Monday, March 16, 2009

So the Sluggard Turns on Her Bed...

I love the early morning hours before the day kicks in to overdrive & strains my forward gears to their breaking point...but I am not a "morning person". Strange. I've always wanted to be. I just can't seem to follow through every morning the same. I get too tired by about the 3rd early morning that I just lay in bed sleepy-eyed until the first rays split through the blinds like a laser light show...and I've been known to watch that show all morning...

Well, I'm going to try to break from that old and unwelcome habit. I've always wanted to start my day before the world gets cranked up around here, so I've decided in my heart to take a cue from Nike & "just do it". Like most things in life, no one can do it for me. I just have to be...her comes THAT word...consistent.

That is my real problem. Consistency seems to be my downfall. I'm one of those "creative" types that loves change and gets rashy with routine. But I've found that is a fancy way to say, I'm lazy. Lazy, like a slug. Dragging my trail of inconsistency through the lives of my friends, family & various loved ones leaving only a mess behind me. Half-finished or barely begun projects, unreturned phone calls, unsent birthday cards...an unloving, ungodly mess.

See, what I've tried to mask as "creative impulses" was really just plain old inconsiderate-ness, laziness, inconsistency. Routines are established by God very early in the plan. Genesis 1:14, And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years..." Every day is like the one before it. The years pass in the same way as before. Seasons change in the same slow, steady rhythm. So if God sets up consistency in the very beginning, before even man, who am I to consider myself "creative" when I ignore that simple principle? Do I really think I'm more creative than God?

So let today start a new chapter in my life. Let my words be reliable, my actions consistent & my heart dependable. May I be someone others can count on. Lord, help me...