A Year Without Pants

By Terri King Hunt

So often we believe the lie that our time with God has to "look" or "be done" in a specific way for it to "count". As I've grown, I've come to realize that God is bigger than our limited schedules and our relationship with the divine won't be defined by the number of hours we clock, but rather the intimacy between us.

If you de

• Language: English
• Publisher: Superior Guidance
• Release date: Jan 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781736694336

Book preview

Introduction

It was 4 AM. I was lying in my closet having worship and crying my eyes out. It wasn’t the moving of the spirit causing me to cry; it was exhaustion.

I have always loved spending time with God; there were days when we would spend hours together in my closet.

When I had children, things changed. Between working all day, commuting, changing diapers, and preparing meals, I could never find time the way I once did.

I remember talking to a spiritual leader and being told that my priorities were out of order. She suggested I get up earlier, 4 AM, to be exact.

I did this for weeks, and while I was getting my time in with God, I was also miserable and very tired.

One day as I was leaving to take my Saniyya to dance, Steven my husband, asked if he could come. After walking her in, he said, Let’s go grab a cup of coffee. We spent the next 45 mins talking, laughing, and catching up! We had so much fun that day.

It became a standing date for the rest of that dance season.

The next morning at 4 AM, as I lay once again bawling my eyes out, trying not to fall asleep during my prayer, God said, Can I ride with you to work?

Can I help you with the dishes?

Can we talk during gymnastics?

In this life, I’ve learned that God is bigger than our limited schedules.

Our relationship with the divine isn’t defined by the number of hours we clock but rather the intimacy between us.

So often, we believe the lie that our relationship has to look or be done in a specific way for it to count.

The truth is that this relationship is between two beings; You and the God of the universe. TOGETHER you define how the relationship will flourish and grow.

I want you to discover what works for you and your creator. Together decide how you will connect and then spend the rest of this season growing in your relationship together.

What type of book is this?

I began sharing my spiritual encounters on Facebook in 2019, but I have been sharing thoughts like this and teaching bible study since 2005. Each time I share, inevitably, someone will say, I wish I could experience God the way you do, and every time, my response is the same. You can, and that is exactly what He wants as well.

When I set out to write this book, I intended to create a resource that would support you on your journey to deepen your relationship with your creator. Many have classified this book as a devotional, but for me, that classification doesn’t fit my intent.

Let me explain.

A devotional is a book written to provide a specific reading for each day and is usually accompanied by a supporting scripture and prayer. Over time devotionals have been a daily meditation, helping the reader focus on a particular truth and remove distractions to give God their full attention. For me, this became problematic because the same scriptures were always pulled upon and my relationship with God never deepened.

For me, devotional books simply became verifiable proof I had spent time with God. Yet my relationship remained stagnant. So, the word devotional held a lukewarm connotation for me.

My husband and Pastor, Dr. Steven G Hunt, challenged me to study the word devotional before abandoning classifying this book as a devotional.

I took him up on the challenge and this is what I discovered.

The word devotional comes from the word devotion. Devotion is defined as a complete and total love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. It means giving oneself fully to another; heart, body, and soul. Devotional books were originally written to support believers in their journey toward becoming fully DEVOTED to God. Just as we don’t DO human, but rather we ARE human, we don’t DO devotion. Instead, we ARE devoted, daily and completely, to our relationship with the Divine. To develop and experience this level of devotion requires attention and intention.

As a teacher, I learned to value the art of questioning, pondering, and reflecting early in my career. As I utilized these techniques in my time with God, the result was mind-blowing. No longer did I experience boring and exhausting moments with a book about God, but instead, I had multiple daily encounters WITH God. These experiences made the teachings in scripture come alive in my life.

So, in response to the question what kind of book is this? This is a journal of devotion, an example of what a life devoted to God looks like, and a guide to support you in living a life devoted to your Creator.

How to use this book

I was careful NOT to share 365 experiences. The number 52 is intentional. I hope you will read through each experience and then reflect on how it resonates with you. There are questions at the end of each experience. These are the questions I ask myself anytime something stirs my spirit. I hope you will spend time reflecting on the questions and respond to them.

How you read through these experiences is up to you. Read one each week or all 52 at once; the goal is for you to recognize and begin questioning, pondering, and reflecting on the encounters you experience every day. Notice and give attention to the things that resonate with you. I like to use Sticky Notes to quickly jot down and capture these moments, thoughts, and ideas. At the end of the day, on the weekend, or when I have a quiet moment, I look back over the sticky notes and journal about the experiences that resonate with me.

That leads me to the coolest part of this book. I am most excited about the second half of this book. It is where I hope you will capture your personal experiences with God. I encourage you to record the moments that stir something in you in this section. The moments that stun you. The moments that excite you. Note them and then use the questions to help deepen the intimacy between you and the Divine. The questions I have included are the very same questions I ask myself each time something catches my attention. From discovering a turtle on my front porch to seeing my small gift doubled right before my eyes, if something different happens in my day, I pay attention to it.

I hope you, too, will get into the habit of paying attention because this is what devotion is— the daily shared connections between you and your Creator— it is intimacy.

This practice has been life-changing for me, and if you allow it, I know it will be life-changing for you as well.

Before I wrap this up, I