PB&J – a staple of the American diet!

But do you ever have PB&J before breakfast?

Not for breakfast — before breakfast. I finally added all three into my daily diet about 6 months ago, and it’s been awesome. (What?! This guy’s weird…)

Hang on…I’m talking about Prayer, Bible & Journal time every morning. Allow me to explain.

Prayer

It started with a priest’s homily comment. He mentioned how easy it should be for us to pray at least five times a day:

• When we wake up (“Thank you, God, for another day!”)
• Before each of three meals (“Thank you, God, for this food.”)
• Before falling asleep (“Thank you, God, for x, y and z today.”)

It seemed so simple. I was usually good for a prayer or two each day, but for whatever reason I had never considered how easy it should be to fit at least five opportunities into my day to praise God. Plus, St. Paul teaches us in 1 Thes 5:16-18,

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I began consciously adding more prayer to my daily routine. The result?

Bible

Fast forward to January 2013 when I was very subtly being compelled to dive into the Bible more. But it’s a little daunting, isn’t it? I’m mean…that book is huge! Where do I start? I was given a devotional that followed the daily mass readings and had a mediation for each day, so I made it a new year’s resolution to read each morning.

It’s seems obvious in hindsight, but I’ve come to realize that when I start my day with scripture, my attitude and outlook tend to follow suit. I was being inspired by verses and thoughts in the meditations but I needed an outlet for it.

Journal

So finally, about six months ago, it all came together – I bought a journal. I’ll admit, a little part of me felt self-conscious that I was acting like a high school girl, but I’m over that now for three reasons:

• The more books I’ve read, the more it’s been mentioned that journaling is an important part of many successful people’s daily routines (including men), so I’m clearly going overboard on the high-school-girl-self-consciousness thing.
• My wife had been journaling since that 2013 new year’s resolution and loved the peace of mind it gave her. I was late to the game in learning this, but it’s been awesome to keep track of verses I want to memorize or thoughts I’ve had (like blogs I should write). It helps de-clutter my brain.
• I was apparently getting old and having trouble remembering when I did something, where I went or what I accomplished. That’s all documented now. (Added bonus, if anyone asks where I was six weeks ago between 2:15pm and 2:36pm, I’m going to have a much better idea then I did before journaling…)

The Result

It’s been a steady and gradual faith journey with noticeable growth along the way.

It’s reinforced the importance of having discipline in my spiritual life. In the times where I’ve slacked off and not made an effort, I feel as though I regress.

It’s brought a greater sense of order to my daily routine. Yes, I have to get up about 20 minutes earlier to make it all happen, but the long term results far outweigh a few more minutes in bed.

So how about you – What do you do to start your day? Let me know below. And if you’re looking for something new, try giving one of these three a shot for a month and see what happens.