No matter how flexible and spontaneous a pastor/mother may be, we like routine and schedules. Whether it is preferred or not, routine and schedules are vital and necessary to make it through the day. I have long said that if I were my own personal assistant, I would have fired myself a long time ago.

For one, it is common that I miss flights because I forgot I had one or book them at the wrong time, day, or destination. Today’s flight is a perfect example. I was supposed to book my flight leaving from and returning to Reno, where I dropped off my kids to stay with family. Instead I did what I normally did and booked it to and from San Francisco. This meant that I drove the three hours there and back within two days. Now before you say, “Theresa, why didn’t you just pay the extra to rebook your flight?” I should also say that I’m cheap. And before the gas prices went up, I would have saved probably $30. If you still think I should have rebooked then all I have to say is I blame it on my father’s cheapness which rubbed off on me.

Today, I took it to a whole new level. My theory is because I was already taken out of my normal routine. 1) today is Sunday and I’m not at church; 2) my kids aren’t home so I had a nice quiet evening with my husband; and 3) I’m still recovering from the long drive. So it is understandable that I woke up so late this morning that I had to jar my husband awake to rush me to the airport. I didn’t even have time to brush my teeth and hair, only to realize when we got to the airport that I printed the wrong itinerary for a later trip, different airline, different time and day. My real flight was just taking off.

Don’t worry, the story ends well. I was able to catch another flight. The only casualty was probably my husband who had to witness it all and drive me to the airport at 5 am. All this to say, pastor/mothers need routine or the illusion of one, otherwise they unravel.