There can be something beautiful about routine. I wake up before the children, pray, write, clean stray dishes, fix mom breakfast and give her meds, eat, shower and dress, rally the boys, get them washed and dressed (some days), fed, and schooled. This is my routine, the items I can count on doing. The everyday knowing what to do and what to expect can be settling. But for those who don’t want to be settled, those wild horses unlikely to ever love the tame, routine can be a chore, a bore, a way to lose self in the process. Surprisingly, I find myself mostly loving the routine of my life that satisfies the control freak in me, but then my adventurous side wants to let the routine go so I can flow, be free. I thought this as I washed my first of three piles of dishes of the day while sausages sizzled and fruit sat waiting to become drinks. With no routine there would be no order: no clean dishes, so nothing to cook or serve food in, thus hungry whiny children and an overwhelmed stressed out mother trying to simultaneously make room and meals. Routine speaks to faithfulness, something you can always count on to bring you the stability that we need. Routine provides the order we need to balance the inevitable interruptions that come on any given day. Though at times I want to buck routine, I know the tragic result of doing so: chaos, confusion and a mean mama. Routine keeps me grounded and I need to cherish its benefits. After all, our greatest example of faithfulness, of routine if you will, is God, and in Him we have a perfect reason to appreciate routine:
“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
“But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
Our God, whose essence is faithful, can never change. Faithful is who He is and He acts based on His faithfulness. Because He is always the same, we can count on Him. When I long for more than the routine I prompt myself to remember that God, Faithful, is more than enough and with Him I have the stability I need for my entire life and to make it just one more day. I am indeed grateful for this.
My One Thousand Gifts List
#531-540
Contacting blogs to feature Motherhood devotional
Not having to cook
Flynn being home in the evening
Flynn putting all the boys to bed
Shelita Williams calling me “pretty lady”—though she calls every woman that it still felt genuine and good
God loudly speaking during my quiet time, giving me two articles to write on pride
God saving my two youngest children from hurting themselves when they were about to fall—Justus off the bed and his head about to hit the nightstand and Nate down the stairs; both children’s falls were interrupted at my calling out “Jesus.” I saw Justus being carried and placed back on the bed and Nate stopped in the middle of the stairs down which he was falling.
Getting confirmation about being on the Chocolate Pages radio show
