intentionalliving

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

My Daily Musings-Feb.20th, 2026

I was listening to a regency romance audiobook recently—Winning the Gentleman by Kristi Ann Hunter—when a line stopped me in my tracks.

One of the characters told his sister before bed,
“Rest now and cast your worries upon God. He can hold them while you sleep. And when you wake, we’ll ask Him what we should do.”

As someone who tends to worry—sometimes most of all at night—those words settled deep in my heart.

How often do I lay my head on my pillow while still gripping the weight of the day?
How often do I try to solve tomorrow’s problems in the dark?

I am a firm believer in the power of prayer. I have felt my Heavenly Father’s presence most strongly when I am speaking to Him—honestly, vulnerably, sometimes tearfully. And yet, even knowing that, I still sometimes carry my worries into sleep as if they are mine alone to manage.

But what if they aren’t?

I love the image of placing my concerns into His capable hands before I close my eyes. I can picture Him carrying my burdens on His big and strong shoulders while I rest. The problems don’t vanish—but they are no longer only mine.

What might change in our hearts if we truly believed God could hold our worries better than we can?
What if our nighttime prayers became an act of surrender instead of a last-minute plea for relief?

There is something so comforting about the second half of that quote too: “When you wake, we’ll ask Him what we should do.” Not panic. Not strategize alone. Not spiral. Ask Him.

I think I need to involve Him more—not just in the emergencies, not just in the big decisions, but in the quiet in-between moments. He already knows how I’m feeling. He already knows the way through my stresses and worries. He is not surprised by them, nor overwhelmed by them.

Tonight, I want to practice something different.
To speak my worries out loud in prayer.
To consciously hand them over.
To trust that while I sleep, He is still working.

And in the morning, instead of reaching first for my fears, I want to reach for Him.

Because I was never meant to carry it all through the night alone. 🌙

My Daily Musings-Feb.19th, 2026

On Sunday, my family was chatting online like we usually do. My dad asked us a question that has stayed with me all week: What things have brought you success in your life?

We talked about many things, but one theme kept rising to the surface—kindness. Kindness to others. Kindness to ourselves. Sympathy. Empathy.

My husband said something that really struck me: We should be kind because everyone is fighting their own battle. That thought alone could change the way we speak, respond, and show up for one another.

My sister asked an important question: What is the difference between sympathy and empathy? I looked it up. Sympathy is “feeling for” someone—saying, I see that you’re hurting. Empathy is “feeling with” someone—saying, I feel your pain, and then sitting beside them in it.

That difference feels small in wording but powerful in practice.

When someone I love is hurting, do I try to fix it—or do I sit with them in it?
How can I practice more empathy in my daily conversations?

I want to choose empathy more often. I want to be someone who doesn’t rush past pain or try to tidy it up with quick words, but instead stays. Listens. Holds space. Truly feels with.

And maybe as we sit with others in their hard moments, we build the kind of relationships where, when our own hard days come, someone will sit with us too.

Sometimes the greatest success in life isn’t what we achieve—it’s how deeply we love.