In getting ready for our upcoming move, I have gotten into a purge/sort/re-organize kind of mood... It is making me excited for changes in the near future, even amidst the feelings of nervousness.
In doing all of this, I have done a lot of thinking and reflecting and I realized that I have really lost most of the self-discipline I used to have. One of the things I really need to work on right now is making my spiritual life more a part of my daily routine. Sure, prayers in the morning and the evening are a routine, but I don't feel like that's cutting it any more. Especially when days are hard, I realize that those days would not feel quite as hard if I were just a bit more disciplined but most importantly, if I always always prayed inside my head.
In order to start fixing this little glitch, I have decided to make an organized schedule for myself of something spiritual to do each day of the week. Here's the list I have come up with.
Monday: Read an Akathist to a saint of choice (relevant to the week perhaps!)
Tuesday: Read a kathisma from the Psalter
Wednesday: Read a chapter of my current spiritual book choice
Thursday: Mama prayers. Pray about current struggles I'm having in motherhood, as well as prayers of thanksgiving. I'll use the book The Ascetic Lives of Mothers as a tool here.
Friday: Work on confession list (it's much easier to remember sins one week at a time, than to sit down once every few weeks when preparing for confession!)
Saturday or Sunday: Write down spiritual reflections on the week that has passed...make goals accordingly
This is a start, and I am sure that I will find a few things to add in the future.... Or perhaps I'll change it up every now and then or at the start of a fast. These aren't things I'll do necessarily at night after the kids are in bed, but I will try to find time for them whenever I can throughout the day. Sometimes at night I have so little energy left that I feel like all I want to do is vedge on the couch and sleep, so I don't want to make these night-time activities per se.
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In other news, tomorrow my oldest starts his first day of pre-school! I'm going with him the first day, so I am excited...otherwise, it'd be a little brutal to just plop him into a new setting and leave for 2.5 hours! He's so excited, and I am too, but I do have some feelings of apprehension. I comfort myself by reminding myself that if something goes wrong, I can always pull him out.
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