Jodi’s Daily Routine for Keeping Her Eyes on Jesus
I have always taken the time to, however one chooses to word it, pray, connect, talk to God. But, in all honesty, I did not put my best foot forward when spending time with Him. My prayers were often rushed, unfocused, and a long list of requests. In the last three years, I have learned how to intentionally sit, be still, meditate and saturate myself with His word. I started an intentional, daily routine, and it has grown into a daily habit that makes all the difference in my day to day living. In fact, when I wake up in the morning, I no longer go straight to my phone or list of “to dos”. My first thought is “Good morning, God. Thank you for this day.” I still get out of bed with a sense of urgency. The difference is this urgency is about spending quiet time with God and not about sprinting into my day. I am Learning to Live for Him and not for myself.
I have outlined my daily routine below in hopes that you may be able to use it as a guide as you begin an INTENTIONAL journey, spending FOCUSED time with God each day.
Morning
Alarm goes off- I get up-- no snooze button
I grab a cup of coffee, flow through a few gentle yoga poses and use my phone to go straight to the Abide App to listen to a guided meditation- I find this helps wake me and gently gets my day started off on the right foot with scripture and prayer that is spoken to me ( I use the FREE 2 minute version)
I let the music play at the end of the meditation as I pray with intention on how this verse can serve me and help me to serve others in my day.
I then go to the Daily Bible Verse App to read the verse of the day
If I feel moved to do so, I may share the Abide Meditation verse and/or the Daily Bible Verse on my social media stories- I feel a huge part of my growth in faith and my walk with Jesus is about sharing His word and His love with others.
I then open to the next blank page in My Prayer Journal - (see pic with post), you can buy this, or others like it, on Amazon, I mean where else ;)..., and I fill in the “I am Thankful For” and “Prayer Requests” boxes first-I simply generate a bulleted list of 4-5 things, people, situations, circumstances that I am grateful for and 4-5 things, people, situations, circumstances that I am praying for.
** I have been faithfully completing the My Prayer Journal pages since January 1, 2018. Friends, it is amazing to look back at these journals and see how, when, and where God answered every single prayer. I see this so easily because things I have written in the “Prayer Request” box eventually get written in the “I am Thankful For” box. The answers to these prayers have not always been what I was asking for, but they have, without fail, always been what God knew I needed. A common prayer/mantra that I state on a regular basis is, “God, take me and lead me where you want me and need me.”
Then I read a Daily Devotional from Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling - the message of the devotional guides my thoughts and focus for the “Lord Teach Me To…” box
Sarah Young’s devotional includes 2-3 Bible verses, so I pick one that stands out to me, or really moves me, and I write this in the “Today’s Verse” box- I find that reading the verse, writing the verse, and praying the verse out loud allows it to have a greater impact on me and helps me tuck it away in my head and heart for use throughout the day
Last, but certainly not least, I play the One Minute Pause App (John Eldredge-Get Your Life Back) on my phone. This app is a launch from his MUST READ book Get Your Life Back. Sometimes, I just do the 1 minute pause and sometimes, depending on how much time I have, I do the 5 or 10 minute pause. I find this a relaxing and calming way to end my time with God because it is a guided meditation/reflection. It is all about releasing your worries to God.
Evening
I have the One Minute Pause App set to remind me in the afternoon (4 o’clock- end of work day) that it is time for my pause. I listen to it in my classroom or in my car before I start the drive home- it is very effective at calming and centering me as I head home to my fam after a full day of teaching the littles.
At dinner, when we actually have all 6 of us at the table at the same time, we always give thanks and we TRY (as much as we can) to read one of Sarah Young’s devotionals from her Jesus Calling-Family Devotionals
When I am in bed settling for the night, I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS write in my gratitude journal- this is nothing fancy- at all! It is literally a spiral bound notebook with lined pages. I simply write the date and I make myself list at least 3 things that happened that day that brought me joy and gratitude- sometimes my page is full and sometimes I have to dig deep, especially if it was a day full of “meh”, which we all have! (examples of “digging deep”: listening to the girls giggle in their bedroom, it rained today, we have a washer and dryer)
No matter how many “bad” moments a day may present, thinking of and writing down the good stuff brings it all back into perspective. It’s so nice to fall asleep with positive thoughts in mind instead of tossing and turning over the things that bring frustration, worries or fears.
I also keep a short and sweet devotional on my nightstand and read one every night before I turn out the light.