This past spring, I was helping my dad get some things done at his place. As I was moving limbs and branches using the tractor, the ground was still wet and the tires started making ruts in the ground from the tractor repeatedly crossing the same spot to get to the brush pile. These ruts just got deeper and deeper and the old saying of “being stuck in a rut” came to mind. Especially as they got deeper the tractor tires would bounce around and slide back into the ruts, or the tires would start to slip as it became a muddy mess and I ran the risk of getting stuck. Once the tractor is stuck, it’s not easy to get out. What would I use to pull it out?
The word “rut” is defined as:
rut
rət/
noun
- 1. a long deep track made by the repeated passage of the wheels of vehicles.
- 2. a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change. “the administration was stuck in a rut and was losing its direction”
Do we repeatedly do the same things over and over in our everyday lives that create ruts? Do our daily routines and habits just become repetitive? Do these ruts get so deep that we get stuck–unable to get out of them?
Do we have those routines in our lives, our marriages, our relationships, our churches? Are we running over the same ground repeatedly, churning up a mess and expecting that things won’t get bogged down? As the ruts start to form in the ground are we as effective getting the job done? Do we do things in new and creative ways? Do we embrace change?
In our marriages, is it the same date that we always go on with our spouses? The same vacation to the same spot? The same daily routine, the usual Saturday or Sunday rituals?
In our relationships do we get past the casual hello and how are things going? Seeing the same people everyday at work and not knowing anything about them?
Do we sing the same songs at church every few weeks? Have the same program every Sunday? See the same people, attend the same service, or even sit in the same spot?
I’m guilty of this in all these areas. The way I see to combat this is to just be aware of the possibility of making those ruts. To watch for those ruts to be forming and to try new things. To not be blinded to our actions. 
Do we take our spouse on “every” date night to a movie, and expect her to still be wooed by our actions? Or do we need to spice things up and do something different once in awhile? Do we show signs of insanity?
Over the past couple of years Carly and I had found ourselves “making some of those ruts” in our marriage, not so deep that we couldn’t get out or were in trouble, but the beginnings of those ruts nonetheless were forming. In the midst of doctors appointments and sporting events, we found ourselves on the road a lot and needing a meal often. We had gotten ourselves into the rut of always stopping at the same few restaurants, never trying anything new. There wasn’t much excitement in that, so we made a pact to try new places. Now the kids think that most of the places I end up picking are scary places, but they are just outside our comfort zones. We have had Cuban, Afghani, Turkish, Mediterranean and Southern comfort foods to name a few. Yes, some have not been good, some we aren’t really sure what we have eaten, some we can only go to during daylight hours, but some have become our family’s new favorites. 
It doesn’t have to be major changes, just some little things that will keep you out of those ruts. It could be date night at a new spot other than the usual movie, a vacation to see a new area, getting past the casual hello, or just as simple as sitting in a new spot at church and seeing who you will meet.
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