Catching Up

Summer fills my calendar quickly. A full time job becomes the base layer, then projects stack on top: ductwork in the crawlspace, a kitchen backsplash, a backyard that still needs shaping, sketches of a deck and patio, even invention ideas waiting for attention. None of it is bad, but together they crowd the quiet practices that keep my heart steady.

In seasons like this, my writing discipline gets shelved, not from lack of desire but noise. It is easy to think I can “catch up later,” as if habits are elastic. But what is not maintained slowly fades. The spirit needs rhythm, attention, and space.

Years ago, I was riding my bicycle with some coworkers on a six mile route when a cramp forced me to stop. “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” I said. After resting briefly, I got back on. It took all of the last three miles to catch up to them as they were already finishing at the parking lot. Catching up took much more energy than pacing would have.

My point is simple: life requires diligence and time stewardship. When busyness goes unchecked, even good things crowd out the best. I don’t want spiritual habits—prayer, reflection, writing, listening—to become things I’m always catching up on. I want them to be my steady pace forward.

Therefore I’m learning to protect the small disciplines before life demands I recover them. It is easier to maintain a rhythm than to rebuild one from exhaustion. I don’t want to only catch up to my faith or my habits. I want to walk with them daily, so that even in busy seasons, I remain grounded, present, and attentive to what matters most.

So I choose today to return to a steady rhthym, trusting that daily faithfulness carries me further than frantic catching up ever could. I want to walk with God in daily discipline, while taking time to write the devotional thoughts he has placed on my heart.