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When you hear “routine,” does the word make you cringe or feel empowered? Do you feel constrained by a routine, or do you feel a sense of freedom? Does the concept feel like a weighty reminder of everything you’re not doing perfectly, or are you someone who’s constantly looking for inspiration on how to refine your routine? The concept of routine often feels like candy corn; people either love it or they hate it!
Soon my family will move from north London to the suburbs in southwest London, a geographical change of only twenty-five miles that for me feels much bigger in scope. I’m sad to leave our beloved home of over two decades, and I’m struggling to drum up excitement for the new.
The last thing I wanted to do at twenty-three years old was start over. My life had been all planned out—I met the boy I wanted to marry when I was sixteen, we got married in college while I was finishing my degree in education, and then I got the teaching position I wanted. We bought a house, we were involved in a small group at church, and I could picture what our future kids would look like when they came into our lives in the scheduled three to five years from then.
Country music was the soundtrack of my teenage years, and no country star at the time was as big as Garth Brooks. His song “Unanswered Prayers” climbed the Billboard country chart all the way to number one in 1991. I can still sing every word.
My husband and I slipped away to a cabin in Virginia for a couple of nights, without the kids and with no agenda except to ignore the news, read books, relax, and write songs together, and guess what! I’m never coming home!
When I first surrendered my life to Jesus, a friend told me to never pray for patience—or God would give me more opportunities to practice patience! I heeded her warning, but quickly learned that patience is as necessary as breathing.
The other day I was so done with the hardness of all of it I ran away from home. At the age of forty-nine. Actually, first I turned off Life 360 so my teens couldn’t track me—then I ran away. If they saw me near a store or a Starbucks, I would then be asked for all the things and that would have been my actual undoing.
Perhaps it’s an old wives’ tale, but I once heard someone say, “Bad news comes in threes.” At this point, my family and I are on number four in eight short months. We have had a series of rapid-fire unfortunate events occur in a short amount of time.
Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. These simple words from Psalm 119:105 (NKJV) form the spiritual backbone of the Christ follower’s journey of formation. In short, the God’s revelation—His Word—in inspired Scripture marks our path and lights our way as it leads us home.