Good Morning Mamma

I have never been a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. There are still tales circulating among our extended family of the legendary tantrums I would throw when I woke up as a toddler. This wonderful morning mood followed me all the way into adult hood.

I don't want to wake up early, and when I get up it takes me forever to get moving. If I don't have a plan for the morning the night before it takes me until lunch to get my momentum.

Of course knowing what I know now about how little I was actually sleeping before I was fitted for my Oral Systemic Balance Orthotic (OSB), it all makes more sense.

But even before I started the OSB treatment I had felt the Lord tugging at my heart. He was telling me that I needed to get out of bed before my family and become a Morning Mamma.

My first response to Him was "OK, How?" Before the orthotic getting out of bed was next to impossible. I wasn't really sleeping during the night. I would finally get into some deep sleep by the time it was time to get up. It was my husbands unhappy duty to try to wake me. I would be a groggy lump on the couch as he left for work.

I could see the need, I had the desire, but the 'how' of the matter was still an issue.

Well, God answered my prayer with the 'how' of the matter. He provided me with my first restful sleep of my life. In my OSB treatment one of my main goals has been to be that Mamma that bounces out of bed in the morning. I am not there yet!

As the season has turned to fall and the mornings have gone black the verse in Proverbs 31:15 keeps coming to mind. "She gets up while it is still dark." This verse comes from the section outlining the attributes of a wife of Noble Character. She gets up while it is still dark.... and she is industrious!

It has occurred to me that the only way the chores, my exercise and Bible and prayer time are going to get done is if I get up while it is still dark. Imagine if I were to get my chores for the day done and dinner in the crock pot before the children even got up! That would be crazy!

This would also ease the tension between getting things for the house and myself done verses doing home school and keeping the family routine during the day. With my chores already done and dinner ready and waiting, I can focus on other things! Namely, Thing 1 and Thing 2, my two daughters.

This charge to get up while it is still dark requires two parts. #1 Help from the Lord. #2 The discipline to choose to obey by making choices that will lead to obedience.

In order to get up earlier you have to go to bed earlier. I need to choose to turn off the computer, and do what it takes to get in bed at a decent hour. There is no point in getting up only to be grumpy and lumpy. I might as well sleep if I am going to be like that.

I also have to prepare. I need a plan for when I rise. This means having a list waiting for me telling me what to do first. This list has to include when and what to eat and when to get dressed and what chores to do first. Until I get into a routine, I can't count on myself being able to move and think at the same time.

With the Lord's help I hope to become an Early Bird, cheerful, chirping and industrious even while it is still dark.