Do what you know to do

We are what we repeatedly do.

—Aristotle

Our family, like thousands of others in our area, spent the last week on spring break. I even took some vacation days to relax and spend with my favorite people. But unlike what seemed like 95% of said families—at least, according to my facebook feed—we did not head to the beach but stayed home. A “staycation” some call it.

It was a much needed spell of relaxed schedules and free time and I would not go back and change it. But I found myself reflecting on the value of daily habits yesterday.

In the sermon at church the statement was made that Christ is never satisfied with where I am, but wants me to take the next step. That rings true with me. I feel like I’m always looking for the next step, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways. And especially now that Jenni will be starting her senior year of high school in the fall dual-enrolled at Kennesaw State University, I’ve been thinking about her next steps as well as Cheryl’s as we enter a new season in our family.

But as I contemplated all this, I felt God speaking to me something very important: Rather than being consumed with seeking the next step in my life and in the life of our family, right now we need to do what we know God has called us to do. And many of the things God has called us to do involve steady progress involving small daily habits.

Let me explain with an example.

I know without a doubt that God wants us to be healthy and in shape. (And yes, round is a shape, but that’s not the kind of shape I mean.) I also know that getting there involves the daily habits of exercising and eating healthily. I’ve found in the past that I can get on the treadmill Monday morning easily. Tuesday morning’s not so hard either. Wednesday is my off day right now because I lead a 7:00am men’s group. Thursday…well, that’s much harder. And then it’s the weekend and It all goes to hell in a handbasket.

My intentions of exercising six days a week on the treadmill don’t match the reality of two days a week.

And yes, two days are better than none. But real progress comes from daily habits.

There are many other examples of this. I may post tomorrow on the daily habits I’m working to cultivate. Stay tuned.

What daily habits do you need to cultivate?