The year is already a quarter gone. It always sneaks up on us, doesn’t it? One moment we’re scribbling goals and prayers into a fresh January journal, and the next moment—it’s April.
What have we done with the first part of the year? Have we used it to honor the Lord, to draw near to Him, to serve our families and churches well, to grow the Kingdom?
Or have the weeks slipped through our fingers, lost in busyness and blur? Are we always waiting for “next week” when we can finally slow down?
This is a good time to be still and to know… Before the year gets away from us completely, why not carve out a little space to reflect and realign? A personal retreat—a day, or maybe two or three—could be just what we need. Not a vacation, but a purposeful pause. A time to pray, to listen, to ask ourselves hard questions, and maybe even to change course.
That can sound impossible when you are a busy family. I get it. But maybe, with a little teamwork and creativity, it’s not so far-fetched.
What if spouses traded off, covering for each other so each one could step away for a bit? What if we treated a few hours at the church library, or the hill behind the house, or even just the backyard, like sacred ground?
The Lord Jesus made time to get away—to the mountains, to the sea, to the garden, to Bethany. Sometimes He went alone. Sometimes He brought a few close friends. But He made time. And if He needed it, how much more do we?
Maybe something else needs to go so we can make room. Maybe the screen time gets cut. Or the late nights. Or the endless to-dos that never quite lead to growth. What can we say no to so we can give more time to the Lord and to His church?
Don’t coast. Don’t drift. Don’t go on auto-pilot. Keep growing, keep pressing forward. The year isn’t over yet—and by God’s grace, we can still make it count.
Juan David 