I joined the book launch team for a new book this winter. When I began to read, I thought, “I should’ve been reading this last year when my OneWord was “Intentional”. This book is excellent with short devotions on choosing to be intentional in different areas of our lives; in our hearts, in our thoughts, with our money, in our relationships, in our health, and in our homes. Much, much, much to consider and apply to our lives. Pick up this book now and Come along on this 7-week journey of intentionally focusing on areas in our life where we can draw closer to Jesus. Set to be read in the weeks leading up to Easter, it will prepare your heart for Resurrection Sunday and a life of intention that goes beyond the holiday.
Below is an introduction by the author, Nichole Kuvar.
In my latest book, Numbering Our Days: Combating Anxiety in the Power of Small Intentional Moments, I address the issue of anxiety and the role it plays in our lives. There are 49 devotions of daily reading intended to provoke thought. Each anecdote is meant to give you a jumping-off point to what you can do in your own life in order to live with intention. It will start as a conscious decision, a day-to-day choice to be intentional. But as you get more in the habit of choosing daily intentions, it will become a part of your life.
How Intentionality Helps Combating Anxiety
For the past 3 decades, I have struggled with anxiety. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I finally received a diagnosis and could tackle the disorder head-on. It would be great to say that having a diagnosis and getting treatment cured my anxiety, and I never worried about another thing again. I have come to believe that this is my cross to bear. This is what keeps me coming back to Jesus. Every morning, I want to pick all these cares back up, and worry about the outcomes. I want to do all the hard work to make them what I think they are supposed to be. But every morning, I have to give them back over to Him.
So, in a full-circle kind of way, anxiety brings me closer to Jesus. Just like a recovering alcoholic will always be tempted to go back to drinking, the recovering anxious will always be tempted to pick it all back up and take it upon themselves. Even if you don’t have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, it’s likely that you can identify with this cycle of anxiety.
From this daily relinquishing is born the process of living an intentional life. We can be intentional with laying down our anxiety, and when we do, we can thrive.
What other areas of our lives can we be more intentional?
In my latest book, Numbering Our Days: Combating Anxiety in the Power of Small Intentional Moments, I address the issue of anxiety and the role it plays in our lives. There are 49 devotions of daily reading intended to provoke thought. Each anecdote is meant to give you a jumping-off point to what you can do in your own life in order to live with intention. It will start as a conscious decision, a day-to-day choice to be intentional. But as you get more in the habit of choosing daily intentions, it will become a part of your life.
Psalm 90:12 cries out, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” This verse and the five that follow in that Psalm can become your theme for an intentional life. For when we see each day as a gift when we see that we have a limited number of these twenty-four-hour opportunities, we have more of a desire to make them count. If you want to live a life of purpose, you have to live each day with intention. A purposeful life is made up of thousands of days, each one driven by the decision to be intentional. /h
Step-by-Step Intentions
Because a day in your own life is made up of a myriad of different parts, let’s separate those parts of the day so that we can focus better on each one. This isn’t something to obsess over and worry about getting right; instead, like everything else in life, it’s about keeping a balance. See it as a practice and not something to get perfect.
You were placed on this earth for a certain number of days. Time is precious, and you don’t want to waste it. You desire a life that has meaning and purpose. But your day is filled with dishes, laundry, carpooling, the nine-to-five, texts to respond to, soccer practice, and bedtime routines. You say you want a life that matters, but how do you do that in the middle of … life? With so many areas of everyday life in maintenance mode, there isn’t a lot of growth or improvement. And it’s not because you don’t want it, but with the rush of life, it often gets set to the side for another day. When this becomes our existence, day after day, we will find that we have lived a series of months, even years, unintentionally.
- How can one stop the cycle of mindless living?
- How do we start to live each day intentionally?
- We start small.
- We look for purpose in the small moments of living and seek Jesus in the center of each of them.
Find More Resources
Coupled with the book are additional resources for addressing anxiety in our daily lives.
The Intentional Life – www.livewithintent.org
Instagram and Facebook @mrs_nichole_suvar.
LINK FOR THE BOOK: https://bit.ly/numberingourdays
Pastor’s Wife (retired) & Chronic Pain Warrior blogs about how to make it through anything by relating her own life experiences to her writing. She is passionate about her love for the Lord and desires to spread that passion to others. She has a great desire to encourage women who are following behind her.
