Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Resolved

I have resolved to get up early. I really don't have any excuses. Not even weak ones. Alli sleeps through the night, Elijah is doing better, (not perfect, but better) and I am getting to bed by 10:30 regularly. I don't need 9 hours of sleep, but I need to have a consistent time in God's Word, which has been hard to come by for a while, basically since we started having children.

The Lord has been working in my heart for this. I have found myself desiring to read His word over checking e-mail and my blogs. The temptation will probably always be there to throw in a load of laundry first, maybe wash up those few dishes really quick, and then, before I know it, Alli is awake or Elijah needs me for something. This is why I need to wake up early.

So today was my first day. It wasn't easy to rise early, as it is a cloudy, rainy morning and 6:00 felt and looked like 4:00. But by God's grace I rose, read, prayed and had time to throw in a load of laundry, clean up some dishes, make lunch for Dan (he will especially appreciate that) and write this entry. And the quiet! I could get used to that!

My only question is this: Is it ok to obey by rising early and reading the Word, but to depend on my caffeine more? Because I forgot to mention, making coffee was the first thing I did!

5 comments:

Gretchen said...

Way to go! I have been thinking about this myself! Obviously we have different schedules, and it is quiet always at my house. :)

The Lord is going to bless you for your desire for His word. I will pray that you will enjoy meaningful time with Him, and that pretty soon you will be thinking: "What did I do without this time?" :)

Great job, Donette!

Crazy Mom said...

I have been struggling with this lately, too. It occured to me one morning a couple of weeks ago when I was getting to bed at a decent time, and both kids were sleeping through the night. Tori usually wakes up around 7:30 or 8. I was awake at 6am, so I just got up & started doing things like you said....laundry, dishes, general picking up of toys, email, etc....then it hit me....it's quiet....I need to read my Bible NOW! It's so good to hear of other people struggling with the same things. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Good for you! I actually was up by six and got into the Word, mostly uninterrupted before the boys got up several times this week! For me, the key is to do it before I even get out of bed! One of my Bibles is right on the night stand and my feet don't have to touch the floor. Dozing off occasionally if I'm still waking up or while I'm praying is still a risk from time to time, but generally it's been working. As for the coffee issue, I have another friend (mother of 5 girls) who is a coffee addict and I teased her one day for that after we sang "I surrender all" and we sang a new version of it "I surrender all (but coffee)." Not really the intent of the song, but for the moment it was funny! If you get to the point where you truly believe it's a problem, try a "coffee fast" and see what comes of that. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Hey if I knew that you were getting up that early I wish I could get some breakfast. ;)

Sarah said...

Donette, I am very proud of you. I have been battling with my alarm for the past few weeks. Satan knows when I really want to do something and he always makes it extra hard. :-) It is so nice to get things done first thing in the morning!
Hopefully I can check back in a few weeks, and find we are both joyfully waking up at 6:00 am, making gourmet breakfasts for our families and flying through Bible studies every week. :-)