Thankful for the Routine

For those of you who are fellow "Friends" obsessed, I am NOT talking about The Routine as in Ross and Monica's dance routine for Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve. However, you would have found that YouTube video at the bottom of this post because of the true and deep belly laugh it gives me every time I watch it. Problem being, it's unable to be embedded. So, if you want to see it, click here. Please note that I am thankful for THAT routine, but it's not the one I'm referring to.

No, the Routine I am talking about is the one in which we all find ourselves in at one time or another. I think of it as the "same old, same old." Not necessarily bad, but just has a familiarity to it . . . it becomes "normal."

However, sometimes I can forget to be thankful for this routine. I think back on almost a year ago. My heart was longing for routine - something to view as "normal." I got to the point where my motto was "the only constant here is change." We were homeless (as a school, that is), and at times helpless and close to hopeless. We questioned if there really was to be a school. We could not wait to have things figured out so we could get into the routine of operating a school and all that goes along with it:

the giggles, the precious faces, turning our heads when a child does or says something funny that we probably shouldn't show we are amused as to encourage the behavior, the sound of soccer balls being kicked at recess, the ABC's being sung loudly enough for the office across the lot to hear, etc.

Today, a friend of ours came to visit. She works with the children's home we worked with a bit last year and is currently starting a school for them (they live an hour away from us and because the home is growing, it makes more sense for them to start a school on their own property specifically for the children being raised in their foster homes). She came to my class for just a few minutes and had the biggest smile on her face. I felt as if maybe some moms do when the kids are kind of acting up and you feel frustrated with them and someone comes along and says "aren't they just adorable?" and your response is "would you like to take them and see for yourself how adorable they are?" I was kind of having one of those days. She commented on how sweet they were. And then she said "I'm just so excited you guys have your school up and running."

my 4 kiddos that I teach

That's when it hit me - OH YEAH. You're right. She was around when we were grasping for straws. When we were praying and waiting and praying and waiting some more. She knew us when we were writing curriculum, painting, cleaning, landscaping, building sinks, cleaning some more, and the list goes on. She remembers how much work and truly God's provision it took for our school to open.

Here I am, having a day of "the routine" and I'm forgetting how special the routine actually is. I forgot that I need to view it as a blessing and not just the "same old, same old." The routine means that God came through in HUGE ways (ways only HE can do) and blessed us with this school, with students, with the giggles and the singing and the soccer balls flying about our lot.

So today, I thank God for everything He's done and continues to do through this project. I know that change is still a constant but God is in control and He is our foundation. Today, I am thankful for "the routine" and pray that I won't forget how truly valuable that is.