It’s here. The month of May-hem. The slower rhythms of summer are coming, but they’re not on us just yet. And if your calendar looks like mine, you may be wondering if you will even make it to June, what with all of the graduations, weddings, recitals, end-of-year parties—and let’s not forget Mother’s Day.
(Seriously. Let’s not forget Mother’s Day.)
May is not like December. December gets heralded months in advance; we’re braced for impact by mid-November. Not so with May. May can sneak up on the unwary. One minute it’s April and you’re dreaming about a spring garden–should you try pink petunias this year?—and then boom. It’s May, and you need 30 treat bags for the baseball party tomorrow.
Where do we turn for relief? I can’t answer that—not completely, anyway—but I can share something that has been life-changing for me.
(Well, potentially life-changing; I’ve only been doing this for about 12 days now. But people say it works.)
(And by “people,” I mean Andy Crouch.)
I’ve long been a fan of Andy’s (I loved his books, Playing God and The Tech-Wise Family), and it was a huge treat to hear him speak last month at the Center for Christian Study’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in Charlottesville. (Sidebar: If you have a kid going to the University of Virginia, or you know a student who’s headed there, click this link; the Study Center’s Move-In Day lunches are not to be missed for those looking to build Christian community from Day 1 of their college experience.)
Andy talked about a lot of things—the difference between “space” and “place”, for example, and how place kindles memory, a concept he linked to Deuteronomy 6—and I wanted more. I started poking around online and stumbled upon a short YouTube clip in which Andy talked about how to wake up in the morning—and what was clearly the wrong way to start your day.
Andy confessed that he had long held to an “ironclad rule” of checking his phone every morning, first thing. “I let the glowing rectangle tell me whatever I needed to pay attention to,” he said. Realizing that there had to be a better way, he resolved to ignore his phone and go outside as soon as he woke up, even if that meant descending several flights of stairs in a hotel on the other side of the world. What Andy discovered, as he pursued this new practice, was the gift of perspective and the ability to be who he really was: “A very small part of a very large world, rather than what I am on the screen, which is a very large part of a very small world.”
Andy’s words resonated, and I resolved to do the same thing. I woke up and, instead of checking text messages or the weather on an app, I stepped outside with my coffee and felt the actual air. (And yes, I am grateful that it is not still February.)
It was glorious!
It was glorious the next day. And the next—getting up and going outside, leaving my phone plugged into the charger. At first, I wondered if I might miss something important (What if one of my children needs me? What if they changed the time for today’s meeting? What if I won some sort of Fabulous Prize?), but it wasn’t long before I realized that it didn’t matter. Waiting a few minutes—or half an hour—wouldn’t change anything. No matter what my phone (or my ego) might want me to believe, I am just not that essential.
Andy was right.
(Of course he was right; he wrote a whole book about putting technology in its proper place.)
Do try this at home
Today, if you drive by our house in the early morning, you might just spot me on the front porch, dressed in my favorite bathrobe or sporting some sort of workout gear. I’ll have a big cup of coffee and, more often than not, a favorite devotional book. Our dog Minnie is apt to be out there, too, sniffing the day to see what it holds.
Want to join me? The coffee isn’t required (Andy drinks tea), and you don’t need a book (Andy goes outside on his own). But if you’re like I am and you often sense God’s presence when words are around, consider starting your day with intentional praise.
Praise “changes our attitude, brings an awareness of God’s presence; defeats Satan; releases God’s power; brings a victorious perspective; provides peace; wards of the spirits of self-pity, depression, and discouragement; and produces strength in an anxious heart.” That’s according to Moms in Prayer founder Fern Nichols, quoted in Praying the Scriptures for Your Life, and honestly? I want every. single. one. of those benefits!
Right now, I’m igniting praise with the help of Ruth Myer’s classic, 31 Days of Praise:
The chapters are short—less than two pages—and chock full of Scripture. I often find myself reading each entry out loud (a habit I like to think Minnie appreciates).
Another time-tested favorite is Sara Hagerty’s Adore. Sara knows what it’s like to wake up and not feel like giving God praise, times when grief, disappointment, or worry fills the radar screen of our lives. But, Sara says, that’s actually the best time to adore. “God does not want our polished pretenses,” she says. “He wants us to come honestly. He invites us to wrestle.”
Truth be told, you don’t need a devotional book. You can just grab your Bible and start praising your way through the psalms, kind of like Jesus did. If you do one a day, that will get you through the end of September (by which time you’ll be wishing you’d clicked that link for my favorite bathrobe).
So…here’s to deep breaths and morning calm in the month of Mayhem. You might not hear from me for awhile–hooray for Summer!—but if you live in Virginia Beach and you happen to pass by our house before 7 a.m., I hope you’ll wave!
