Routines

We are big fans of keeping routines.

Doing something at the same time, in a similar way day after day is good for us. It keeps us consistent and fosters our growth.

Take for example our morning routine:

• Wake up
• Coffee is ready to drink
• Our chairs are ready to be sat in
• Our coffee coasters are ready to hold our coffee
• Our bibles are near our chairs ready to be read
• Our journals are ready to be journaled in
• Our pens are always never where our journal is...(we should really do something about that)
• Our books are ready to be read after we finish our devotions and journaling

Now...don't get us wrong...we are NOT PERFECT. We get out of our routines, slack off and get lazy like everyone else...

But more and more, we are beginning to realize what novelist Susan Howatch meant when she said, "The road to hell is often paved with good intentions". I tell my students all the time..."Good intentions are not enough. Obedience out of love for God is the mark of our discipleship." We feel we are obedient when we give God the start of our day...when we let Him define our day, help us reflect, and point us towards Himself. A famous marathon runner once said, "endurance is the mark of consistency"...We want to have an enduring faith in Jesus. We do that by building routines into our lives which cultivate consistant obedience. It's what Eugene Pederson calls, "a long walk in the same direction". That's what we want...a long walk in the direction of Christ.

Today...we had our morning routine...and it was GOOD.