When my daughter started school, now having two school-aged kids, made my mornings a bit more compromised. Lunch prep, helping them get ready for school, making sure they had all they needed, breakfast was not left untouched... lots of stuff that would keep me occupied - and feeling drained! It was around this time that I stopped spending time with the Lord in the morning, like completely stopped. That gave way to lots of things just not working right for me.
Without having that time with God, I slowly drifted away from Him. Not that I did not believe in Him anymore, but I stopped just including God in my daily decisions, my routines, my all. At this point, I was only relying on myself, my own strength (which was non-existent most of the time) and not on His strength. So you can imagine that I was always tired, anxious, frustrated... feeling like a failure. But I kept doing all of this for a long time, even adding more stuff to my already full plate - because I thought I could do it.
Then COVID-19 hit. And everyone had to bundle up together inside - I moved to work from home and kids started doing virtual school. My husband was the only one who remained with his normal schedule as he worked 2nd shift. But for me and the kids, well... we had a big change in our daily routine. But the biggest change was our lives slowing down. No more rushed breakfasts so we could get out the door in time or missed stuff needed for our day. No more morning stress. Only get up, brush teeth, breakfast, change for the day and connect to your virtual class (or meeting!). It took me time to adjust to having to be a work-from-home mom and virtual teacher assistant, but we made it through a year and a half.
Now that things are starting to get back to um... some kind of "normal", my new normal now looks like this: My 16 year-old going to college on an early college program and my 8 year-old going back to school in person. And me, I was allowed to remain working from home permanently. So those extra minutes that I don't spend getting ready for work? I am giving them back to the Lord. You see, the Lord has been speaking to me through many about getting deeper with Him. So, I started with giving him my first minutes of the day. What I have experienced has changed my life drastically!
I won't deny that the very first days it was a struggle to get up early and my focus was off. But as I kept pushing through the days, it is now becoming a habit. A funny note - my dog always wakes up with me and goes to the living room couch to continue sleeping. He noticed I was getting up every morning and, after making coffee, I would sit on the opposite side of the couch where he was. This morning, he sat next to the spot I sit. And when I sat on my spot, he dropped all his weight on me so that he was really close to me. As of today, I officially have a prayer buddy! Even if he pulls a "Peter" and falls asleep as I pray 😂.
Every morning I give my first part of the day to the Lord, I keep Him in my heart and mind for the rest of the day. I relinquish all control of my day to Him. And by doing that, I have seen His hand in every aspect of my day. I am less anxious because I know He is in control. I have learned to discern His voice in the midst of the noise. I have learned to expect one little miracle every day. I have learned to crave this moment every morning!
So, can I encourage you to start your day with the Lord? I will not deny at first it was tough because our minds are instinctively set to go through the to-do list in our heads. It doesn't have to be a pretty prayer. Just a conversation between really good friends. Trust me, with time these conversations will become more in-depth and you will want to crave these moments as much as I do now.
Comments