Today's Devo Is Late

I am late getting my devotion done today.  

My wife and I got up early and took my youngest son and his friend to camp all the way on the north side of Austin.  

Then we had a coffee meeting with some potential ministry partners, followed by an impromptu meeting to talk and dream about improvements to our church campus--improvements that would expand our ability to do ministry and help people grow in faith.

It was a busy morning.  

I wondered what I would write about today--considering I was feeling a bit guilty for putting all those other things ahead of my regular schedule of thinking and writing early in the morning.  

And then it occurred to me...  I was beating myself up for not completing an important task.  The reason I hadn't completed it, however, was because I was doing equally, if not more important tasks instead.  

But here was the problem:  I was diminishing the value and importance of those tasks because they somehow didn't seem to measure up to the "special-ness" of writing the daily devotion for today.

Completing the daily devotion is a vital part of my weekday routines.  Lots of people tell me they enjoy them.  Some people have shared how they use them as part of their own daily routine.  

And when I feel like I am letting people down--I have this internal struggle that takes place where I start to feel like I am not good enough, like I am somehow not measuring up.  

Earlier this morning, I read this great quote from author Lois Cheney: 

"I can't wipe out the doubts and fears in my self-knowledge of not measuring up," she writes.  "But I can walk each day seeking to fulfill what [God] wants in me.  I may not achieve hours of grace, but I can achieve the moments of gentle approval."  

Most of the time it's the ordinary things that we do (things like: caring for our family, connecting with friends, finding ways to be generous with our time, having coffee with someone, doing life with others) that make all the difference to God.

May you find ways to embrace the moments of gentle approval from a God who loves it when you step more fully into life---all of life, especially the ordinary moments.  

And may the the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.