Now There's A Thought

I don’t know about you – but I find that my life fills up at a rather alarming rate!! I have a terrible habit of believing that every new season I’m working towards will be lived at a little less breakneck speed than the current one – and then the reality of the new season comes, and it’s just as busy as before.

SO - I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no ‘easier’ pace coming, and armed with that new awareness I’m learning to rest on the move.

This is something I’ve written on a few times before, but I’m convinced it’s worth repeating!! The truth is we are meant to live this life out ‘full’ and ‘filled’, but we have to get really intentional with our time and planning if we are going to make that happen. It doesn’t come naturally ☺.

Some of the ways we do this as a family are things like planning a great holiday once a year (sometimes twice if it’s an especially busy time!!). We love the sunshine – so we always try to go off somewhere warm. But even if you can’t do that, just plan a little get away time every year. If you put it in the diary far enough in advance then you can take even a couple of weeks and work in all the other stuff of life and jobs etc around it.

We also go out every Friday night with our girls for dinner. Our daughters are eight and five – and this is one of their highlights of the week!! They love the routine: that they can really look forward to it every week; and they love the ‘treat’ of it – it never gets tired for them!

Alan and I try to go out for a breakfast once a week just on our own when the kids are at school, (and we nearly always try and sneak another time in a week for a coffee on our own as well!) My husband is still my favourite person in the world to be with, and I treasure those times with him!! It’s so important to foster that closeness on purpose, and I would love to encourage you to do the same. It might look different for you, but it’s worth the effort of finding a way to make it work.

Even though these are just some of the ways we ‘plan revenge on the busy times’ as Bill Hybels so beautifully put it, we are constantly on the look out for other ways to connect as a family, as a couple, and our own with God too.

Life will always be busy, but there is such opportunity along the way to relish the relationships we hold the closest . Why not take a little time today to think how you would love the pace of your life to look in a year’s time, and then think about some changes you can make now, even they are only small, that will help move you towards that.

Katherine has been leading worship since 1997. Mentored by Brian Doerksen (Faithful One, Come now is the time...), she wrote and recorded the song ‘Hungry’ for VIneyard Music in ‘99. Since then she has recorded two solo albums with Integrity including songs like ‘At the foot of the cross (Ashes for beauty), ‘You’re Good Lord’, ‘Search me, know me’ and ‘I Belong’. Katherine lives with her husband Alan and two little girls in Northern Ireland, where they pastor the Causeway Coast Vineyard together. For more visit www.hungryworshipper.com