Off to A Challenging Start

I launched the solitude challenge this morning and almost failed miserably. I set my alarm for 6:30am. That’s usually plenty of time to get up and get some quiet time in before things really get going around the Brown house. However, this morning was a little different. Paul (our 2 year old) rolled in at 6:28am and beat the alarm to the wake up punch. By the time I got him into bed, settled down, and back to sleep, I realized that I had left my Bible and journal in my backpack at work. D’oh!

So, I did a little exercising and then Abbie, our 3 year old, came in wanting a glass of milk and a little TV time with Dad. How could I refuse? So, I ended up putting the solitude time off until getting to work. Not too bad really.

I got to work a little early and was just sitting down with my Bible and my journal when I got a call from a local vendor helping us out with an event we were hosting today. He needed me to let him in the building and get him started on his part of the project. Darn. When are you people going to let me have some solitude?

Finally, around 10:45, I got a chance to sit down with my Bible and my journal and get started. I’m starting out in Philippians. No rush to motor my way through it, but just taking my time – camping out as needed. It was good. It’s been a while since I journaled and that was great. I’m really looking forward to this, but I’ll get started a little earlier tomorrow. Honestly, I’m not sure that what I did today, really counted as solitude. It counted as a quiet time, but that’s not exactly the point of this little exercise. My plan is to get out in the backyard tomorrow before things get rolling at the house and see if I can spend some real time in solitude with Jesus. We’ll see what happens.