Morning one
5:15 am Alarm goes off. First things first, COFFEE. Strong
coffee. The smell alone motivates me to move. I pour a cup and start scrolling
on my phone. My Facebook feed has some things that make me smile. It also has
some posts that make me cringe. Why all the negativity, Facebook? It’s too
early for politics. A sad news story comes up about a missing child and makes
me wonder why there is so much bad in the world. I don’t understand.
6:00 comes quick. My quiet alone time with my coffee is
over. Time to get the kids up. We do this every single weekday, yet somehow my children act as if we don’t. I repeatedly go in rooms and start out nicely saying
“it’s time to wake up, and get dressed, and eat breakfast”… but nice doesn’t
cut it, so I morph in to lunatic mom. “I said, WAKE UP! NOW! OUT OF BED! We
CANNOT BE LATE!” It’s too early to yell and now I’m irritated. The mood seeps
out of me and into my kids. I’m snapping at everything.
7:00 am we need to be out the door now. I’m yelling again.
“WHERE IS YOUR LUNCH BOX? WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE YOUR WATER BOTTLE?” Kids shuffle
out the door and into the van. They are fighting over seats. Why? Why does the simple task of leaving our house feel this stressful? We barely make it on time. I wave
goodbye to my kids and get started on my drive back home. Why is every driver on the road so rude and on
my tail? Can’t they see I’m going over the speed limit already? Why am I hitting
every red light? I have work to do.
8:00 am I’m at my desk and I counted, I have 67 unread work
emails. 67. I have a zoom call at 9:00 and 1:00. I won’t have time for a lunch
time workout today. There is no way. I need the workout, but whatever. I need
to get all of these emails tended to as quickly as possible or the weight of
the undone will stress me out too much. I also have laundry that I SHOULD be
able to do, I work from home! Why can’t I get this together? Other moms are so
much better organized than I am. It’s embarrassing.
11:00 am I’ve managed to respond to most of my emails, I
feel a bit caught up! Whew! My zoom call went okay. I could probably squeeze in
a workout if I choose to eat lunch at my desk. But…. Nah. I’ve been stressed
out. I want to just veg out with a quick show while I eat. What reality show
can I catch up on from Hulu while I stuff my face?
12:00 and it’s time to get back to work. I over ate and I’m
stuffed. I start to regret not working out. I didn’t even enjoy the trash
reality show I just wasted an hour of my life on. What is wrong with me?
Morning two
5:15 am alarm goes off. Ahhh – coffee awaits. I sit with the
warm cup of liquid comfort and open the Laudate app on my phone. I read today’s
scripture. I check out the reflections. It's as if they are catered just to me. Wow. I pray.
6:00 am comes quickly. Time to wake the kids. I notice as I
walk into the big girls’ room that they listened to me after all and cleaned up
their room last night. It looks nice. I look at their sleeping faces before
saying anything – they look so peaceful! I hate to have to wake them. “Time to
wake up, girls. I know waking up isn’t easy but you’ve got this. Come on.”
Some nudging ensues but before I know it all six kids are up
and I haven’t yelled once. Not once! They are all going through the motions –
getting dressed, getting their bellies full, brushing their teeth. It’s
pleasant around here this morning.
7:00 am we are out the door. There is some traffic, a little
more than normal today. But the kids like the song that is playing on the radio
and I hear the youngest two singing along – I’m hearing their little voices and
focusing on them rather than the backed up road. Moving slowly now on our way
but the sunrise is so beautiful today. Is it always this beautiful? “Kids, you
have to look at the sky right now. Isn’t it pretty?”
“Yeah – it looks like cotton candy!” my 12-year-old daughter says. “It does look
like cotton candy,” I say back. It reminds me of the last time we had cotton
candy, at a minor league baseball game on a hot Summer day now three months
back, but goodness the time has flown by. I’m grateful for that memory, and for
the way the sky looks now. I say a prayer of gratitude. I have so much to be
thankful for. I get the kids off to school, making sure to tell each one of them that I love them and hope that they have a great day.
8:15 am and I’m a little late getting to my desk because of
the bad traffic. Normally the traffic would have driven me insane, but today I’m
not letting it bother me. I can still get my work done. I have a lot of emails,
but today they aren’t weighing me down. I
am feeling energized by each of them. I am grateful for this work and
understand the responsibility given to me is a privilege. I smile as I see some
of the emails from the co-workers that I genuinely love. What a gift this work
is. What a gift my co-workers are. What a gift it is to serve our clients and to love on them.
11:00 am comes around. This is my normal lunch break time.
I’m choosing a work out this time, and then will eat at my desk. I no longer
have a gym membership – it was a budgeting decision to cancel the gym back in
the summer. I thought that would be a bigger heartbreak for me than it was . .
. I LOVED my gym. But now, my commute to my gym is a walk outside to my garage.
It’s terribly convenient and I’ve grown to love it. I turn on my music and get
to it – it’s not easy, but it feels good. The endorphins hit and I am reminded
of why working out is a priority. I’m giddy – joyful – and feel so accomplished
when I am done.
12:00 I finished a forty minute workout, had time for a Navy
shower, heated up some yummy leftovers and am now eating lunch at my desk. I
feel like I have energy to get through the rest of my day. I’m so thankful that
I chose to work out. I say a prayer of gratitude.
The difference
The circumstances of these two mornings are not different. I
have the same schedule and the same responsibilities. Every day I have six
children to mother and a full time job to do.
The difference with these two mornings is the change in my
perspective. This change is all attributed to one thing and it is that I
started out my morning with TRUTH.
Choosing to begin my day with scripture and prayer rather
than scrolling social media makes a monumental difference. My whole day is made
better when I start it out this way. Not because I am guaranteed less traffic,
less parenting hardships or less emails and work – but because my focus is set
on Him and I can see everything in a clearer light.
We were created by Him and for Him. When we walk in this
truth, every little thing starts to make more sense than before. The world is
big, and loud, and has a lot of influences that will pull you away from this
truth. The world would rather you constantly frustrated, stressed out, angry,
lazy, and negative. But that is not what we were created to be. We were meant
for so much more. Certainly we all WANT to feel fulfilled every day, right? There
is a very simple solution to reach this fulfillment.
I want to encourage this small change of beginning your day
by going to God first. For me, this looks like waking up before my kids have to
be up and reading the daily readings and reflections on the Laudate app on my
phone. It also includes prayer. For you, maybe you’d like to begin with worship
music, or by pulling out your bible and just flipping to a random page. Maybe
you just want to start out by talking to God. Venting to Him, even. I don’t know. But I do know you’ll figure out
your way should you really seek a new way of gaining better perspective.
I regret to inform you this is not a one-time task. It has
to be done daily. The reason for that goes back to what the world wants to make
of you. And the fact that you’re living, walking and breathing in this world
every day.
Going to God is one of those things that YOU have to
initiate. No one else can do it for you, and even God Himself isn’t going to
force you. He loves you too much to take away your free will. But He is always,
always, ALWAYS there when you seek Him. The truth is that He is with you even now, as you
read this.
I dare you to try and seek Him more. And do it every day. I
promise your daily perspective will change too.
Until next time . . .
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