Rhythm to the Rescue
Routines make up the rhythm of our life and a strong and steady rhythm can carry us through hard days.
This summer I've been reading through the Psalms and the overwhelming theme that keeps jumping out at me from these collection of songs is that God is steadfast and we are not. Sometimes my affections are focused on the Lord, and sometimes, in David's words, I am a worm. (Ps. 22:6) It is a book of human extremes contrasted against one extremely steady, faithful, consistent God.
Sometimes I am a fun, creative, intentional Momma, but many days I am not. Many days I am tired and selfish and distracted and just trying to keep everyone fed and relatively clean and alive. Because I do not wish for discipleship to be as bipolar as I am, we have established some routines or rhythms that add stability and consistency to our days.
Breakfast and Bedtime.
These are the two major rhythms that bookend our days. In 5-10 minutes each (sometimes less) we read a scripture or devotional thought, pray and sometimes sing a song and that's it... short and sweet. I have written several articles about how simple and powerful these two routines can be and if you are looking for ideas of how to get started (including the EASIEST breakfast devotional EVER) check out the links at the bottom of this article!
I want to encourage you to take a few minutes this summer to think through which devotionals or ideas would work best for your family and how you can include these routines in your family life this fall. Make a plan. Work the plan. And make sure the plan is simple enough to do everyday! Seriously, no one wakes up every morning bursting with creativity and spiritual insight - but even a parent who is running on empty can open a book that has already been selected and placed on the kitchen table and read a few lines. Need book ideas?!? Scroll down to see some fantastic resources!
Once this rhythm becomes your normal, your kids will help to keep things rolling! There have been several mornings when I've been rushing to get people fed and out the door and one of my kids will say, "Hey, we didn't say our prayer for the day yet?" We want our kids to be the kind of people who don't want to start their day without prayer and so guess what? We need to model that for them. We need to become the kind of people who don't want to start our day without prayer.
Of course a relationship with God is more than just a scripture passage and prayer at breakfast and bedtime, but as a family, these are great places to begin. Lock into a strong, steady rhythm and it will carry you through the ups and downs and craziness of life.
Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Check out these fantastic resources!
Keys for Kids app - THE EASIEST BREAKFAST DEVOTIONAL EVER!
Our Favorite Family Devotionals (for young families)
Catechism app - rich theology and super easy to use!
Prayer Cards - love love love these!
Scripture Memory - ideas and resources
