Fruitful Daily Habits- Good Intentions vs. Actual Reality

My day begins as the sun rises... I roll out of bed right as the automatic coffee maker finishes brewing my coffee.  Pouring a cup of coffee I sit down with my Bible open and God begins to whisper His words of comfort and challenge into my soul. As I finish up my devotional time I hear my wife begin to stir... I cook breakfast for the 2 of us as she does her morning devotions and we both eat before she goes off to prepare for the day. I wake the kids begin my morning workout. I finish my workout in time to take a quick shower, shave, brush my teeth and get dressed for the day. I get my kids breakfast and pray with them before sending them off to meet the day.  LIFE IS GOOD!

And so are my intentions... But, to be honest, intentions and reality don’t usually match up. I would LOVE for my morning to look like that. I really would! But in our home, that’s not usually the case. A typical morning in my house usually looks a bit more like this:

My day begins as my anxiousness rises... I really can’t lay here anymore! I have to get up or I’ll be late! I roll out of bed as my daughter hits the shower using up the last of the hot water.  I shiver through a cold shower and throw on my clothes, dragging my boys out of bed in the process... Telling them to get dressed I head to the kitchen to fix breakfast. I pull out the cereal and milk and throw some bowls and spoons on the table. I yell from the kitchen, “KIDS! BREAKFAST!”  I scramble to make a cup of coffee and get my stuff together as I pour cereal and slice bananas for my youngest son. I send the kids off to school with a quick, “Goodbye! I love you!” as I throw on my shoes and look for my keys.  I rush out the door on the way to work only to trip over the lunchbox the middle kid forgot... As I pick it up to make the delivery I feel frustrated and stressed... I didn’t get a bite to eat, I haven’t worked out in weeks, my devotional life is lacking and my life reflects it. Something has to change!

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  

These are my intentions, but in reality sometimes I think I have it all wrong.  How do I get the chaos of my life to fit into that mold? I’ve tried! I’ve reorganized my schedule and pinned it to the wall. I’ve filled out the covenant card and asked my accountability partner to hold me to it. But somehow the scheduled gets filled with other tasks and the covenant fades over time and I find myself once again in the midst of the chaos... Frustrated and stressed I throw in the towel and crumble into my chair... defeated!  

And that’s when God whispers... “It’s the fruit of MY Spirit...If you intend to fit your life into that mold then you have to ALLOW ME TO MOLD YOU. You cannot do it on your own strength. You CAN do it in MY strength.”

So once again... I lay my chaotic schedule aside with a new understanding of who HE is and what HE desires of me... I set my recurring daily alarm a little earlier and as I do, I surrender to His grace that encourages me and invite His Spirit to mold me... and as I do I notice some blossoms begin to bloom out of the chaos of who I was.