This year, I’m using the Present Over Perfect Guided Journal. I read Shauna Neiquist’s Present Over Perfect book when it came out a few years ago and so much of it just connected with me. When I saw she had created a journal, I knew it was right for this season of my life. The journal has small excerpts from the book and prompts to help you think, reflect, and write. I’ll be sharing some of the prompts and my responses.
Prompt (pg. 38): It seems that Christians ought to be deeply grounded, living a courageous rhythm of rest, prayer, service, and work. That rhythm is biblical, and it’s one Jesus Himself modeled. How do your daily, weekly, and monthly schedules align with that rhythm?
This is always a work in progress for me. My days are slower now than they had been. For that I am grateful. A true Sabbath – stop day – is hard with kids schedules, I just don’t know how to do that well as a family.
I still want to have midday prayer. I plan for it and fail to execute. I allow myself to skip, I crowd it out, do other things. It hasn’t become a priority yet.
Service. I think I’m still trying to understand what service looks like right now. I feel like my service right now is to my family. That is the primary place.
Work seems the easy thing right now. Work seems simple in that my “job” is clear and not so complicated.
Friends, what are your rhythms of rest, prayer, service, and work?
Rev. Kris Mares 