So today we start a new routine at GirlsGrowingwithGod; and this whole week is kind of the introduction to the new schedule.  Today is Monday, and on Mondays we will begin to explore Abundant Living, an area of topics inspired by the words of Jesus: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).  In Abundant Living, we will dwell on living the full and abundant life Jesus wants for us.  On Mondays, and occasionally on other days too, I will post in the categories Proverbs 31 (on becoming the woman God created us to be) and Wholeness (on being a good steward of our physical, spiritual and mental health).  I think the Wholeness category will dovetail nicely with our new bible study, where we will examine our strengths and weakness in these, and other areas.  So today, I will just touch briefly on Wholeness: Maintaining Spiritual Health.  It is a great time to turn our hearts toward Him in preparation to begin a new study, but we will surely revisit this topic again and again at other times.

My word for the day today? Do-able.  Is that a word?  Anyway, rather than trying to institute a rigorous spiritual routine, find one that is do-able.  Be kind to yourself.  It will make the time you spend with God more pleasant if you are not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole; or more specifically, you are not trying to fit an hour of bible study and prayer into an already hectic morning or evening routine.  I know, I know, if you set low expectations you cannot achieve great things…so for those of you who are already into a good routine of prayer and time in the Word, maybe you should stretch a bit and add something else in, like journaling.  But, for others of you, if time with God has somehow gotten squeezed out between brushing teeth, packing lunches and book bags, and breakfast dishes…start by getting up 20 minutes earlier and plan to pray for 10 minutes and have 10 minutes for devotional/bible reading or vice versa.  The point is, yes we do need to make some sacrifices of what we often consider “our time” – but they do not need to be painful to be effective.  What we must remember is that time is like any other gift from God, and we must be good stewards of it.  Everything we have belongs to Him, and He asks us to yield back a portion to Him; this is for our own good, as well as for the good of our relationship with Him.  But if you are unrealistic in your expectations and make your routine too busy, if you don’t prioritize time for Him, I guarantee that breakfast dishes and tooth brushing will win out over God (sadly this I know from personal experience).  So here are my (do-able) recommendations for weaving God into your morning and the rest of your day:

1. Plan quiet time with God before the kids are awake – before you begin, know what you will be reading in the bible (you can join our study – we are just answering 2 questions per morning!)
2. Keep a running, written prayer list if you have trouble staying focused during prayer time.  Use it to focus your thoughts but then, don’t just read it, speak it to the Lord, even if it is the same list every day.
3. Often He will speak back to you during prayer or bible reading time.  Jot down thoughts that come to you during your devotional time.  This need not be fancy or long-winded writing (unless you are long-winded like me!).  If you have a notebook, you can keep your thoughts and prayers together.  I use my computer and it allows me to cut and paste scriptures from Biblegateway.com rather than writing them down.  Be sure to have dates next to these things.  It is good to go back and see what the Lord is doing in your life over time.  I use a pencil in my bible study notebook because I hate to see my mistakes along with my messy handwriting (I tend to write in a hurry…I love being able to erase).
4. Find a short devotional to share with your kids daily.  It is so important to share God’s word with them and to model devotional time for them.  God makes us responsible for teaching our children about Him.  We cannot leave it to “the church” or VBS or Sunday school.  He said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut 6:6-7).  Again, make it do-able with your schedule.  We homeschool now and have more time for this but, when they were in school, we had a short devotional reading and practiced bible memory verses when they had breakfast and were waiting for the bus or driving to preschool – they didn’t know that was not what most kids were doing in preparation for their school day – it was just normal to them…and it helped to keep me on track too with my parenting of them and gave me opportunities to discipline (teach) them when they were not in trouble.
5. Keep your thoughts on a godly path.  Choose CDs, radio, internet, or TV content that lets you keep your mind on godly things.  This often means that, if you can’t share it with your kids because it has “adult” content, maybe you shouldn’t choose it for yourself either.  Of course, I am no “church lady” (though maybe my dancing could be confused for hers!) and I like to listen to non-Christian music and see movies sometimes that are “R” rated…doing this just requires discretion.  We must remember our minds are like computers: garbage in, garbage out.  Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8).  We are in the World, but are not to be conformed to it (Rom 12:2).  Christian lives, Tv habits, iPod lists and search engine histories should be distinguishable from non-Christians’.
6. Cultivate a grateful heart and continue to pray and listen to God throughout the day.  Rejoice always; pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17).
7. Jot down a memory verse for yourself or your entire family – make several copies of it and post it throughout your house, car, purse…even if you do not commit it to memory overnight, it will begin to seep into your thinking over time.
8. Keep short accounts with God and others.  When you do wrong, ask for forgiveness and repent.  These are separate things.  Asking for forgiveness means admitting you are wrong and asking for grace (undeserved favor).  Repentance is turning away from wrong and doing right instead.  We must do these two things in all of our relationships in order to cultivate them and care for them.  We also show good examples to our kids by doing this in all areas of our lives and expecting it from them too.
9. Allow God to work in your day by giving Him your schedule.  Plan your day, pray about it and then let it go.  The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps (Prov 16:9).
10. Look for opportunties to serve God in everything you do.  Whatever your work is, do it gladly. Do it as you would do it unto the Lord and not for people (Col 3:23).  This is helpful when we must do mundane and repetitive tasks like dishes and laundry.  But also look for the Lord’s will in other “interruptions” that come your way – I often wonder how many days He scheduled a “divine appointment” for me that I missed on my way to get all my errands done.  I try to be more aware nowadays but I see that I must constantly yield to Him.  It is still such an effort for me at times!

Let’s set a course for more godly living together; it is the best way to experience Abundant Living!  Do y’all have any tips to add?  Would love to hear from the peeps out there!!

JustaGirl…just like you!