Lately, I have come to a point where I am more tired than I am rested, I am more stressed than I am calm and I seem to always be wondering where the time went. This is to be expected because I am in the craziness that is sophomore year of college. However, I have recently been reminded of how important it is, in the midst of this craziness, to continue to be intentional in all aspects of my life.

So what does it look like to be intentional? It means asking your roommates how their day is really going instead of just settling for "good." It means actually making plans to go out and get coffee with that friend that you don't see as much anymore instead of just constantly saying "we need to hang out." It means actually taking a couple of minutes out of your day to pray for that person that you half-heartedly promised you would pray for. It means either finding a way to wake up earlier or bringing yourself to go to bed later in order to spend even just 20 minutes reading your bible everyday.

In times of stress and busyness, it's so easy to let yourself get consumed by what homework you have to do or what test you need to study for or how well you need to do on that big project coming up. It becomes easy to go through life just waiting for the sweet relief of Friday, but what about Monday through Thursday? Shouldn't all of our days be filled with joy despite the unavoidable stress? Shouldn't we be able to go to bed each night knowing that we gave each person, each conversation and each moment our all?

I have come to realize that we really do get out what we put in to every situation. We have to intentionally love people, we have to intentionally exercise our faith and we have to intentionally create joy in our own lives. Being intentional is fundamental to experiencing any sort of growth, relationally, emotionally and spiritually. So this week, I encourage you to get deeper in your conversations, make time for those that you care about, make prayer and devotion a priority in your life, have some "you" time and allow yourself to experience the joy that comes from being intentional.