A Day in My Life

A typical day in my life never seems to go as planned!

One of my former pastor-bosses used to always say, "We're flexible around here." I have taken that as my motto, too. No need to be frustrated when things go awry. Just change the plan.

Having said that, I'm going to share what an ordinary day might look like on the journey.

My first of 3 alarms goes off at 5 a.m. I have no intention of getting up, but this is the time of day I like to lay all snuggly in the bed and bring up prayer requests to the Lord. Yes, I do sometimes fall back asleep but it's with prayers on my lips.

My second alarm is the one I really prefer to get up to when it goes off at 5:45 a.m. When I do get up then, the day goes better ... BUT

Sometimes my 6 a.m. alarm goes off,  "Get Up for Realz" reads my screen on my phone.

My ideal morning to-do list:  

• Bathroom time
• Unload Dishwasher
• Dinner Prep
• Make Lunch
• Get Breakfast
• Daily Offering
• Morning Pages
• Makeup
• Get Dressed and Fix Hair
• Out the Door by 7:35 (Okay, at least by 7:45)

Some days, the Morning Pages (a writing exercise) gets thrown out and the Daily Offering (a gift to God of praise, adoration and silence) gets cut down and Dinner Prep is not even attempted. But I always feel better and more energized when all gets done.

Once I've arrived at work, my work to-do list gets prioritized and I get started. My goal? To do all my daily chores by noon so that the afternoon can be for working ahead.

It's good to have dreams.

Then comes that beautiful sweet hour of the day when I hole up in the church library for lunch. Ah, but it is so much more than a lunch hour!

As I eat, I love to do my scripture writing. (If you'd like to daily write out scripture, visit Sweet Blessings for a monthly schedule.)

Then it's time to walk and get some steps in on my FitBit.

Sometimes errands prevent me from doing these things ...

The afternoon is usually the time I work on projects - often organizational - and I enjoy that part of the day most. But sometimes, listening and ministering to others is what God has planned for me. What a privilege!

Paperwork will always be here but ministry is always more important.

4:30 p.m. comes and as my hubby puts it, second shift begins. 

When I get home, I try to immediately get dinner going. On the days we are baby-sitting, I tell the twins "MiMi has to go cook." I give them a snack but soon they are back hanging on the gate that separates the kitchen and living room and watching my every move.

After dinner, we try to have family time and play with the twins and talk to the girls until the twins' bedtime with is 8:30. Jim will take the twins to their house and put them to bed and sit with them until their mama gets home around 11 p.m.

I put the house back together and then ... I blog or work on my second church job in our home office.

If it's not a babysitting night, I stop about 10 p.m. and Jim and I have a ritual - watching a taped recording of Jeopardy - before bed. (Sometimes, most times, I have to walk about 10-20 minutes to get in my steps!)

Looking over this ideal day makes me realize I have very little time for writing. I have to admit sometimes I skip some of these things to find writing time. I also want to say the weekends look different and I'm always trying to build margin in my Sundays.

The great thing? Ideas come while doing the mundane. You can practice the presence of God as you type, clean or cook.

It's a full life, but a blessed one, and I thank God for mine.

What does a day in your life look like?

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