Being Intentional

Yesterday I was in Publix and saw a man with his son. The little boy was probably 4, maybe 5 years old. As they were walking in, the boy pointed to the two race car shaped shopping carts that were sitting unused along with all the other carts, and asked to ride in one of them. The dad, with no hesitation, said "No, it has a flat tire, we are going to use this one," grabbed a regular cart and put his son in it.

Let me be the first to say, these things are terrible. They are like pushing around a bus. They are hard to turn and even harder to try to maneuver around the grocery store. However, Cooper loves to ride in them, so if there is one available when I go to Publix and he is with me I let him ride in it. Is it irritating to try to push the big 'ole cart around Publix? Yes. Is it a big deal for me to let Cooper ride in the cart and get over my selfishness? Absolutely not, because who knows, that may be the last time I get the chance to push Cooper in a shopping cart.

Now I am not, by any means, a perfect dad. Most of the time I am learning on the go, as I try to balance fun with discipline with general life lessons to a 2, almost 3 year old little boy. But you see, I am molding Cooper into the man he is going to be, whether I intentionally do it or not. I am also, hopefully, teaching Cooper how he should be a a husband to his wife and a dad to his children. He is going to be that man/husband/father sooner than I want to admit, so I have to act now. I have to be intentional with the things that I do with Cooper. That doesn't mean that everything has to be fun and games, but it does mean that when the opportunity presents itself, I must take full advantage of it. I must be intentional in how I treat Cooper and his mom. I must be intentional in taking advantage of opportunities that I have to mold Cooper, whether that's with fun or with discipline. And I must be intentional about creating opportunities to raise Cooper into the man and dad that God intends us to be.

What are some of the things your mom or dad did with you that have left a lasting impression?

Fearless by Max Lucado

Fear is something that, at some point in our lives, we all deal with. Whether it is the fear of losing our job, the fear of what the economy may bring, or the fear of sickness, we all, at some point have it. In Max Lucado’s new book, Fearless, Lucado outlines why there’s hope and what we can rest in instead of our fear.

This is a very easy read and I definitely enjoyed reading it. I especially enjoyed how Mr. Lucado wove in Biblical examples to get his message across. I felt, however, that the message was covered early on in the book and then repeated. I also felt that the book did not challenge my thinking as I had hoped it would. If you are looking for something that is challenging, this may be the book you are looking for. If you are, however, looking for a book that is easy to read, with a very good message, I would definitely recommend it and you can find it here.

I reviewed this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger program. To see other reviews of this and other books, or if you would like to join this program go to http://brb.thomasnelson.com.