The return of school brings with it the return of routine.  Summer is filled with chaotic non-routineness that makes it difficult at times.  School is the chance to start again with a new routine.  The first day is a given, everyone’s nervous and its almost a relief to get out of bed, its what happens on day 2+ which makes what happens each morning a routine.  By the end of the first week, we’ll be settled into whatever we’re going to do each morning.

So now is the time to change the patterns.

Pattern 1:  Morning — enjoy it, don’t miss it:  What do I mean?  Confession:  I usually crawl out of bed in just enough time to wake all the kids, and scramble out in time to get them to school before the bell rings.  Now is the time, to make each morning different.  Enjoy the conversations, give the kids time to wake up and get moving without a rush, break the fast together, and start the day right.  Today was a great start.  Thank you honey.

Pattern 2: Devotional — get straight: The top picture is my morning allotment of reading material. I usually do it over coffee when I get to the office.  In the spirit of confession, I haven’t done that at all, and it effects my endurance at the end of the day. While it might seem overkill all stacked up together, its isn’t more than a couple of pages in each book, easily done.  When I’m straight with God, I’m straight with myself, and it makes me a better person, husband, employee and friend.  I shouldn’t let this slip.

Pattern 3: Return to home — This is a routine that needs to be well thought out.  And it hasn’t ever been, its been more ad hoc than regular in past years.  This year, my two daughters are middle schoolers, and in a bit of a no-mans land when its time for school to get out.  Walking home is a challenging distance, and two major roads cause me and Angie to worry.  However, Liberty Rec Center is a shorter distance, and on my way home.  Yesterday the girls waited there for me to pick them up, and — they enjoyed it!  Sooo.. an opportunity presents itself.  A routine of picking them up at the Rec Center will scream at me to start doing that whole exercise thing I’ve been promising to get around to, and I hope to incorporate that into a routine as well.

Like I mentioned previously, this is day two, we’ll see how it shakes out by the end of week two, but for now, I see a lot of promise in our changes.