SubscribeMaking good on my intentions
I’ve been making lists today, on paper and in my head. After thinking some more about my recent lament about not following through on my good intentions, I decided yesterday to reschedule an afternoon meeting so I would have time to refocus and strategize. I made some important telephone calls, sent an overdue email and talked with a friend I hadn’t heard from in while. Then I went for a walk, something my walking buddy and I had not done in several days.
One of the things that got me going was this scripture from 2 Corinthians 8: 10-11 in The Message Bible in which Apostle Paul is encouraging the Corinthian believers to be generous givers.
“So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands.”
Much in those verses speak to me about where I am in my life right now — several unfinished projects whose times have come and several well-intended contacts to make good on. I don’t want my good intentions to grow cold and sit like a paperweight on the cluttered thoughts in my mind. I want to put my faith in action and do what I can to be a blessing in the lives of others –send that birthday card that I bought but didn’t mail, honor the lunch date that was put off weeks ago and transcribe onto a note card the message to a friend that I have written and edited in my head. I want to mange my time better so I can keep in touch with and be available to friends and relatives who I know are going through serious illnesses.
In my quest to live more intentionally, I am spending this week taking care some easy back burner items to make room for some more involved projects that also are percolating. I’m not going to try to do everything on my lists in one week, that would just keep me in the same spiral. But I am going to make a start….and I am going to finish some things.
In whatever I do, I want my heart to regulate my hands.
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