Have you ever driven someone else’s vehicle and some of the controls such as the gearshift or emergency brake were in a different location than in your own vehicle? Did you find yourself reaching for that gearshift in the location where you are used to it normally being?

I was driving my husband’s truck this past weekend and kept being thrown off every time I went to shift gears. In my car, the gearshift is in the center console. On my husband’s truck, it is on the steering column. Without thinking, I would reach for the gearshift where I am used to it being in my own car. I didn’t have to think about it. It was second nature to me. I do it so often that it was force of habit. I only had to think about looking for the gearshift in a different location.

I started thinking about the spiritual implications of this. My relationship with the Lord and the spiritual disciplines in my life should be like reaching for the gearshift in my car. They should be so ingrained in my subconcious that I do them without having to stop to think about them. Whenever life comes my way, it should be second nature to me to talk to God in prayer. I once heard the phrase, “go to the throne, not the phone.” Love that one!

I should be able to recall scripture verses as easily as snapping my fingers. Starting each day with the Lord should be a habit, not something I either move down in the list of priorities in my day or skip altogether because I have other things I feel I must do. Why do we not feel that way about spending time with God? Why does it seem that it is an item on our to-do list that we feel relieved when we check it off or guilty when we fail to do it? It should not be that way.

When I use the term “habit,” that is not to say that I just go through the motions. That goes back to checking it off on my to-do list. Go grocery shopping. Check. Pick up dry-cleaning. Check. Make dinner. Check. Take daughter to gymnastics. Check. Read Bible and pray. Check. However, it should be automatic.

It is said that it takes three weeks to establish a habit. I want spending time with God and responding to Him first rather than second, third or fourth to be instantaneous. That is as it should be.

If you are like me and still need to establish some new habits, what do you say we all make today Day One? While it may be too late to begin the day with the Lord, it’s not too late to spend time with Him, and since we have no promise of tomorrow, why not do it now?

I am a guest this week at Makeover Monday’s. Makeover Monday’s is a four-week online Bible study hosted and authored by my special bloggy friend, Alene. You can also get great skincare and glamour tips. If you haven’t checked it out before, you can still jump in. Also, be sure to leave a comment. Alene has a giveaway each week, and this week it will be your choice of a Mary Kay lipstick from yours truly.

You’ll also want to visit Alene’s personal blog. She is a speaker and author who wrote a Bible study titled Dirty Laundry Secrets.

Again, be sure to leave a comment when you visit Makeover Monday’s. You can even comment more than once to increase your chances of winning. Good luck!

Happy Palm Sunday!

My post Tuesday hinted at how the last week or so has gone. I am tired, weary, and worn. Ummm, I think that’s a line in a song…but I digress. As I was saying, it’s been a little rough. Here’s what I realized today, though. I have allowed myself to become spiritually depleted. Yep, I sure am.

I have been staying up late at night, not for anything really important. Monday was an exception (trip to the ER and all that), but the rest of the week…time in front of the TV and computer does not generate anything especially earth-shattering. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with watching television or sitting in front of the computer, unless of course, you stay up too late and then can’t get out of bed the next morning in time to have some one-on-one time with God. This is the situation in which I have found myself this past week.

I’m not really sure why I continue to allow this to happen. It’s like this never-ending cycle I seem to go through. I know better, or at least you would think that I should. It’s not like I haven’t travelled this path before. I know what happens to me when I start allowing my time with God to slip. Spiritual depletion. And it stinks! It carries over into everything else I do. Oh my gosh! Have I been a grump this week! I nearly decapitated (figuratively speaking, of course) my poor husband yesterday, right after he came home from work no less! My sweet daughter hasn’t faired much better. I mean, I’m not running around yelling and screaming at everyone, but I’m just short on patience, and I can tell I’m grouchy and not very pleasant to be around. I have found myself apologizing a lot because I hear myself, and I think, “Oh, that sounded terrible!” But, I just can’t seem to control myself. I feel so irritable.

I ran out first thing this morning to get my hair cut. When I returned home, it was nearly lunch time. I was making a sandwich for myself and thinking how tired and grumpy I felt yet again. And then it happened. I heard the voice of God so clearly (in my heart, not audibly). He said, “My child, if you would stop everything else and spend some time with Me, you would feel a lot better.”

I knew it was true. So, that’s what I did. And you know what? I do feel better. I feel calmer, less grumpy, and a little less tired. I also decided rather than beat myself up over letting this happen yet again, I would just ask God to forgive me and realize that this very moment is a new beginning. I don’t have to wait until tomorrow or next Monday. I can start right now. That’s the beauty of God’s mercies. And where there was a frown, there is a smile, not only on my face, but in my heart.