Do you have a routine? Not a gymnastics routine… although that would be really spectacular if you had one of those. Do you live by a scheduled routine for each day or each week? I used to hate routines because they usually required me to wake up early or to be on time. I would say I haven’t been the best sport about either of those things in the past. When I was in high school, I set 3 alarms for myself. One at 6am, one for 6:15am, and one for 6:30am. At each alarm, I woke up a little bit more until I felt awake enough to successfully step out of bed. My family learned that I wasn’t worth talking to until I had been out of bed for at least a half hour. It’s safe to say, I’m not a morning person. Timeliness is another thing I have had a bad track record of back in the day. Who am I kidding? I still don’t have the best track record with timeliness. Everyday I try to leave my house at 7:05am so I can get to school by 7:10am. Almost every morning as I’m leaving my house I look at my watch and quite often will moan, “Seriously? Come on Mick!” as I notice somehow I burned 10 minutes trying to grab a “quick” breakfast on my way out the door.
Like I said before, I used to hate routines. I’m not much of a planner either. I would much rather live by the seat of my pants, whatever that really means. The lacking planner in me can really relate to African culture because I don’t know many Africans who are thorough planners. Although I admire the fact that Africans live life by the seat of their pants day by day, week by week, I have recognized that the absence of routine in my own personal life has been detrimental to my effectiveness in loving people and in living a balanced life. The one thing that has motivated me to live a life based more on a routine has been God. Seems vague, and it is. Let me explain. Of course my school day already presents one type of routine; 8am-3pm Monday-Friday I’m teaching. But, after that, who’s to say what I’m doing? If I don’t have something scheduled, I will probably do one of three things: watch a TV show, surf the net, or just chat with whomever is also just bumming it. I will spend time with God whenever I feel like it, which, if I’m honest, is not that often. I will be productive with planning lessons whenever is convenient, which you can argue convenience is a state of mind. I will do what I want when I want to do it. Yikes. Is this really how I lived when I didn’t have a routine? Afraid so.
Not to say my life is this miraculous transformation that when I look back at that routine-less life I lived all of 3 months ago I become ill with regret. It’s not all from my past. I’m still working on it, as I will be for the rest of my life. I have just noticed this unexpected change in many areas of my life because I have chosen a scheduled life this year and consistency has won me over. Let me take you through my week:
Sunday: Breakfast at 9am- my roommate Natalie makes pancakes. Delicious. Church from 9:30-11:30. Lunch with friends after. Work at the school for the remainder of the afternoon (includes skyping with family). Zumba class at 7:00. Pray with Heather and Kelly from 8-9pm. Go to bed!
Monday: School from 7:15-6pm School doesn’t last that long… but I’m at school working that long. Family dinner with friends at 6:15pm. Free evening!
Tuesday: School from 7:15-6pm. Dinner after school. Bible study from 7:15-9pm.
Wednesday: School from 7:15-6pm. Family dinner at 6:15pm. Zumba at 7:30! (Soon to be filled with YL CLUB!)
Thursday: School from 7:15-3pm. Campaigners 3:15-4:30. YL team meeting 4:30-5:30pm. Language lessons 5:30-7pm. Quick dinner. Game night 7:30- whenever we get tired of playing games.
Friday: School 7:30-5pm. Usually we teachers are exhausted on Fridays, so a low key evening.
Saturday: African Bagel Company to get doughnuts from 9am-11am. If I’m being honest, I will most likely work on some lesson plans in the afternoon. Evening is up for grabs!
I just let you in to the details of my day to day life. That was a dangerous thing I just did. Now you know where I am at any time during the week… Oh wait. That would only make a difference for those of you in Kigali with me :) Okay, so I’m on a week break from school this week. I purposefully went away to Gisenyi (a city situated at the coast of Lake Kivu)right after school got out so I could leave my productive schedule and relax. I also purposefully did not bring my computer or any other electric devices so that I would not waste my mind on them. I read an entire book in 2 days. I read 390 pages in 36 hours actually. Usually it takes me weeks, maybe months, to finish a book. In my scattered puzzle of a life, I lack the focus it takes to complete a task or even a book. I have learned how to juggle many tasks, but to complete one takes much longer than it would if I just saw one at a time. Through living out a routine, I have noticed it allows me to focus on one thing at a time. I’m not doing zumba thinking, man I have so many more lessons to plan! I’m not lesson planning thinking, I wish I have more time to exercise. I’m not at church worrying about what I need to get done for school on Monday… I know I will have time. Maybe you are ahead of me wondering how in the world I hadn’t figured this out until now. Well, I don’t blame you for thinking that! My time with God has been more purposeful and meaningful than when I would say, “yeah, let’s open up the Bible for a few minutes to see what God has to say to me.” When I’d do that, I’d probably nod in agreement and then walk away and forget about it minutes after. God has much more to say to me when I give him my undivided attention. As I’m typing this I realized that I have not spent time with God today and the thought crossed my mind that I need to make time for Him. I hope that the lesson I learned about how to spend my time with purpose and focus will not stop here.
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