31 Days :: {19} :: intention, part 3

Hey there friends! thanks for stopping by! You've found us at Day 19 of my 31 Days series on Celebrating Life. If you'd like to see all the other posts so far, you'll find the introduction here {includes post-list at the bottom} or the posts all here :) 

Soo.. the story is here, part 1 is here, and part 2 here. I thiiink this will be the last part. ;)

So you may have read the other posts, and been like, Emma, this is cool, but I thought that your series was about celebrating life, not living with intention. Please please explain exactly how this connects. And so that's what I'm hoping to do today. 

We are not, by nature, thankful people. Because of our sin nature, we will not, unintentionally, give thanks, which is, incidentally at the root of celebrating life. {did you catch that? sorry for the run-on sentence.}

We celebrate life as a way to say thank-you for each glorious moment - because even the 'un-glorious' moments, truly are glorious. We celebrate as a way to say thank-you when we live life fully, making the most of this sensational gift of life. 

Here's what Shauna has to say:

"I live according to my faith when I love a meal that has been prepared carefully, when I notice texture and color and taste, when I let the flavor and scent of something fresh from the ground surprise me and bring me back to life. I demonstrate my theology when I dance all night with people I love, because this life is worth the best celebration we can offer up to it. I thank God every time I eat crusty bread and garlicky olives, and when I smell clean laundry and hear that little squeak of fingers on a guitar. For me, what God said when he made the world is a prayer: It is good. This world, it is good. The beauty of a perfect green apple is good. The first steps of a child are good. Watching my grandparents dance in their kitchen is good. It is good. 

I have to remind myself that it is good. I have to create hope in my life, because there's something inside me that has radar for the bad parts of life. I walk into the kitchen and all I can see are crumbs on the counter, and I look in the mirror and don't even see my face, I just see all the potential wrinkles forming. I have a dark, worst-case scenario sensor, and it takes over."

{And here's where it's really hard. Because that thought continues and it's really amazing but I can't put her whole book here {otherwise I would, because I love it so much, and I think everyone should read it!!} so I have to pick somewhere to stop, but please go and read the next couple of paragraphs right here. She has so much beautiful to say about this!} {Or you could read the whole chapter... I think I underlined every word of it in my copy.}}

"When I live purposefully and well, when I dance instead of sitting it out, when I let myself laugh hard, when I wear my favorite shoes on a regular Tuesday, that regular Tuesday is better." ~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

 

So, in conclusion: to celebrate requires a conscious choice. To make that choice, you need intention. Celebrating is a way to say thank-you to God. He loves it when we celebrate life! 

But how many times do you walk past that clean laundry without noticing the scent? How many times do you eat good food without really tasting it? It takes intention to see all those things. Practice it! :) 

love emma

linking up with Chantel and Elizabeth :)