Since joining Rob and Tim on staff at a church in Oklahoma two months ago, my wife had a baby, we haven’t found a place to live, and my wife had a baby. (That’s huge life change. It deserves two mentions.) We’re in a crazy season of life. And we love it… sometimes.

For my first post on SDaL, I want to make a quick point about just that, sitting and learning. Life gets crazy at times. At one point in seminary I was taking a full course load, working four jobs, and learning how to be a dad. Sitting and learning looked drastically different than it does now. And it will change completely in twenty years. But the critical component to all of this, sitting and learning, is to actually sit and learn.

My favorite time to rest and think about what God has done for me and my family is early in the morning with my wife. Now, my toddler has discovered his love for the early morning and our infant needs food. So my early mornings are spent with the monster and his blankie watching Paw Patrol, or Daniel Tiger, whichever he fancies that day while my wife feeds the creature. And I think that time is precious.

But because of the kiddo intrusion, I have to be diligent with my time, seemingly more than ever. I have a targeted plan to read Scripture (something I’ll cover later) and a plan for prayer (again, something to write about later).

I don’t know the ins and outs of your life. You may have an abundance of time, waiting to be filled with something, anything. Or you may struggle to scrape ten minutes together to eat. My plea to you now is to sit. Rest. Learn. Be shaped. Have the end set in mind, not the moment.

-Jared