Sometimes I think it’s the rain and the clouds that get to me.

Sometimes I know it’s the lack of sleep.

Too often it’s the overdose of sugar and caffeine.

And naturally, that huge pile of laundry and the overflowing counter of dishes has nothing to do with it.

But some days, I just don’t know where to start. 

I turn from one thing to another, not really accomplishing anything, just getting more overwhelmed.

It’s not the tyranny of the urgent.  It’s the tyranny of the “terr-bull mess!” as my 2-year-old would say.

But then I remember those sage words shared by Elisabeth Elliot:

“Do the next thing.”

And then I turn back to my list, back to the routines I know to do.

Like my friend Lanier wrote:

Ever since I have been married I have structured my weeks loosely around a basic schedule… And after ten years, these basic parameters are so ingrained I don’t even have to think about them. It’s like my mother told me once, you need a routine so that you’ll have something to be flexible from! And while I’ve seen these words proven true over and over again, no matter how crazy a particular season or week or day might be, I always have my little schedule to welcome me back to sanity when things settle down.
–Lanier Ivester on ylcf.org

So I face the task in front of me, ignoring the mess behind me that’s next on the list, and simply do the next thing.