… sometimes our routines get messed up and we have to make new plans – even if we like the old plans!
I like to create processes that take the thought out of action. I bet you do too.
- Wake up
- Take a shower
- Brush my teeth
- Comb my hair
I’ll bet your morning has a similar cadence to it. Maybe not the same sequence or timing, but the same elements come in there.
The routine means that I don’t have to wonder what I’m going to do every morning when I wake. It means I have confidence that I won’t miss an important step. I know what they are and how I’m going to do all the things that matter.
Are you with me? Can you relate?
So what does it mean when I don’t follow the routine?
Generally it means that something has disrupted my life and thrown me out of the rhythm of what I’ve been doing. Some outside force is keeping me from stepping into the routine I’ve established.
Yep, that’s what this is all about.
Normally I have a routine set up to send an email first thing Sunday morning. But this is going on several weeks now where I’ve not really done that.
What’s challenging my routine?
Well, for one, health. A couple weeks ago, I managed to get infected with the Scourge of our Era. Yes. The Covid bug came to visit my house. Not sure how it happened, since I live a fairly isolated life (work from home). But I managed to get it.
My experience was like a bad cold. But that was enough to really throw me off my game. I’m on the mend, and trying to get back in the rhythm that does what I want. But it may be a few more weeks before I’m totally there.
I’m fighting through. Last week I didn’t have the mental energy to even write. So the fact that I’m even writing today (albeit late), is a good sign.
But that’s just one thing that has thrown me off my rhythm. And to be honest, it’s the more temporary of the things I see on the horizon.
Here’s a peek into a part of my life that I don’t often share.
I got a promotion at work.
I write as a part-time hobby. I’ve dreamed and thought about doing more than that. But it takes a lot of work. Behind all of that I have a full time career working in software development.
I’ve loved computers since I was a kid and I got my first home computer. I think it was a Tandy 64 back in like 1983. It was so basic that the programs I wrote had to be saved to a cassette tape (how bad is it that I have to use one defunct technology to explain another defunct technology?). It was so cutting edge then – it had 40MB of memory (who would ever need more than that?).
Ah, fond memories. My first program was to mess with the graphics and display the message “I love Jesus” on the screen in big colored letters.
I’ve come a long way since then. And with the changes in my role coming up, I think I’m going to have even less time and (mental) energy. So this is also pressing on my “old” routine and time allocation.
I don’t want to give up on connecting with you. I do want to keep talking about God’s Word and how we grow spiritually.
I’ll bet many of you wrestle with the same thing. How to allocate time to spiritual matters when life keeps making bigger and bigger demands?
Let’s take that journey together. I’m all about learning and sharing. So I think this is something that we can do as a team.
This will be about the tension between these 2 statements:
- Make Plans
- Follow God
Sometimes they don’t align. So we’ll work on sorting that out.
If this is what you are wrestling with, send me a bit of encouragement by replying and say “me too” – or tell me a bit of the story you’re wrestling with.
Until next week (God willing),
Dennis
