Last week was my first full week laid off from my job. At first I really struggled. I struggled with having the patience to teach my kids. One of them even mumbled something about hoping she would have a different teacher next year.

But by the end of the week I felt like I had a better grasp on how to teach them. Having only one child at the table at time so I could focus solely on working with them while the other one played really helped. So, over a period of five days, things got better.

It’s said that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. I decided to take up the bass guitar. I borrowed the church’s amp and guitar and spent two hours working on learning how to play. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Only 20 more days to go!

I am doing this so I can allow my worship team members more flexibility to play other instruments they love.

So, fellow leaders,  what are you doing during this time to help your small groups or teams so they can be better prepared or have more flexibility? And to all of us, what new habit are you working on? Since you can’t or shouldn’t be going out, why not pick up something new to do?

Have you ever gotten up early before the birds wake up? I live off of County Line Road near 611, so you can hear traffic pretty much any time of day. But yesterday as I let the dogs out at 5:00 a.m., I noticed something different. It was quiet. It wasn’t an eerie quiet. It was a peaceful quiet. Like experiencing the peace of Christ.

I’ve been having a lot of Zoom meetings the past few weeks with extended family members that I usually only speak to maybe once or twice a year. I’ve noticed those who don’t know Christ aren’t doing so well. They start shaking and crying, and I feel sad for them. But I have to admit – this whole time – I feel Christ’s peace.  I can’t tell you why. But I do.

My prayer for you this week is that you, too, will feel the peace of the Christ during this trying time. That you will reconnect to him without the distractions of the world. That you take the next 21 days to form a new Christ habit.

Maybe its picking up scripture every morning continually and working through the new testament. Maybe it’s starting to journal.  You have the time. Take advantage of it.

I’d like to encourage you with a passage from Romans  5:1 -3. Brother Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance” (NIV).

May your faith shine through this week so that your peace in Christ can be seen by all and may you have perseverance to create a new Christ habit.