Routine
Lately I’ve felt as if routine is getting the better of me. The same old, hum-drum, mundane, day-in and day-out routine: wake up, get dressed, kiss him goodbye, work ’til 5, come home, clean up, fix dinner, eat dinner, clear away dinner, try to remember everything I needed to get done for [insert responsibility] until my eyelids get heavy, hit the hay, repeat. Routine.
My routine is sometimes punctuated by other goings on – a doctor’s appointment here, a coffee with a friend there – but generally my days are fairly predictable. Full of busy life happenings but sameness, too.
Recently, it’s been a real struggle for me to see beyond the routine.
There’s something inside of me that screams out, “There’s got to be more!” I look back at all the exceptional experiences of my life – like studying abroad, traveling the world, nights at the theater – and I wonder why the exceptional can’t be more normative.
I imagine myself to be like one of those characters in a feminist literature novel, just waiting to snap in wild rampage of freedom.
There is a solution, of course. A balm to the dull ticking of routine.
And it’s not in trying to create exceptional experiences or having some great awakening.
The solution is in wanting more, but more of the right things. Ultimately, wanting more of Christ. With not being satisfied with our sandbox and pursuing a holiday at sea as C.S. Lewis phrased it. With treasuring the supremacy of Christ above all else as modern-day pastor John Piper would say.
This post isn’t to announce that I’ve arrived. It’s just to announce that I’ve begun. It’s an invitation to join me, if you also are weighed down by your routine. It’s an encouragement to keep walking faithfully if you’re not. Let’s pursue more of Christ and His likeness together in the pace of our daily routines. Let’s see the daily grind transformed by the glory of God.
Can you relate to the feeling that you’re being trampled by routine? Or do you find routines comforting? How does wanting more of Christ practically look in the day-to-day?
I like routine but sometimes I too find myself wanting more. What a great reminder to spend those moments find more of Christ and being transformed to His image. He has great plans for us, even in the mundane. There is so much to enjoy and be thankful for in the small moments of everyday life if we just slow down enough to see it.
Yes and Amen! God certainly works exceptional wonders, but I am thinking more and more that He chooses to work on US in the daily grind. It’s beautiful, when you take the time to appreciate it 🙂
So true. It seems to be in the mundane when frustrations get to me and I see my need to grow in patience, trust and so many other things all the more.