Being Intentional

This morning I managed to sneak in a few minutes of reading. Yes, I said reading. An actual book. For those of you who know me well, this is quite uncommon. I have many factors that work against me when it comes to reading books (of the chapter kind...I spend plenty of time reading picture books and my Bible). First, I have kids that keep me extremely busy. Add to that a house and husband to care for. Top that with my attention span which equals that of a gnat. And the cherry on top is that I have never been much of a reader and have a hard time finding a book I like. This has lead to me opening, but never finishing, countless books. The book that has been beside my bed for several months now is about mothering.....shocker, I know. It is one of those books that I could read over and over again without getting bored. Every short chapter has something that I can connect with. Many times, I find myself in tears as I read through the stories and advice that the mother/author of this book gives.


This morning was yet another morning of tear-filled reading. As I read, I was reminded of how quickly these early years of mothering will pass. My kids, as trying/needy/dependent/etc./etc. as they can be, will only be this way for so long. I want to stop time. I want to cherish every.single.moment of these precious years. I know I can't do that though, so my hope is to be more intentional with the time I have. Not only do I want to be intentional about how we spend these days, but I also want to make certain that I document as much as I can so that years down the road we'll have plenty of ways to remember these days that can often be a blur. Having said that, I am making a list of the ways I plan to be more intentional with capturing our memories.

1. Blog more: This blog is not only a great way to keep family/friends updated, but it also serves as a means of documenting the days and years that are quickly flying by. I love to look back on former posts just to remember what was going on during a certain season of our lives.

2. Take more videos: In this age of technology, we are so lucky to have a way to record everything from the ordinary to the extraordinary moments of child rearing. Some of my favorite videos are ones that I've filmed of the kids just being themselves on a typical day.

3. Journal more: For Mother's Day, I received a journal for each kid. It's not a baby book, just a journal filled with blank pages. I want to fill those pages with all of the milestones, phrases, and moments that make this journey so memorable.

4. Scrapbook: I've never been one to get hooked on traditional scrapbooking, but I really enjoy using the computer. I hope to become more familiar with my digital scrapbooking software and start using it much more frequently. I certainly take enough pictures, so I shouldn't have a problem finding scrapbooking ideas!

Well, there you have it. My list of 4 (huge and seemingly impossible-to-keep-up-with) goals. I will try, and in the back of my mind I'll remember the quote I read from my book this morning:

"Consciously or not, we are always making memories for our children. We can aim for making a quilt of memories that, little by little, creates in our children a sense of belonging, or what it means to be a family, of security and continuity of life."