Penevski Place

I'm not one for really making new years resolutions but I've spent more time this year reflecting on 2012 and dreaming about 2013 both on my own and with the hubby than I have done before. I didn't set any resolutions but I did find that I had a word repeatedly floating round my head. I want to be intentional in 2013. To live intentionally in how I spend my time, money, who I invest in, the kind of conversations I have. In mentoring this is one of the buzz words used but really I'm not sure it should be limited to mentoring. I think intentionality is a way of life. Jesus was intentional in his life and his ministry, nothing happened by accident. The relationships he built, the disciples he invested in, his actions, words and behaviour all had a purpose. Ours should have too, with the aim to share the love of God with everyone we meet. It's easy for the days, weeks and months to slip by, the routine happens, the to-do list gets done but if we don't live intentionally we miss the purpose behind what we do. I want to be intentional in the way I manage my time so that life is more balanced, in the way I do relationships so that I see friends that are important to me and live further away and that I pray about who to intentionally mentor. But none of that matters if I'm not being intentional about my relationship with God. God has to come before everything else... So how intentionally are you living?

Those of you who know me well will know that I love stationary - I know, weird right? I just love how you can be creative with it, how it helps organize you and how you can personalise it. I love doodling and anything remotely creative and stationary is just one of those things that I've always been drawn towards. I collected rubbers as a kid and loved organisers such as FunFax. As I got older I've gone from FunFax to Filofax and have stumbled upon a community of people who understand my love of stationary and filofaxes.

Philofaxy is a community of Filofax lovers and I LOVE reading the posts, the web finds and the hints and tips. One of the posts I was reading mentioned that Home Sense has filofaxes in stock at the mo. Well Home Sense is literally at the bottom of my road and so today I took a wander down but without much hope cos previously they've never had many. I was in heaven! They had more filo's than WH Smiths or Rymans does in town and they were different ones, ones I've never seen in the flesh before. As I took them out of their boxes I could feel and smell the soft leather and found that I liked ones that I'd presumed that I wouldn't.

My favourites were the Chameleon and the Finchley. I'd have loved to have seen a Malden tho!

I was so proud of myself, much as the prices were great and they were all lush, I walked away. I couldn't justify the money or work out what I'd use it for if I were to get one. I currently use 2 A5 filofaxes, one as my diary and one as my journal. My journal needs a lot of work but I love my diary set up. I've debated for a long time using a Filofax as a wallet but have never taken the plunge.

While I was so good in walking away I have since failed and have spent the evening googling filofax wallet set ups finding mixed reviews. Oooo it's so tempting!

Summer feels like its finally here, the sun is shining, there's not a cloud in the sky, there's the sound of grass being cut and the smell of BBQ's being cooked. We've had friends round for a BBQ this evening and then taken all the dogs to Ashton Court and flew the kite. Really nice to have the space to do this, feel very content with life!

Day 2 at Lea Abbey and the day started with breakfast on the beach! The sun shone (unlike yesterday) and we sat on the rocks on the beach, did a bible study, sang some worship songs and shared communion all the time enjoying God's amazing creation. The sun, the sound of the waves lapping and the seagulls squawking. One of those moments when you want to enjoy the moment and hope it just goes on and on. And then to finish it we fried fish and shared that ... mmm breakfast on the beach - bet Jesus didn't cook it in quite the same way!