Women of Intention Week One: Intentional Faith

Welcome to week one of the series, Women of Intention! Over the next fifteen weeks, Maple Alps will feature a woman who will talk about intentionality in specific areas in her life. We are all so glad you've decided to stop by! For more information, and a list of topics, visit our introduction post HERE. 

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This Week's Intentional Woman:

It was so fun and inspiring getting to know Kayla from The Accidental Nomad Life! As you will soon find out, she is an open and honest, sincere and serving soul who seeks (with a lot of enthusiasm!) to encourage and inspire others.

I am so excited to share her interview with all of you today! She will be sharing her thoughts and experience living and maintaining a life of intentional growing faith. 

Once you're done reading, be sure to not only check out her blog, but share your thoughts (and if you want, the post too!).

Find Kayla on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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Tell us a bit about yourself: What are you passions, work and interests?

Well I'll start with work since I don't "work" haha! I have the privilege of being at home full time with my three boys so I guess a big passion of mine is naturally to raise my children, but even more to raise them up to be men of God. My heart's prayer is that they would be men like Paul - wise, passionate, relentless men that stand up for all the things of Christ. Outside of that, my passions and interests always criss-cross a little. I have a passion for missions but no calling to go so I often find myself supporting missions through my design work. I love designing!! I love artsy things, scrapbooking, stamping, rearranging my house (seriously this is one of my biggest hobbies! haha!), gardening is a new one for me -  I'm planting a really big garden this spring and I am sooooooooooo excited for it!!! I also have a passion for people in general. I have the gift of encouragement and I ADORE using it, it works well with my love language of giving. 

How do you intentionally live a faith-filled life? Did you always live this way, or was it/is it a process?

It's kind of a process. My heart always wanted to but I had to do a lot of searching. I don’t know that I can say confidently that, "Yes, I am intentionally living a faith-filled life…" I have a lot of flaws and roadblocks that I am still working through, but I feel like my heart is in the right place. I think the main thing is to keep your focus heaven-ward. Focus on living for the end and for the work for Christ. I'm still not good at spending time each and every day in the Word, but the things that I do outside of that, I look for Christ in. I try to measure what I'm doing to what the Scriptures say. If it doesn't line up, it's really not important. It is hard to check everything every day, but that is also a process. 

What is the hardest part about living your faith? The easiest?

For me, the hardest part of my faith has been working through my identity process; finding out who I was in Christ all over again as a young adult. This had a hand in my anger which is what I struggle with the greatest. There is definitely a place for anger as a Christ follower, but I have a tendency to react out of my anger which makes it wrong.

The easiest part, I would probably have to say, is my love language and spiritual gift. I love encouraging people and offering hospitality out of that and my love language criss-crosses that through gifting in hospitality; opening our home regularly for game nights or youth group kids or whatever it might be. My favourite part about this is that my husband is gifted in the same way so we can work together side-by-side to host and serve together!

I love how you have a creative journalling Bible and how you make your experiences in God’s Word so personal and creative. How does this tie into your intentional faith?

It has freed me to be who my Heavenly Father created me to be. I can spend time in His Word and hear Him speak to me while connecting with a passion that He put in my heart which I think is so very beautiful. I just love that our generation has found ways to do just that: connect with the Father in ways that He gifted us and instilled in us. What a fun God we serve!!! 

What practical advice would you give someone who is struggling in this area of their life?

Keep working! Search your heart, find the things one by one that you are struggling with and give them to Him one by one. Jesus took on everyone's sin all at once but since we are merely finite humans, we can only do things bit by bit. Baby steps. I want you to know that THAT'S OK!!!! Rome wasn't built in a day - (haha - so cliché but I love it!) maybe you have a lot to work through. Jesus is still there, He's still proud of you and he's NOT going to leave you. So just keep your heart in the direction of serving Him and focused on Him and bit by bit you will make it through.

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What about you? Do you live, or strive to live, a faith-filled life? Why don't you tell us about it in the comments, or connect with us on social media?

(Don't forget to use the hashtag #WomenOfIntention16 so no one misses it!)

Women of Intention

I am so excited to introduce you to the new series, "Women of Intention!" Maple Alps is a faith-based lifestyle blog focused on living intentionally, simply and content. The goal is to present these principles to our readers in a practical way. 

Over the next fifteen weeks (check every Monday morning!), Maple Alps will feature a woman who will talk about intentionality in specific areas in her life. These areas will include faith, relationships, lifestyle, finances and health (scroll to the bottom to see a complete list).

It has been so exciting getting to know the amazing women being interviewed, and I hope you will be as inspired and motivated by their stories and insights as I have been.

We want to grow the community of intentionality. Please feel free to add and share throughout the next fifteen weeks as we explore the topics being discussed. You can do this through commenting on the interview posts, or engaging and sharing via social media - commenting or posting! We would love to see how you're finding intentionality in your lives. Go ahead and use the hashtag #WomenOfIntention16 on your tweets or posts to make sure everyone sees it and can be inspired too :)

Keep up with the posts every Monday morning, or keep checking back to this post, where I will list the links are they are posted. Please note, that order of topics is subject to change.

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Week One: Faith

Week Two: Clean Eating

Week Three: Romantic Relationships

 Week Four: Family

Week Five: Motherhood

Week Six: Fitness

Week Seven: Simple Living

Week Eight: Faith

Week Nine: Friendships

Week Ten: Simple Living

Week Eleven: Mental Health

Week Twelve: Finances

Week Thirteen: Cross-generational Relationships/Mentorship

Week Fourteen: Health

Week Fifteen: Biblical Womanhood

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Are you practicing intentionality in your life, or striving for it? Were you especially inspired a featured blogger? Are you excited for this series? Why don't you tell us and everyone you know about it? There are likely many readers who share the same thoughts.

Tweet about it, post on Instagram or Facebook - wherever you want - and use the hashtag #WomenOfIntention16 to interact with the small community of like-minded readers! I know that everyone involved would love to hear from you! 

The Truth About Long Distance Relationships

I don't know that I’m a master of long distance relationships, but the truth of it is, I’ve been in all sorts of them for years. I went to school abroad, which means my family was always a long distance away (not to mention my close friends) and I dated an Austrian long distance for 3 years (which ended, thankfully, in marriage! Bam! Didn’t see that one coming, did you?). After that, we moved to a place where none of our family or close childhood friends live. So, long distance relationships are kind of my life.

I’ve been meaning to write about this for some time (even before Maple Alps was born), and after several different requests, I’ve finally decided to sit down and write out a few thoughts. Later, I’ll post some practical ways to deal with long distance relationships, but today, I wanted to share the things Long Distance taught and solidified in me.

Note: In today’s post, when I address long distance, I will be talking about all sorts of relationships - not exclusively dating ones. But don’t worry, we’ll get to those ;-)

Communication is Much More than Words

You have probably heard that communication is only 7% verbal (a 'fact' being questioned), but the main point is, regardless of the numbers, communication is more nonverbal than verbal. I'm not dismissing a good letter or phone call (both important means of communicating long distance), but thankfully, we now have Skype and FaceTime.

Be Thankful for the Season You Are In

There were times when it was frustrating that I could not just drive a few minutes and be at the door of someone I knew well. But I learned to be thankful for the season I was in and embraced it! Taking time to meet new people, make new friends and explore my borders was worth it

Be Independent and Be You

It was kind of shocking to find myself in a place where none of my family history or current associations were known. I didn’t have anyone’s preconceived ideas of who or what I should be based on where I was from, and was able to really find who I was in the Lord. When you don’t have your friends, family or significant other around as a crutch, you have to just be...you (gasp!). I mean, who else will you be? Some lose their sense of identity, but instead of letting this happen, why not take advantage of it and find out who you are? I struggled with this for a short time, but I soon found a sense of freedom. Now that I've established myself as an individual, I have no problem just being me.

Things Change When You're Away

Things are never as you left them. Siblings grow taller and more mature, parents sprout a few more grey hairs, grandparents slow down, and friends make new friends. People move. People die. People give birth. When I realized that not all changes were pleasant, and hardly any of them were expected, it helped to remember that I had changed a lot too.

We Are All in a Long Distance Relationship

With the one who loves us the most. With our Creator, Redeemer and Best Friend. This was one of the things that hit me the hardest while going through this process. I always wondered how I could have such a close relationship with someone I never saw, and it wasn’t until I moved away from those I love that I understood. God loves us so much and wants a real relationship with us! The effort that goes into maintaining my other [long distance] relationships should be dim in comparison with the efforts with Him. The one thing that's different about this relationship, though, is that He never is actually far away. 

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So the truth about long distance relationships is basically that they're awful and awesome at the same time. Then again, everything is what you make it. That is to say: you get out what you put in!

What about you? Are you, or have you been, in a long distance relationship? What did you learn?

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Fun Things to do on a Budget

Have you ever experienced one of those months where it seemed that everyone and their dog needed a payment from you? This month has been one of those months. Car registration was due on top of accountant fees and insurance renewal. Our car also needed some fixing - and all of this on top of our regular expenses. Since we only live on one income, it was a tad hurtful. Thankfully we knew it was coming, and God provides!

Since we are trying to save money (maybe to retire...but maybe because we haven't gone on a honeymoon yet...), we put ourselves on a more strict budget this month. 

Because we were long distance for so long, J and I often joke that we got married in order to go on dates. Part of our strict budget was completely nixing going out, so we had to be creative when planning extra activities to do together (I say extra because even though we see each other so much, it's not focused on us). I thought I'd share a few of these extras with you today. They're nothing new, but could spark other creative ideas!

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Cook Together 

Try a new recipe or teach each other a specialty (preferably with ingredients you already have - remember we like saving money!). Bonus points if you clean the kitchen afterwards too! I usually cook alone, so it's nice to have a partner every once in a while. The other night, we made fresh spring rolls and peanut sauce - they were terribly ugly, but tasted delicious. More importantly, we had a blast!

Go For a Walk

Kill two birds with one stone: get in some exercise and connect with each other. We live along a river, so this is something we do often! If you have bikes, a bike ride could be fun too.

Window Shopping at the Mall

This may not work for everyone, but it could if you left all of your money at home. It also helps to have an accountability partner. I'm personally great at window shopping - even at Target - and I like to do it on rainy days.

Movie Night

Pick a movie you already have, or rent one from iTunes. It is much cheaper than going to the theatre - plus you get to wear your sweatpants and don't have to smuggle in a water bottle. Win!

Bowl on a Week Night

It's generally cheaper and less crowded too! Bonus: If there are just two of you, an hour goes a long way. You can also check if your local alley has a discount night and take advantage of it. 

Do A Shared Hobby

If you don't have a shared one, why not explore a new one?

Dress Up for a Night In

Cook a candlelit dinner of....spaghetti (hello, frugal!) and eat it off of your best plates in your best outfits. Optional Awesomeness: Play some music in the background and reenact the famous Lady & the Tramp scene. 

Play a Game

Pull a board game off the shelf and have some fun! If you truly want to test your relationship, start a game of Monopoly (grab it here on Amazon). We personally enjoy Monopoly Deal (grab it here on Amazon!) - all the fun of Monopoly in a fourth of the time. You could always make up a game or call some friends over for a round of Scattergories (grab it here on Amazon!).

Speaking of Friends...

Organize a get-together. You were going to cook anyway. Tell everyone to bring a dish and feast all together.

Picnic

This just reminded me that we have a beautiful picnic basket that needs to be used! Who doesn't love to picnic? If it's too cold to outside, set up on the living room floor. You could even make a blanket fort or teepee to sit in :) 

Enjoy a Get-Away....In!

Sometimes all you need is a change in surroundings. Camp out in the living room (that blanket fort could definitely be an option), or convert your guest room into a five star hotel room. Why not?

Check Groupon

Seriously. Sometimes there are some really worthwhile activities or restaurant coupons on Groupon! This wouldn't work for us this month because we decided to spend zero, but maybe next month?

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Who said you had to spend a lot to have fun? We also enjoy volunteering, and honestly, an evening relaxing on the couch (even if we're both doing different things) is fun enough to us! 

What are some ways you have fun on a budget?

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