Ardor for Order

"Puritan teachers thought humane family life, in which Christian love and joy would find full and free expression, could not be achieved till the ordered pattern they envisage - the regular authority-structure and daily routine - had been firmly established. Their passion to please God expressed itself in an ardor for order; their vision of the good and godly life was of a planned, well-thought-out flow of activities in which all obligations were recognized and met, and time was found for everything that mattered: for personal devotion, for family worship, for household tasks, for wage-earning employment, for intimacy with spouse and children, for Sabbath rest, and whatever else one's calling or callings required" (J.I. Packer A Quest for Godliness p 273, quoted in The Family Worship Book p18)

Although I have read A Quest for Godliness (and highly recommend it as an excellent overview of the Puritans), I found this quotation in The Family Worship Book extremely helpful in pushing me to make time, particularly in the new year, for those things that matter most.