Getting Up Early Part 2

I'm going to attempt to start another post on this topic. Yesterday I got to the Title and that was it. Mothering duties called me to other things. :o)

This morning I would like to post about how I came to getting up early and give you some tips on making this transition easier. I now love getting up early and look forward to my morning time even the day before!

First of all, the Lord led me to a couple of blogs in whom the authors have become mentors to me (without their knowledge! ha). These women got up early and sought the Lord. One of these women, Jewel at Eyes of Wonder, has a really large family and you can tell that she loves her time in the morning as well. My first thought was, how can she speak so fondly about getting up early? She has never spoken about being frazzled, harried, or having an awful day. She always sounds so calm and peaceful. She can't help but to talk about God's goodness in her blogs. From her website, I found Laine's Letters (http://www.lainesletters.com/) which is letters to readers from a wonderful, inspiring lady who felt the nudge several years ago to get up at 4am. She speaks, almost in every letter, about the numerous benefits of her following after the Spirit's leading. I feel like the Lord led me to these sites because, quite frankly, I was so complacent I don't know if I would have heard the Lord if he had tried to speak to me about getting up early. I just loved to sleep. I still love to sleep, but I look forward to going to bed early to sleep instead of staying in bed late to sleep. I love forward to getting in to my soft, comfy pajamas and laying in warm sheets (warmed in advance by my heating pad..:o), reading a bit, and then going to bed. I even enjoy setting my alarm because I know it means time to get up and be with the Lord. Think I'm weird? :o)

Anyway, I felt like the Lord saying 5am. A few mornings I ignored or wasn't as faithful. When I was feeling frustrated by my day, it's like the Lord would whisper, 5am. I would repent and try again. The Lord always has the answers.

The benefits for getting up early and having time with the Lord exceed the time or the space I have to type on this blog. Just try it and you'll see the benefits for yourself. A few benefits that pop into mind are: strength (both physical and spiritual), wisdom, peace, self-discipline and control, patience, and many more.

Now, the downside is that the devil will HATE what you are doing. He will prey upon your weaknesses for awhile. When he sees he can't move you, he will move on. Yesterday, I had a bout of anxiety come upon me. You may know the feeling--worry in the pit of your stomach. I had a few things that I had to do that was at the back of my mind (or at the front of my mind)--A few things I dreaded without really a cause to dread. I was out hanging out clothes and I thought, "Why am I feeling so anxious?" And the scripture came to me, Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. I immediately gave my worries over to God and this morning in prayer I was reminded of how anxious I had been feeling and I thought, you know I wasn't anxious anymore the rest of the day! I'm not a person who worries, normally, but since I've been getting up early, I feel like I worry more about the unknown or what will happen, etc. I feel this is an attack on me. But, you know, it's nothing God can't handle. He knows what's going on.

Here are a few tips to help you want to get up early (or to motivate you):

Find a cozy spot for you to have your devotional time. A cozy recliner, a nearby lamp (who wants all the lights on in the pre-dawn?), a fleece blanket, whatever you need to get comfortable with the Lord.

Here is my spot:

Fix your favorite drink. I like a cup of coffee or herbal tea in the mornings. If I'm really sleepy, I will go for the coffee. Hot chocolate is another good choice.

Of course, those things are not necessary for your time with the Lord, so onto spiritual tips:

Read your Bible. I wouldn't use a devotional book or anything as a substitute. You can use one as a compliment, but use your Bible foremost. I read 4 chapters a morning, but you may want more or less. Pray about it. Pray about where to start. I'm in Genesis since I'm starting at the beginning and reading through the Bible. It is a wonderful book filled with exceptional stories of God's goodness and men of faith. God will give you a love for His word.

Pray. Sometimes I kneel at my 'altar' (see pic below) or sometimes I pray in my chair. Be careful not to get into a 'routine' prayer where you feel like you have to pray from a 'mental' list. This may be harmful to your prayer life. If you get to where you feel obligated to pray from a mental list or you will feel bad or like you haven't done your duty, then your communion with God may not be what He intends for it to be. Instead of praying from a list, pray what's on your heart. Pray for wisdom and patience. Of course, give Honor and praise to God first. Pray for a burden and for God to lay someone on your heart instead of praying from a list. I hope I'm clear on this and it doesn't sound like I know just how you ought to pray. That's not it. The Bible says, Teach us to pray. He will teach you to pray. Anyway here is a picture of my altar. It is just right.

Now you may have time to get a few chores done before the children wake up, which is an added bonus. I find that I might have time to wash dishes or to sweep, but most of the time, my littlest one will wake up a little after 7 or a little before. If I feel like I'm getting way slack on my housework, I will try to get up even earlier. I almost always have time to get on a load of clothes (which is what is easy to get piled up...laundry for 5 people...ha).Another bonus to getting up early is to see wondrous sites painted by God like this:

Lastly, you may fail. In fact, you probably will fail. But, God will give you grace to try again. There will be times when you sit down to read or to pray and the baby chooses right that moment to let out a wail. One that the husband may not be able to take care of. :o) You will be surprised at how the Lord will strengthen you that day for your efforts. Don't be frustrated at the baby. God will help you. He may even allow another opportunity.

Another bonus that I've noticed is that I'm not even really sleepy during the day. Sometimes, I will sneak a little 5 minute nap in while rocking the baby or something and it will help so much (used to that would just make me ill). You will be sleepy when it is time to go to bed, though. But, that's good, right? ;o)

God Bless You. It has taken me awhile to write this post, and I've felt inadequately more than a few times. In fact, I think the enemy has tried to make me feel like I'm not adequate enough to even blog about this. You know why--he doesn't want YOU to get this message. I'm NOT adequate, but I am a vessel of God and I pray that He will bless you and make you a Proverbs 31 woman and some day you can be a mentor to a young woman just starting out. YOUR blog can be read like dear Jewel's or Laine's and you can be a God-ordained help to many.

My children need me. Have a blessed day. PS. Quoted by my daughter--in play--right before I was about to send this post: I'm going to get my Father...He can do BIG things. Wow, that spoke to my heart.

Getting up Early...

If you would like to start getting up early, or you really don't want to get up early, but you feel the conviction to get up early, I want to give you a few tips on making it easier.
First of all, getting up early is biblical. And it's very beneficial beyond words.
The Bible says, She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. It also says, O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; And lastly, With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
If you have young children or several children or if you just feel frazzled or frustrated at the lack of time to get things done, then you need to consider getting up early. If you find that you have no time for spiritual things or you just feel like you are fine in your spiritual condition (which probably means you are lukewarm), then you need to consider getting up early to get closer to God.
A personal testimony: For years I have felt fine in my spiritual condition. I was pretty comfortable where I was. I had good works, knew I was saved and felt like I rarely sinned. I didn't read my Bible on a steady basis and my prayer life was way sporatic. In other words, the devil was so happy where I was. I loved to sleep and would just wake when the kids would wake up. Rarely would I wake up before them. I felt like I was due sleep.
The scenario would usually go something like this: We would roll out of bed about 8:15, of course, husband has already gone to work without breakfast, without my ironing his clothes (which he never complains and does a great job, but...), and without some rare one-on-one time with each other. The kids would automatically be hungry and I felt like I had to get a few chores done first. Namely, things like bed made, dressed, living room straightened, things like that. Well, no spiritual food first thing and the kids would get ill waiting on breakfast.
Now, I get up anywhere from 5-5:30 (sometimes 6 or so, but always before the kids), have 4 chapters read and studied in my Bible, have a time of communion with my Saviour, and have some chores done before the kids wake up (usually a load of clothes washed, the living room swept, dishes washed if left from the night before, breakfast considered). I usually cook a little breakfast for my husband and have done better with ironing for him. We get to talk a little, hug some, and just be together for a bit.
The extra bonus is that I feel so much closer to God and can feel Him poring wisdom on me (because I have asked for it faithfully, every morning). I LOVE His word and I feel so terrible about the scriptures that I haven't read or studied the past 30 years.
Anyway, tomorrow I will get to those tips on making the transition to getting up early. As for now, I've got a little one playing with the printer to attend to. :o)
PS. Things are not perfect, for example, this morning I was just about to pray and the baby wakes up crying. So, I went and laid back down with him (he doesn't cry if he's done with sleeping for the morning) and I had to pray little snatches here and there while my body tried to drift back off. I finally got to get back up to see my husband off. Things aren't perfect, but I'm so happy.

Blessed Schedule

First of all I want to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to a dear friend, "kugoi", on the birth of her first at-home-born SON! You can read her blog by following a link in my sidebar. I hope she will post some details of her birth very soon as I am way interested in homebirths! :o)

Yesterday we started back on our 'school' schedule and I kicked myself in the 'pants' to get back up early. It is so nice being back on a schedule. The kids enjoyed the 2 weeks of holiday break, but sometimes unstructured time leads to more idle time. Idle time is not good for children (or adults). Let me say again that I love, love getting up early and having my time with the Lord. I believe this is God's will for me and anyone else who wants to get closer to the Lord. I have fallen in love with His Word and He meets me in prayer so sweetly. I can feel the results of my putting Him first throughout my day. I pray I never go back on this. I certainly don't desire to.

Yesterday I decided to try something different with our homeschooling. My dear friend (a new friend) does homeschooling with her kids in one of the rooms in our church. So I thought I'd try it. I am bad about leaving oldest to himself in his schoolwork and just checking on him when he needs me. I am distracted by getting other things done. So, I used our fellowship hall, which has a gym attached and it worked out great. No distractions. I got to work with both children. The baby played in the gym and the kids got to play after school. It was cool. My friend and her children got to have 'recess' with us. Anyway, I think maybe it is something that we might enjoy doing.

Anyway, that's a good bit of rambling, but I did want to have a post up. :) I'll leave you with a sweet picture of my youngest.

Goals for 2008

I trust everyone had a pleasant transition into the new year. Make any resolutions? I don't, but I did make a few goals. Resolutions and goals are different. A resolution is something you resolve to do. A goal is something you achieve or aspire to do. Here are a few goals I'll share with you:

1. Continue having my morning devotional time w/God--continue getting up at 5am. (The past 2 mornings I have done awful with this--sleeping until almost 8am! I know that I will get 'back on board', that I'm just going through a tired phase, but I'm so ready to get back to my early mornings with the Lord)
2. Do not fall into the snare of procrastination. (Staying up to snuff with my housework and not putting things off to a more convenient time. If I see that the trash needs emptying--do it--don't wait until I clean up the whole kitchen)
3. Read books to help me become a better wife and mother. (Primarily the Bible, of course, but I love to read books by Godly authors to help me be the woman God wants me to be)
4. Stop being late to church and other places. (If I say I'm going to be somewhere at a certain time, then I need to be there at that time. I am really going to do this because it makes my husband so happy when we are early or on time for church. I should make an extra effort if for no other reason than for him. )
5. Maintain integrity--do what I say I'm going to do.
6. Be a better helpmeet to my husband. (Don't put off doing those things that I know would help him--for example, ironing his clothes for him so he is not late for work)
7. Be consistent and firm in my disciplining the children. Do not accept any unacceptable behavior.
8. Have a more scheduled week--especially with homeschooling time for the kids.
9. Be a better, more prepared Sunday School teacher.
10. Do more random acts of kindnesses.
11. Cultivate relationships--do a better job of maintaining old friendships. Some I need to renew that have dwindled some over the past few years.

I have a few scriptures I also jotted down in my journal--scriptures for me for the year 2009, but I will have to share those later. With my slothfulness this morning, I have not read my Bible yet. :o/