Intentionality

It's the New Year. 2011. For some time now a lot of ideas have been brewing in my mind and heart. As with every beginning of a New Year it seems to be a good time to put those ideas into practice in my life. Resolutions. Perhaps made to be broken, but worth the effort just the same. I consider this poem:
 A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
    Life is but an empty dream! — 
  For the soul is dead that slumbers,
    And things are not what they seem.
  Life is real! Life is earnest!
    And the grave is not its goal;
  Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
    Was not spoken of the soul.
  Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
    Is our destined end or way;
  But to act, that each to-morrow
    Find us farther than to-day.
  Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
    And our hearts, though stout and brave,
  Still, like muffled drums, are beating
    Funeral marches to the grave.
  In the world's broad field of battle,
    In the bivouac of Life,
  Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
    Be a hero in the strife!
  Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
    Let the dead Past bury its dead!
  Act, — act in the living Present!
    Heart within, and God o'erhead!
  Lives of great men all remind us
    We can make our lives sublime,
  And, departing, leave behind us
    Footprints on the sands of time;
  Footprints, that perhaps another,
    Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
  A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
    Seeing, shall take heart again.
  Let us, then, be up and doing,
    With a heart for any fate;
  Still achieving, still pursuing,
    Learn to labor and to wait. 

It was my daughters favorite and now mine also.  It seems to me to apply to what James was talking about when he told us our faith is dead without our works. God wants us doing things! No matter the fate. And the kinds of things He wants us to do will encourage others over life's solemn main. 
As a believer ultimately I want all the things I do to point to Jesus- the reason we can have hope in this life and look forward to eternity. 
I recently heard about a woman who took her inheritance from her father and committed to giving away $100.00 dollars a day for a year to a different charity every day. And then she blogged about her experience.
I thought that was such a wonderful idea. I will search for her blog and maybe link to it later when I learn how to do that stuff. So that idea of hers started brewing in my mind with James and Henry and the idea of living more intentionally. You can probably see where this is going... I thought, why not take that idea and transfer it over to being busy for God every day? And I think that keeping a blog about it will help me to be more intentional and perhaps share the story with someone who may be encouraged. So my resolution this year is to do something loving or encouraging for someone every day of the year and then write about it here. I don't want to do this to make myself look like a nice person. We can all do nice things. Random acts of kindness are fantastic and the world needs more of them. But my motivation here is a bit different. I want people to see Jesus. His great love for all of us. That is why James tells us to live out our faith. How will people see Christ if we are busy living like the world? What is it all about? I hope along this journey I learn to be more giving and loving. I hope it will take my mind off of myself. I hope I will become an encouragement and a blessing to someone each day BECAUSE of Christs love.

Found the link to the lady who inspired this idea for a blog:
http://whatgives365.wordpress.com/