Monday, April 23, 2012

My Rule of Life


About a month ago, as part of our staff development at our church, we were asked to write a “Rule of Life.” This Rule of Life idea comes from a book entitled “Sacred Rhythms” by Ruth Haley Barton. We each wrote individual plans for spiritual disciplines in our lives. We spent time praying and seeking God about what kind of routine or “sacred rhythm” he designed us for.

I kept my rule of life pretty simple. As a 50-something mom of a preschooler as well as an adult child, a wife, a daughter of aging parents, and staff member at our church, my life is pretty full. Just finding a way to have enough energy to make it through each day can be a challenge!

One of the items in my rule of life is a weekly appointment with God at a local coffee shop after I drop my daughter off for preschool. This is my time to read, journal, and sometimes blog. I still have my regular quiet time at home early in the mornings, but this is to be a time when I go a little deeper… when I allow God to dig a little deeper into my “junk.”

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep this appointment. Not because I don’t enjoy it and look forward to it, but because I feel guilty. I am tempted to just go on into work because I have a long “to-do” list there. I feel selfish about spending time alone with a wonderful cup of Snickerdoodle coffee or sometimes even a “Sweet Razzy” latte. I feel like I should be “out there accomplishing something!”

It’s so much easier to be “out there accomplishing something” than it is to turn introspective and be brutally honest with myself about why I struggle with certain things. Checking things off my to-do list is, in the short term, so much more rewarding.

But for the long term, oh, how I need to be transformed! How I need my perspective to be changed! How I need to allow God to sort through my junk. Maybe that’s why this kind of thing is called a discipline, a spiritual discipline.

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I would love to hear from you! Let me know what you think and how I can pray for you. Most of us are carrying some pretty heavy baggage and the good news is, you don't have to carry it alone! You can lay it at the feet of Jesus, and sometimes we need help just letting go of our baggage and not picking it up again. We're in this together!