Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Interruptions & Routines

I need routine. I need predictability. It is how I function best. I know what to expect and when to expect it. I guess I inadvertently passed that down to my daughter. One parenting book I read while she was still really young, stressed the importance of routine. I saw the logic in it, and I have never looked back. 

Looking back now, I guess I have always depended upon routines. I just never really identified them that way. It was and -still is- how I seek to make the best use of my time. 

I always tend to do the laundry on the same day. I have a pattern for running the vacuum cleaner. I even have a system for unloading the dishwasher. Now I know you must be thinking that I must be a High A personality type, but I really don't think I am. 

God, using my daughter, has often showed me that my best laid plans often fall short of what His plans for me are. He has taught me to be flexible when a girlfriend calls and needs an hour or two of my time. He has shown me to be appreciative when my husband volunteers to clean the floors, his way. He has allowed me to see that ten minutes past bedtime was an easy price to pay for the priceless conversation about His goodness and grace with my little one. 

Routines and schedules are invaluable to our daily lives, but lets not be so tied to them that we miss the bigger picture, the greater plan that God has for us. I don't know about you, but it seems like God is able to bless me in such amazing ways when I let Him plan my day. I often pray in prayer journal for God to take my day and shape it into what He would want it to be. Then, when He does, I try not to be too surprised and go with it  . . .

What are some routines and schedules that have worked for you and your family? How have you been blessed when you have been flexible enough to allow God to interrupt your plans? I know Jeanne knows a ton about the big interruptions, especially lately. But I am talking about the little ones: the traffic jam or last minute phone call. Too often we look at this little things as a nuisance, but couldn't God be the one trying to get our attention? Remember He is sovereign and there are not such things as coincidents

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