For those of us who were kids in the 70s, that might make us think of the advertising jingles and slogans pointing us toward “Folgers in our cup” or maybe some type of breakfast cereal. But this realization came years after we were doing those things to start our days. Now we’re choosing to “fill our cups” spiritually. Let me explain:
My husband and I started this thing a few years back: a little morning habit of reading together. Honestly, I’m sure now the Holy Spirit was nudging us in this direction, since we were simultaneously catapulted into some very dark times in our lives.
I can’t remember the exact year we began this practice, maybe somewhere around 2017 or 2018, and we began simply by reading an actual written copy of the Bible In A Year. It was a Protestant version I found on our bookshelf. I opened it and noticed an extended family member had evidently read and wrote a little dedication blurb on the inside cover to another family member.
The following year, we realized we’d missed a lot of content for whatever reason, lacking clear minds and whatever else distracts human hearts. Eventually, we read the Catholic version, taking turns reading, until we both agreed it was time to switch things up a bit. Again looking back, probably a spiritual nudge to go a bit deeper.
You can check out this online version, a podcast through Hallow link, and now, Amazon subscribers can access it free, as well, if you’re not familiar with this concept. Basically, though, it’s an easier way to try and wrap your head around the many, many, intricate stories, virtues, and lessons the Bible contains.
Meantime, I’d been doing some daily private reading, The Word Among Us, which someone had donated to our workplace and caught my attention (I’m convinced none of these pivotal moments are coincidences).
At some point, I invited my husband to read it with me one day, and he suggested we include it in our morning repertoir. He also suggested that we maybe try out CS Lewis. So grabbing up this compilation that had been just taking up space on a bookshelf, he shared the idea of reading each of these works in small increments daily, too. Talk about introspective reading! And the conversations we began having between us also evolved. This is the book Im referring to:
Highly recommend the Screwtape Letters and also Mere Christianity. I just realized we have not completed this compilation, so we will have to do that. I will also have to locate and post from the notes scribbled on scraps of paper, the tidbits of inspirations that came from that reading, some of the “fruit” that this reading grew in our daily lives, both as individuals and as a couple.
From what we have read so far, C.S. Lewis has a way of brilliantly conveying the connections between, and the inner workings within, human nature.
While I do plan on linking some of those inspirations here, in time, for now I will begin by stating with surety that, having lived through both secular and spiritual daily practices in our 25+ year marriage, there’s truly no better way of starting our days.
Case in point: yesterday, I was dissatisfied with how I wrote this. It felt flat. This morning, following our reading in today’s Word Among Us (January 26, 2026), I know exactly why: it was incomplete!
Our loving Lord inspired me with today’s meditation on Sts. Timothy and Titus, whose feast day we celebrate today. If you want to check it out, it’s at:
But I’d like to share this that speaks to the “ember” of something good we do (like daily scripture reading).
“…it’s appropriate that we read St. Paul’s metaphor in today’s first reading about a single glowing ember becoming a blazing fire. When that ember is the gift of the Holy Spirit, Paul says, it can be stirred up into a furnace of divine grace and power!”
My hope for whoever reads this today is inspired and takes to heart what we’ve learned, because it is truly Him working through and with us!
With that in mind, today’s prayer from the aforementioned meditation: “Holy Spirit, set my life on fire for God!”
ETA: I no sooner close this when I got this random notification, about how Hollywood couple prays together…now, *this* is a trend worth growing! :
Patrick Schwarzenegger discusses faith and career at Sundance Film Festival | Fox News https://share.google/4nt9iM5uB2GdAl0lB
Daily Grace 