straight.  Living an intentional life demands we do it.

Just a little mental reminder for myself.  Maybe it speaks to you too?

[image by jpellgen]

Sometimes in life we have to learn how to just suck it up.    Especially in the quest for a more intentional life, a person must learn there are some things just not worth getting upset over and worrying about.   You might call this "pick your battles"; I like to call it "suck it up". 

I'm getting some curve balls thrown at me recently on a big project and so I have two choices:

1.  Get mad, make waves and potentially cause trouble.

2.  Suck it up.   Do what I have to do to finish the project.

Now I should make a disclaimer that "sucking it up" does not apply when you're blatantly getting walked on or taken advantage of.  It just applies to the things that make you internally upset, but in reality are not that big of a deal.

Sucking it up applies to all areas of our lives:  marriage, raising kids, work, church, volunteer groups.....

By resolving to the fact that I can't control everything and that sometimes I just need to suck it up, it makes my life more intentional and a lot more peaceful.   How about you?

[image by Vaidy Krishnan]

Have you ever felt like this picture?   Like you're just barely holding on.   Like a clothespin was all that was keeping you from falling hard.

It's one of those seasons for me.  Big website project due to go live next Monday and it's been a long month prepping for it.

I keep telling myself "just hold on", "just hold on".   "You've been here before and it always works out."

That's the cool thing about experience - you can look back and see that you've been through similar times in your life and lived to tell about it.  

Just hold on.  To whatever you're going through....Just hold on.

[image by stratosg]

I have to admit I got into American Idol this year.  It's definitely an entertaining show.  I didn't vote because I liked Adam and Kris.   I came across this video of Kris singing "God of This City" today and while I was watching it I really felt overwhelmed that we need to pray for Kris.   He's been given a huge stage and with that comes a lot of responsibility.   He seemed like such a humble guy on the show and I loved to see that.   The entertainment world can suck you in and chew you up if you allow it.   We need to pray for strength for him and his family.   We need to pray for boldness for him to use his new stage and a platform to speak truth and spread God's love.

So many people will make an idol out of Kris for what he's accomplished.   I pray that he can deflect that attention off of himself and on to Jesus.

Would you join me in praying for him?

Here's a link to another recent post I did called "American Idol"