The Morning Mommy Challenge

      About a year ago, I read a blog post about this fantastic mamma. She was convicted to get up for her children, not get up to her children. I dreaded hearing the cries of my two year old waking me up, after I had a late night at work. I was beginning to resent my child....resent him for waking up.

     I had to change. I couldn't live a life where I was mad at my son for waking up. I knew that we would have more kids in our house, and my attitude and lifestyle was not going to cut it. Change was a' comin! I began waking up at 6:30. I would sip on some coffee, spend a few minutes with God through prayer and Bible Study, and get started on some work. Over the course of a year, I have gradually gotten up early. *GASP* Monday- Friday, my alarm goes off at 5:30am, and on the days where I am REALLY lucky Miss Chicky Baby wakes me up a 5am.
 
      I NEVER thought I would be the person to wake up so early, but I am realizing I need it. I crave my morning time with the Lord. If I am not filled by Him, how can I possibly give to my kids, to my community and to college students?  Once I hear "Mom!" from my preschoolers bedroom, I am ready to greet him with a big hug and kiss, telling him "Good Morning, I just spent some time praying for you my sweet boy! I am so glad you are awake. Let's do this day!"

 The Process:
1. Plan ahead. I lay things out that I will need the night before. (Bible Study tools, journal, planner, etc)
- Set up the coffee pot.
- Clean the house, so I don't wake up to a mess. Boy, how that can ruin a day quick.
-Go to bed on time. For real. I need a bed time. I need to stick to one! It's much easier to wake up when you are rested.
-Look at my planner? Do I need to do anything to plan for tomorrow?

2. Get out of bed.
-Hitting snooze feels so good, but you will be much more awake if you actually step out of bed. Sometimes I tell myself, "I am just going to walk to the bathroom and back to bed" Usually by the time I get to the bathroom, I am awake enough to go downstairs and turn on the coffee pot.

3. Time with the Lord 
-I spend time in Bible Study, prayer and journaling.

4. Check messages (Email and facebook) 

5. Look at my planner. What is on the agenda today? What do I need to prepare for? 

6. Shower. 
I would love for this to be the first thing I do, to wake me up, but I fear that it will also wake up my 4 year old. I wait to shower until I don't care whether or not he is awake (after 7am).

7. Work 
-If kids are still sleeping, I am able to get some work done. This may or may not happen each day:) The trials and joys of working from home.

The Challenge: This year of getting up early in the morning has been so refreshing and life changing for me. I want to invite all of you, even the non-mommies, or the mommies who don't have kids at home. Starting our day off right, makes a huge difference.

If you are interested in joining me, let me know. I'd love to create a facebook group for accountability and support. Looking forward to seeing more of my friends be changed by the Lord by spending time with Him in the morning hours:)

His Heart

        I am so thankful for my son's sensitive heart. I need to remind myself of that daily, because this kid is sensitive with a capital S. If you look at him wrong, he will burst into great big, uncontrollable tears. I can get frustrated pretty easily, but in the past few weeks, I have been able to see how his sensitive heart may be a great strength and a gift from God. 

       He is quick to ask to pray for someone or about a situation. If an emergency vehicle drives by, he asks, "Where's the fire? Is there an accident? Is someone hurt?" Once we convince him that mom and dad don't know the reason for every siren we hear, he wants to pray because, "If someone is hurt, that's not good. I wouldn't want to be hurt." 

      He is quick to get his feelings hurt, which makes it easier to help him be nice to others. This week he was talking about a kid and said, "I don't like him." We talked about what it would feel like if kids went around saying, "I don't like Caleb." He understood that words hurt. 

     He threw something at a baby on accident. Baby cried, and was quickly soothed. Caleb on the other hand, cried for a good 20 minutes,  hearing an "I'm sorry" through the sobs. 

     Yesterday he was one naughty 3.5 year old. Wow. Crazy naughty. I was sooo frustrated. I yelled a lot. Later in the afternoon we went to the park. I saw with him on a bench, and apologized for yelling at him. I said that what he did was still wrong, but mamma shouldn't have acted that way and I asked for his forgiveness. He put his face in his hands and said, "Can we just not talk about this, it really hurts my heart." 

"It really hurts my heart." 

That struck a chord with this mamma. I know what that feels like. I am a "feeler" vs a "thinker." I understand. It takes one to know one kid.  

And though his emotional side may some days be his greatest weakness, I am praying that God uses his sensitive heart for His glory. A heart that will quickly respond to the Spirit. A heart that will meet the needs of others. 

And for no other reason, except I like them, I leave you with pictures of Caleb and my niece Raegan riding a powerwheels vehicle in the house:)