‘Routines’

​Daily Devotional - Monday, March 8, 2021

“In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly… I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down.” (Psalm 5:3,7)

No matter how difficult I may find them, our family’s cat, Kringle, loves Monday mornings. He is a creature of habit, to the extreme, and while my husband and I thoroughly enjoy the flexibility of our schedules that the weekend brings, Kringle much prefers a set routine. On Mondays, he knows that Donald will soon be getting up when the coffeemaker has finished brewing the morning pot, set the night before. If he dallies, Kringle is sure to get in his face making certain that he doesn’t tarry in bed too long. Because my husband is off to work before my alarm goes at 6am, I’m not entirely certain how their early morning routine works, but I suspect it varies very little because of the very set routine he has with me.

Most days, after my alarm has gone off, I open the bedroom door to find him waiting for me just outside of it. First things first, the cat gets fed…or remains continually underfoot until he has been. I then put away the dried dishes that have been washed the night before, make my lunch and breakfast. Kringle waits for me to sit on the couch with my cereal and coffee, then makes himself comfortable at my feet. As soon as he hears the spoon scooping up the last bite of cereal (a mystery I am still trying to figure out), he perks up. The bowl gets set aside, I pick up my Bible from the shelf beside our couch, and once I have given him the signal—a tap on my lap—he jumps up for a scratch before settling in for an undisturbed nap while I spend time reading from God’s word and praying. Kringle appreciates my devotional time with God, though for different reasons, as much as I do.

The variance between our weekday and weekend routines throws Kringle off. Though he may sleep the day away, he is a happy cat when he gets to enjoy his weekday morning routine. Come to think of it, there are definitely elements of my morning routine that I cherish too. How many times have I found myself wondering where my Saturday has gone, only to realize that I have spent it without my usual time with God? God, too, values my weekday routine and I am grieved when I discover I have missed my time with him simply because my routine got shifted a little. I become unhappy with myself when I realize that I have left God ‘waiting’ to spend time with me, time that didn’t happen as I enjoyed a sleep-in, a little too much time on social media and catching up on news, only to realize that I was running out of time for things that needed to be accomplished on my day ‘off.’
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Down time is good, as is flexibility in our routines, but not at the expense of developing the habit of setting aside time to meet with God…every day. When I neglect my time with God, it is most disappointing—for God, for myself and, yes, even for my cat, Kringle.
~ Pastor Jane