Tag: rhythm of life

What Does a Jesus Schedule Look Like?

6:00 – 6:18 a.m. Brush teeth, put on sandals and robe, sit by lake

6:19- 6:33 a.m. Pray, using A.C.T.S.*

6:34 – 6:45 a.m. Review memorized Torah

6:55 – 7:00 Write in journal

7:00 Wake disciples for breakfast

Can you picture Jesus’ handler scurrying along behind Him with a clipboard trying to keep Him on task? I don’t think so.

Jesus had a healthy rhythm of life, but He didn’t have a strict schedule.

He engaged, and disengaged. He poured out and filled up.

He had regular practices, but He wasn’t legalistic about them.

Jesus was busy, but never hurried.

He valued children over check-lists.

This morning, as I write, I’ve spent a little time in Scripture, but I’m also multi-tasking…texting with a couple of people, stopping to pray for my daughter, and friends as they come to mind.

Does Jesus want my devotion, my undivided attention? Yes.

Does He give grace for prayer that’s a bit scattered and interruptions to my time in His Word? Yes.

Don’t get me wrong! I see the value of a morning routine!

One of the keys to the “with God” life is paying attention. If we start our day focused on Him, maybe we will be more likely to be aware of His presence while changing diapers, or at work, or fixing dinner, or at the coffee shop with a friend who is hurting.

If you have a special, comfy chair where you try to start each day with a cup of coffee and devotions of some sort, that’s fantastic! Even if you have toddlers who interrupt you, they are seeing what’s important to you.

However, different seasons of life have more or less discretionary time first thing in the morning. Your rhythm and routine may look different when you’re 24 and when you’re 42, but it takes intention. It doesn’t just happen.

Years ago, a mentor of mine told me “You may think it’s hard to carve out time with Jesus while your kids are little (and it is!), but there will always be things vying for your attention, so fight hard for the discipline of a healthy rhythm, but also give yourself grace.”

  • Maybe you’ll lay hands on your kids at the bus stop and pray a blessing over them.
  • Maybe you’ll take a walk and pray for your neighborhood.
  • Maybe you’ll meditate on a verse you’ve taped over the sink so you see it as you do the dishes.
  • Maybe you’ll read the same Psalm every day for a week, noting the characteristics of God.
  • Maybe you’ll do your Bible study as you sit in the carpool line at soccer waiting to pick up your kids.
  • Maybe you’ll be surprised by Jesus, recognizing Him in the way someone serves you.

Jesus doesn’t want part of your life. He wants the whole messy and beautiful and beloved thing.

So…a couple of questions to close:

  • What does your spiritual rhythm look like in this season?
  • What helps you to pay attention to the character and work of God in and through you?

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts (they are super valuable to all of us!). If you subscribe to this blog, just click on the title and it will take you to my website. Scroll down to leave a comment. Remember, if you’re posting a comment for the first time it won’t show up right away, but be patient…it will!

*Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication

What I’m Not Reading

I’m home.  Home to my little house in my “Mayberry” neighborhood and my community filled with people who cheer and frustrate, and are broken and in the process of being put back together just like me.

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The past two months have been rich and stimulating and very, very full.  Full of new relationships and places and ideas, and stories and prayers and intense conversations.  It’s been wonderful and overwhelming at the same time.  And not the norm.

I love variety and travel and learning new things.  It’s a blessing.  But I need to get back to living my real life.

So…this is the pile of books I’m not reading.

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Don’t get me wrong.  They look really good and I’m excited about digging into them, but here’s where I’ve felt a pinch in the butt by the Holy Spirit.

I’m getting fat.

It’s crazy wonderful to be exposed to stimulating relationships and new information and great books, but the danger is we become obese – filled up with all of the deliciousness and getting no exercise.  Processing and applying nothing.  A holy hoarder if you will.

I think…”Oh that’s such a great IDEA!!  I should tell someone and they should DO it!”

“I will think more about _______________(insert anything I hear that I’m convicted or excited about) and how real that can be real in my life…someday.”

“I’m gonna Tweet that quote!”

We consume more, tweet more, Instagram more than we live into.

These days I need to do more living into.

I have a friend who used to say, “Start reading Jesus’ words in the New Testament and when you get to a command, stop, and don’t read further until you do it.”

And then there’s Jen Hatmaker who writes, “At some point, the church stopped living the Bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing the fast parts.  We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming.”

I’ll get around to reading these books and be glad I did, but not today.

Today I need to write a note of encouragement, take a walk and pray present, do laundry, and forgive that person who dinged me.  I need to create stuff and breathe deep and serve others in my real-life community.

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For you the challenge may be the opposite.  Maybe you need to stop doing and be still.  Or maybe you’re starving for more sustenance and need to fill up with inspiration from God’s Word and information about the needs in His world.

What are you living into today?

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