This week I’ve been changing up my mornings. I’ve stopped reaching for my phone as soon as I wake up. Instead, I give myself at least an hour. In that time, I do a little morning yoga, shower, sip coffee, and spend some time in prayer and meditation. I’ve learned that mornings are my most productive time, and if I start by scrolling, I sabotage the very space I need most.

My doctor once told me that if I wanted to change my health or the quality of my life, I would have to change something I do every day. Not once in a while. Not once a year as a resolution. Every day. That advice has stayed with me because it’s so simple and yet so challenging. What we do every day quietly shapes who we become. It made me realize how much routines shape us. They’re more than habits, they’re choices that either strengthen or scatter us.

Scripture points us to this same truth. Jesus often slipped away to pray, sometimes in the early morning while it was still dark. It wasn’t a once-in-a-while thing; it was a rhythm. Paul’s encouragement to “pray without ceasing” isn’t about saying endless prayers, but about cultivating a daily posture of awareness and trust. These are routines that don’t just fill time, they form us. They give us strength before the phone buzzes, before the calendar fills, and before the world rushes in.

We all have routines, whether we notice them or not. Some give us energy and focus, others drain us without us realizing it. Maybe it’s the first thing you reach for in the morning, the way you use your lunch break, or the last thing you do before bed. These small, repeated choices aren’t just about efficiency; they’re about direction. They shape who you are, day by day.

What routines ground you? Which ones scatter you? And where might God be inviting you to shift your daily patterns so they lead you toward greater life?

My wish for you this week, Reader, is that you’ll pause to notice the routines already guiding your days. May you keep the ones that bring you strength and peace, let go of the ones that scatter you, and lean into the quiet, steady practices that help you live more fully into God’s love. That's the fiLLLed life.

Live a fiLLLed life, Melissa ​