As another school year begins, Rachel and I are basking in the return of routine to our family life. If you know us, you know that Rachel runs a small flower farm, and I pastor Living Water in addition to taking shifts as a hospital chaplain and sometimes teaching at PLNU, all while trying to support our three very active boys. Life is full.

With so much to juggle, we thrive when our routines are strong. And we struggle and stress when those routines are disrupted. The transition to summer is always a tough one. Rachel and I sit down every weekend to figure out our childcare rotation, each week different than the last. Some weeks involve a camp or special events; we have changing soccer schedules, meet ups with the kids’ friends, and family camping trips to incorporate. Sometimes we have a special work commitment or out of town visitors. There are so many decisions to make about what each family member is going to do, when they are going to do it, how they are going to get wherever they need to be, and how Rachel and I are going to actually get our work done – it feels like we have to figure out family life anew every day. Even our dog seems more stressed.

Routine brings simplicity and stability. Our minds settle with less options to consider. Our bodies feel more comfortable and safe knowing what to expect each day and each week. Rachel and I build our routines with intentionality to reflect our priorities, remembering time for rest and recovery from our over-filled lives.

Routine is good. The Nafis family thrives with strong routines (even our dog). 

But as we worked through Genesis at church this summer, we read about two significant encounters Jacob had with God. Both came in times of transition and broken routine. First, as Jacob is fleeing from his brother Esau’s wrath after stealing both his extra share of the family inheritance and the special blessing their father meant for Esau, God gives Jacob a profound dream of a stairway to heaven with angels ascending and descending, a vision that comes with a reaffirmation of the covenant God made with Abraham, now extended to Jacob. Decades later, as Jacob flees from his uncle Laban, returning to his homeland, wondering if Esau’s anger has subsided, a visitor shows up at a river crossing and wrestles with Jacob. They wrestle through the night, Jacob refusing to let go until he receives a blessing. Here Jacob also receives a new name – Israel – because he has struggled with God and with humans, and he has endured.

Most of us can probably think of times when a broken routine has opened us up to a new revelation. Many of us have had profound encounters with God at a camp or retreat. Some have found God giving new direction in a surprise interaction, or after an accidental change in schedule. In a particularly busy year, I found myself unexpectedly alone, eating a hamburger at a place I’d never been before when the Lord released me from a potential pastoral position at a church and opened me up to planting what would become Living Water.

Broken routine is stressful. But it can also create opportunity for revelation, growth, and change. We need these crisis moments in addition to needing the safety and peace of our routines.

My encouragement this month is to build strong and intentional routines into your life. Think about how you spend your days and weeks. Structure your time and habits so that they reflect your priorities and lead you deeper into discipleship of Jesus. Allow those routines to sink into your body and soul, to give you peace and a sense of comfort. And then, every once in a while, break your routine. Sometimes the routine will be broken for you by an unexpected crisis or emergency, or a shift in season. But sometimes you need to step out of that routine with intentionality. Open yourself up to crisis. Invite God to break through your structure, your comfort, and your plan, and to confront you with what God wants to do next.

Without structure and routine, life is chaotic, and we may not even notice God breaking through to do something new. If we are inflexible or resentful toward disruption, then we may close ourselves off to God’s revelation, allowing the stress of disruption to blind us from the calling of God.

We need both. Build and commit to good routines. And sometimes… break them.