fighting for morning

i've never been very good at carving out dedicated time each day to read my Bible. i just don't sit down and read, period. i know it's a weak link in my day and my journey in faith, but i'd just accepted the fact. tim, on the other hand, is very good at this. he is a reader, and is usually very consistent with finding time to be alone with God. this is one of the many reasons i know the Lord made us for each other. in some instances, you couldn't find two more people as opposites but complements of the other.

recently, i've actually wanted to get up early and start my day with reading & having time to myself. maybe it's because if i let isaac be my alarm, i'm not ready for the day & don't feel prepared to meet him every morning with a joyful attitude. i stumble around, trying to get him changed, get him breakfast, and wake up myself all at the same time. it's still taking tim and i some adjusting to get used to the fact that 8am is really sleeping in!

i feel like i need to be up and prepared to meet the day before my family so that i can almost pave the way for how the day starts for them. if i'm grumpy and tired, then that will definitely rub off. if i've spent time with God, praying for my family, and ready for the day...it's amazing how much more productive and prepared i feel. i usually get more excited when isaac finally wakes up and i'm ready to start a good day.

with any new endeavor to become closer to Christ, i've learned to expect the enemy to throw a fit. he will now try to throw kinks in my plans and make me feel frustrated and stupid about what i'm trying to do. ever since i've tried to get up before isaac and get my morning started with prayer and reading, i've noticed a few things:

isaac has successfully slept through the night since 8 weeks old. occasionally, you'd have to go put a pacifier back in or cover him up, but that's about it. just this last week and a half, he's been waking several times and may have to be rocked or nursed back to sleep.

our chocolate lab, marley, has had a weird issue with getting sick at night ever since she was a puppy. it's usually not very often, but if we wake up to her getting sick, we just know it's another day. it involves taking her out, cleaning up, getting her water, getting back to bed, etc. in the last week or so, she's gotten sick three times, sometimes several times a night.

needless to say, tim and i have not been getting good sleep lately. call me crazy, but i'm not looking forward to 6:30 am when i've been up with a crying child and sick dog that night. i haven't slept well and i don't feel like getting up any earlier than i have to. i know this is the enemy trying to tell me i don't have the energy to get up and spend that time with my God.

i'm telling you all of this because maybe somehow that keeps me accountable. whether i'm up to spend time in Scripture or i'm just praying for my family and friends or i'm writing and thinking about something i read somewhere, i need to prepare my day. i've never ever been an "up earlier than i have to be" person at any point in my life so this is a new season for me. i'm excited to see how God will use it and i hope you're encouraged to start your days off with something besides that last minute cup of coffee on the way out the door.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
Marcus Aurelius

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.
William Blake

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35