Pitfalls Part 5 - Inconsistency April 27, 2007
Posted by Erin in : Family Worship Series , trackbackJoe,
I will just keep rolling here and finish up our section on the pitfalls with the last area we wanted to address: inconsistency.
As in many areas of our lives, when something is not a consistent part of our lives, it can easily fall by the way side. I remember reading a study that those who exercise first thing in the morning are more likely to stick with it for life. Is it that morning time is a better time for exercise? No. It is simply because many things that are done in the mornings become ingrain habits and done on a daily basis.
So it is with family worship time, it is often those who try and just fit it in “whenever” that find a week has gone by without spending time worshiping together as a family. So that brings me to the first area of consistency: time. Try and find a time that you will be able to stick to daily for family worship time. Now it doesn’t have to be an exact number on the clock, but maybe a general time like “after breakfast”. I know this can be tough! With Joe’s job we have a different schedule almost every day, that is why we would advise doing it as early in the day as possible. This way there are as few unexpected surprises that have come and changed the day.
I think if you are consistent on a time it will lead to consistency in the second area: making sure it happens every day. Not only do you need to be consistent on a time, but family worship time needs to be a priority. Only when you think of it as such will you be sure to have it happen daily. Just as with private time with the Lord, your day should just “not feel right” when you haven’t spent time together worshiping as a family.
The third area you want to be consistent in is your agenda. Once you decide how the family time should run, try to keep it relatively the same most days. This will make it easier on everyone involved when they know what to expect. Here I would also recommend that you have an alternate plan on those days when time is very scarce. For us, we will usually cut out Abby’s Bible reading and catechism questions and just have Joe pray when it is a day we don’t have a lot of time.
And lastly, don’t let visitors affect your family worship time. Invite them to join you! It is a wonderful way to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. And with unbelievers it can be a great witness.
Life is full of unexpected moments, but striving to keep family worship time as a consistent part of your days no matter what brings great blessing!
Striving for consistency,
Erin
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?