Clean or unclean?

If anything says that I need to be more intentional in life, NOTHING screams more loudly than my laundry basket.
It is not uncommon for me to do a load of laundry, stick it in the dryer and leave it there. Eventually the load ends up on top of the machine and in the morning I pick through the pile to get what i need for that day. Never gets folded, never gets put away....pathetic I know.
Today was the proverbial "last straw". I had a long overdue load on top of the dryer that i knew was clean...but i couldn't remember if I had washed the stuff that was in the baskets. I mean it was bad...almost all my clothes were in baskets or on the floor in my room. I couldn't take it any longer, so i decided to do laundry as soon as i got home from work. Thank goodness my boss let me go early today for the holiday! I'm on load number two with one more load to go before the night is up!

I've been thinking this week....yeah it's great that i've been wearing the covering and started this blog and stuff but, I haven't really done much else to fulfill the purpose of this "exercise". I keep pushing off the changes that i need to make to live an intentional way. Here is the standard definition of "intentional"

in·ten·tion·al

–adjective

1.

done with intention or on purpose; intended: an intentional insult.

2.

of or pertaining to intention or purpose.

I like to slack.....sometimes i get distracted and don't finish projects(my brother is still waiting on a "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil" sock monkey figure)....i hate doing the dishes alone.....

I do things without purpose- like checking facebook every five minutes when i'm bored and should be finishing projects, or going shopping when i don't really have the money....

So the next step for me is this....

Creating Routines-Not Ruts

1. Laundry days

    Props to my mum for this, she has her laundry days on Monday and Friday. And since i'm usually free on those nights they are going to be my laundry nights too.

2. Shopping days

    I have an awful habit of going shopping the day I get paid. I know that's not particullarly bad, but i do it way to often. Mostly it's an excuse to get out of town, but I usually don't NEED to go. I'm still thinking about how this will work, but i'm going to put a limit on how often I have these "excursions" per month, and they cannot be the same day as payday.

3. Budget!

    Let's just say I need one.

4. Quiet Times

    I say quiet times for lack of a better term. I guess you could say "focus time with Jesus". I don't do well with morning devos, or evening ones for that matter. Either one usually ends up with sleeping. This, in my opinion, is incredibly sad. I love Jesus, and I want to spend quality time with Him. But for too long i've given in to the lie that i'm too busy, too tired, or I don't feel like it.

As mentioned in other posts, I've been incredibly interested in church liturgy. I even considered purchasing a copy of the Book of Common Prayer ( but then i realized i probly wouldn't have a clue how to use it.)

Somehow, a group of writers new about my dilema and wrote a new book just for me!

Ok, not everything about that statement is true, but there is a book coming out that i will be purchasing this weeked! It's called Common Prayer- A liturgy for ordinary radicals. (by Shane Claiborne and others). I'm super excited, and intend on using it to help me get back into "focus time with Jesus" :)

None of these are hard and fast rules, more like guard rails to keep me on the road. I like this other definition of "intentional" as it pertains to Metaphysics

c. pointing beyond itself, as consciousness or a sign.

That's what I want my life to be..........

Ames