Our time together, Molly and me, has produced some unusual habits. Habits are good, I suppose, if they contribute to a peaceful life. Some habits are irksome but…we tolerate each other for the sake of love and harmony.
Habits develop over time when we repeat behaviour patterns until they stick. Take Molly’s cute habit, for example, of make a wide detour around the furniture every time I put her food bowl down on the floor. She will never walk in a straight line to her food…always a detour, for what reason? Only she knows?
Another habit she has developed is to do her business in my bathroom when it rains, but she does it furtively, like she doesn’t want me to know… until I discover the evidence. I don’t mind because it’s easy to clean, and always in the same place…never in my lounge or bedroom.
She started a bad habit which I recognised after a few times, and quickly nipped in the bud. She would wake me in the middle of the night to go outside, and then moon around in the garden for quite a while before coming back inside.
Now I know that she has excellent bladder control, so her little ruse didn’t fool me.
Why do we develop habits, some good, some bad? I guess habits help our thought processes. If we don’t have to think about every routine move we make, it frees our minds to engage in more profitable thinking. I don’t know if habits work for Molly but they work for me
One thing I realise, after observing Molly’s funny little habits, is that I also have habits that influence and direct my behaviour. My best habit, practised over many years, is to rise early and spend time with Lord, engaging with Him, uninterrupted, while it’s dark and quiet, before my daily routine begins.
It wasn’t always like this. When my four children were young, school-going boys, mornings began with a bang and a flurry to get them off to school. Then the day rushed on with hardly time or a thought for the Lord.
Now that I have all day on my hands, my daily habit is deeply entrenched… not that I think my day will go haywire if I don’t have a “quiet time” but because these are treasured moments that I would hate to miss.
I have other, lesser habits that generally keep me on track, and habits that Molly and I have formed together that testify to the bond we enjoy, like holding her close every time I sit down on my chair next to her. She and I cherish those together times which are like the grooming that cements bonds in the animal kingdom.
Since we gather habits that are helpful or harmful, it’s up to us to recognise the difference and to break the habits that irk us or others. The best habit of all is to cutivate a God-awareness so strong that it keeps us connected to Him, His will, and His ways throughout our day, whether we are conscious of His presence or not.
I treasure the Holy Spirit presence because He helps me form the habits that keep me from wandering off into forbidden territory, and keeps my heart warm with joy and longing for more of the interaction with the Lord that keeps my anticipation for heaven alive despite the darkness all around.
2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
[18] “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”