intententionally purposeful

Intentional Gratitude

/ Robin Glinka / Leave a comment
God’s Canvas

Lately the Lord has been speaking with me about being intentionally grateful in spite of what may be going on in my life personally or in the world itself. I struggle at times with focusing on the Lord and His promises when all in the world seems so chaotic and ugly. It takes intentionality to shift my mindset and focus on God and His promises and to see the daily blessings in the midst of the chaos. Does anyone else struggle with this?! There is so much beauty in the world. He’s helping me see and reminding me to be grateful for the little pleasantries in the daily mundane happenings of my life. Things like enjoying solitude and rest with Him, enjoying the beauty and sounds of nature, gratefulness for a word of encouragement from a stranger or friend, gratefulness for being able to physically do daily tasks, and so many more things that could go unnoticed in a hectic day. I find it challenging to be informed of what is going on in the world without allowing all the negativity and chaos in the world creep in and drown out His voice. I am grateful that He is gracious and patient in reminding me of His promises and that He is always walking with me through any trials I encounter. I am grateful for the journey He has me on, but the past year has been a bit daunting in so many ways-physically, emotionally and spiritually. Yet He has remained faithful and even in the midst of chaos, I do sense His presence and peace when I keep my eyes focused on Him. I’m grateful that I can pour my heart out to Him. He already knows my needs and desires and has been working on my behalf. I’m grateful for the growth, even though it is painful at times. He is always gracious to carry me when I need it. I do enjoy the new perspectives He shows me and the grace He gives when I fall short. He has been teaching me to love others and myself better and in all things to be more grateful and grace giving.

It truly does change my mindset and perspective as I go throughout the day purposefully looking for things to be grateful for and looking for ways to better love others. It’s helped me extend more grace to others and myself. It reminds me that we are all on this journey called life, individually and collectively, and we are all working through things good and bad. There is so much more peace and joy in extending kindness, encouragement, love and gratitude to others. It’s often easy to see the negative in situations and others which only seems to lead to more divisiveness. But, with intentionality, I can be a source of encouragement and hope, it is so much fun to spread positivity and speak life into people and situations. There is a treasure in every trial- some just are harder to see and take more intentionality.

My prayer is that each person reading this will be intentional in keeping their eyes on the Lord and His goodness in these crazy times. I also pray that each will be intentional in being positive and encouraging to one another. Be a light that shines and brings out the gold in someone else. Don’t allow the negativity and divisiveness of the enemy to be the main voice you hear.

Lord, thank you for continuing to walk with me and those reading this as we walk through this life. Help us keep our eyes on You and Your promises. Help us have a tender and loving heart just like your son Jesus. May each person You bring across our path be touched by Your presence. Thank you for helping me and each individual, navigate the challenges of life, knowing You are there and have even gone before us in all situations. Help us be intentional in seeking time with You and in bringing out the gold in others. Help us find the beauty and gratitude in the seemingly mundane daily tasks of life. Thank you for the beauty of nature, smell of fresh cut grass and singing of the birds. You truly are a God of detail! We love you Lord! Amen

Who will you encourage and uplift today!?

Reflections

Perspective

/ Robin Glinka / Leave a comment

Earlier this week, I had gotten off work with enough day light left to walk to the beach and catch the sunset before my drive home. I was so grateful for a walk in the fresh air after wearing a mask all day at work. The day was a bit overcast, windy and cold by Florida standards (50 degrees F) . As I was walking, I enjoyed seeing birds flying head strong into the wind and others just coasting along with the wind. As I got to the beach there were several other people there bundled up and watching the sunset. In particular, I remember seeing a mother and daughter with their dog. It was a cute little mutt looking dog. They watched the sunset for a bit and then headed down the beach. That evening there were many clouds in the sky. I really enjoy sunsets when there are clouds present. To me, clouds seem to adds another layer of beauty and dimension. There is something about sunsets and their beauty. They are a reminder to me of God and His majesty. I feel a special closeness to my Creator in those moments. How is it that each sunrise and sunset is never the same?!!! That in itself is amazing to me!! The colors are often so vibrant and breathtaking. Try as I might, I can never fully capture their beauty in a photo. There was a cloud layer along the horizon line that evening, so I didn’t see the sun touch the water, but the colors and dimensionality created by the clouds as the sunset was still very beautiful! My perspective!

As it started to get dark, I started walking back to my vehicle. It was a 15-20 minute walk and I wanted to get back to my car before it was totally dark. On my walk back, I came to a crosswalk and on the other side was the same mother, daughter and their cute little dog. A car was coming up to the crosswalk and the little girl said” look mom, it’s daddy.” The vehicle stopped and they walked over to get in the car. The father commented to his wife that he was coming to join them to watch the sunset. She replied saying” It was awful. It was cloudy so you couldn’t even see it”. As I walked across the crosswalk, I had to chuckle to myself. I thought- WOW “perspective”. Her perspective was very different from mine. It was a reminder to me that perspective is everything and it varies between people based on our attitudes, experiences and expectations. We get to choose our attitude and while we can’t always choose our experiences, we can choose how we will respond to them. It make me think about my responses to what “my expectations” may be versus the how things actually unfold. Do I let my focus on the missed expectations cause me to miss the beauty and glory of the current situation that God orchestrates?

Perspective as defined by the dictionary app- ” the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship; a mental view or prospect; the state of one’s ideas, the facts known to one, etc, in having a meaningful interrelationship”. Something to ponder: could trying to see and understand another person’s perspective when it differs from our own give a more complete view? It’s like looking at a clock and if two people are seeing it from different angles, their perspectives will most likely be different, but does that mean it’s wrong, or is it just different? Maybe trying to understand these differences could open doors of understanding and maybe even be an opportunity for growth, healing or innovation in some cases.

Lord, I pray that I will never let my expectations or desires keep me from seeing and appreciating the story You are writing for my life. Lord help me to always respect and try to understand the perspective of others while also being able to see Your perspective on things in my life. Thank you Lord for Your grace and gentle correction when I miss the mark in life and thank you for loving me where I am, while growing me to be who You designed me to be. Lord I pray this for each person reading and I am grateful for the beauty in each sunrise and sunset. I love you Lord. Amen

Choices

/ Robin Glinka / Leave a comment

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Life is all about making choices. Have you ever thought about how many times a day you make a choice and the impact of that choice on your life in the present as well as your future? Have you thought about how the choices you make not only impact your life, but also the lives of those in your sphere of influence? I’m not trying to overthink each choice, but it is good to be aware of the importance of each choice in shaping our lives and impacting the lives of others.

Even seemingly simple choices like, what should I eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, what should I wear today, how should I respond verbally to this situation, or any other seemingly simple choice have present and future impacts in our lives. For example, choosing what to eat, over time it can impact your health for good or bad; what you choose to wear portrays to others a bit about your character and how you value yourself. Dressing in a sexy and provocative manner will draw lustful eyes, whereas dressing more conservative but elegant will call for more respect and value of your body. The sexy and provocative is something that one can enjoy and reserve for one’s spouse!

In responding to others, do I choose to speak life and encouragement, building them up, or do I choose to speak criticism and negativity into their life. One response is life giving, the other response tears others down. I do believe there are times when constructive criticism spoken in love is necessary and essential to reveal blindspots in our lives. We all have blindspots and even as painful as it can be in the moment, I am grateful to have trusted individuals, that love me, bring to light those areas to which I have been blind. It is through these difficult to hear, but necessary times that the Lord can do a work in growing and refining me into better and more Christlike person. I remember one such time when a friend ask me if I thought of myself as a judgemental person and I said no. I said that I try to treat everyone with equal love and kindness. She revealed a blindspot of judgement I had because of my own insecurities of being different and believing people didn’t like me. You see, I would tend to stay secluded and not initiate interaction with people in social settings because of my insecurity of being rejected. So in essence, I had formed a judgement of how they perceived me without giving them a chance. Ouch!! That stung a bit, but I’m so glad she enlightened me to that blindspot and the lie I was believing, because without her doing so, I may never have seen it.

So, back to choices. What do you do with bad choices you’ve made in the past? They can’t be changed. I have made many bad choices during my life. I’ve found the best thing is to look back and see what I can learn from each bad choice, so I don’t make it again. Next, I try to be intentional about making the “next” best choice. Don’t let choices of the past keep you locked in shame and regret. Instead, seek forgiveness from God and trust He has forgiven you. Then, you will be free to move forward in the journey He has for you.

I find I can’t focus too much on the future. Though it is important to have goals and take steps to be purposeful in working towards them, ultimately I need to stay in the present and focus on making the “next” best choice each time a one is presented. By staying in the present, I can enjoy what the Lord has given me each day and I can better stay tuned to what He’s asking me to do in the current moment. By being obedient to following the guidance of the Lord, He can shape and guide me along His path for my life. I’m amazed at times I have reflected back on my life and choices He asked me to make that made no sense at the time, but in retrospect, I can see the beautiful and sometimes difficult journey He has taken me through to get me to where I am now!! I’m so grateful that He never gives up on me and when I do make bad choices. He is patient and loving as He steers me back on track, and He will do the same for you!! Seek Him and open your heart to allowing Him full access to your life. He will not disappoint you. It won’t always be easy, trust me, but it will be an amazing journey.

I have found He will often ask you to make a choice that makes no logical sense, but deep in your spirit, you will know it’s what He’s calling you to do, just like he did of Abram (later called Abraham) in Genesis 12:1. God told Abram to go forth to a land he would show him. What?! Pack up and leave without telling Abram where he was to go before he left?! That’s craziness–at least for the one that likes to know the plan a head of time!

The Lord is helping me each day to make the “next” best choice as it is presented and to trust the incredible journey He is taking me on in this adventure called life! Will you choose to be intentional about making the “next” best choice each day? It can be challenging, but also an amazing blessing.

Lord I pray you guide each person reading this, and myself, in making the “next” best choice as each choice is presented, from the smallest to the biggest, knowing and trusting Your plan; knowing that You love us and have good planned for our lives as we grow in a deeper, more intimate relationship with You!! Thank you in advance for answering this prayer! Amen