The Early Morning

"Reading by the Window" www.allposters.com

For a long time I have wanted to be able to get up early. A few years ago I happened on a website called Laine's Letters. I was so inspired by this woman who made herself get up at 4am every morning to have fellowship with the Lord and then get a big start on her day. But...getting up early means you have to go to bed early, and well, when you have a lot of small children the time when they are asleep is when you can get to certain things you couldn't while they were awake. So it's always been hard to make myself go to bed early.

When Sarah was a little baby, she would wake up at 6-6:30 EVERY morning to eat. So I would end up staying up. I could get a good breakfast on the table, have some computer or Bible reading time and get started on other things around the house. After she started sleeping later, I was still waking up that early! This went on until the past summer. For some reason I slept till Matt would wake me up.

Recently, I've really been wanting to be able to get up early. Not dragging myself out of bed, but actually waking on my own and ready to get up :) A couple of times I've been able to do it the past week or so. I've actually started praying that I would wake up early, and this morning I woke up before 5:30. I laid there a bit thinking about what all I could do, then I got up. I went to the kitchen started the coffee pot, turned my oven on and mixed up the muffin batter I had soaking overnight and popped them in the oven. I got my cup of coffee and went to the recliner and read John 17 till the end of the book. It was only 5:50 then, so I actually had time to sit and pray :) Then I wrote an email and went on with my regular morning routine.

I would like to have enough time to exercise too, which means I will have to get up earlier, just because it's easier without children around and at night I'm pretty tired and want to be with my dear husband. However, my main goal for the early morning was time with the Lord. This has been such a hard thing for me to do since I've had little ones. I rarely ever have 'quiet time', and sadly, only read my Bible a few times a week. But all the years of Bible teaching are stored up in my heart, so God recalls those things to mind often. Still, I realize that lately I have not been exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit, and I know I need to change.