I looked at the clock this morning. Shoot, I overslept. Way overslept. Overslept by 1 1/2 hours. Oh well, better late than never, I slid off the bed.
It was 5:30am. It’s still funny that that’s oversleeping for me these days.
I can’t say that I love getting up at 4am. But I love having gotten up at 4am. And just like the obeying/modifying issue with Heidi, for now I believe these early mornings are an issue of obedience for me. Some days, obviously, I hopelessly oversleep. But you know what I love about the ridiculously-early morning routine? Way oversleeping still gives me a 5:30am jump on my day!
So, I admit: I’m becoming a crazy early-morning advocate. Now, “early” means different things to different people. Aaron & Candi, who live downstairs part-time, have different work-schedules so he doesn’t get home until nearly midnight each night. “Early” for him is going to be much different from “early” for me–a stay-at-home-mom who has the freedom to hit the hay by 9pm.
So for this “bite” here’s what I mean by “early”:
A time which enables you to be up and complete your morning routine before you “start” your day. That might mean before your children arise, or before your husband leaves for work, or before 8am breakfast-time. Basically whenever that “start” time is for your family, work your way back to find the good time that will allow plenty of space for you to fill your cup each morning.
Now, I say allow plenty because things never go as planned. Kids wake up early, unexpected emails flood in, you oversleep by a bit. Give yourself some buffer in the morning so that even if a few things go “wrong” you’ve still given yourself plenty of time.
Now the real question: How?
Two answers: Tsh Oxenreider suggests kaizen, basically the Japanese word for baby-steps. If you want to wake up one hour earlier, you simply set your alarm 2 minutes earlier, every day for a month, after a month you’re up an hour earlier and haven’t noticed at all. This is a great plan, and you can translate it to many different areas. I’m using it in other areas of my life as well.
Second, which sounds silly or obvious, perhaps, is pray. God cares about every single detail of your life (sacred mundane!), so ask Him what time He wants you to rise each day. Wait and listen for Him. Ask Him for specifics. He can speak! And then, when He shows you,confidently ask Him to enable you to get up at that time. He won’t ask you to do anything which He will not enable you to do. Of course you won’t do it perfectly, but continue, persevere, ask Him for grace.
I must say that since starting this early-morning routine things have been SO much easier. Way more time in the Word, way more time for prayer, more time for exercise, house kept cleaner, to-do list kept shorter. I feel like I’m ready for the kids when they get up.
So what will this look like for you? Whatever time you decide and whatever method you choose, seek God and ask Him for His power each morning. As we devote the first moments of our day to Him we begin to see His presence more and more throughout our day. Since every day belongs to Him, let’s ask Him what time He wants us to begin each one.
Thanks for reading.
7 thoughts on “#47 Wake up earlier {52 bites}”
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oh kari, this is just what i needed! on the prayer point – yes! yesterday i had an 830 appointment at one end of the city and had to be at work for a presentation to external guests at 10, with public transit as my transportation. i prayed and He answered – more time to do what needed to get done, easy journey and on-time for everything. he is so good, even in the details!
Praise God, Brie! So glad this is good timing — I love your God-in-the-details story! Thanks so much for sharing, bless you my friend!
I have recently discovered your blog and have been so encouraged by your spirit and practical wisdom. Several years ago I read “Shopping for time” by Carolyn Mahaney and the theme layers your point. (Well, she belings to the 5am club!) If anyone is looking for a great Bible Study related to this early morning theme and stewarding your time in this way, I highly recommend this book. Thank you again for your blog.
Hello Kimberly! So glad you are here! Wow, what PERFECT timing that you recommend that book. Tomorrow I begin writing the chapter on Time for my book and was looking for some great resources to explore. I’ll go get that book right now! Thanks so much, I love how God’s timing, even on the topic of time! 🙂 Blessings…
It is good that you are pointing out different seasons and timelines. For us when the kids were under 5, Lionel was in full time school(14-18 credits) and a middle school pastor. I put the kids to bed at 7 had 3 hours of time with the Lord, for projects and for extra chores, then Lionel came home and it was our time together for a few hours until he had to do homework. I slept everyday until the kids did but I was completely ready for them. They got daddy time at lunch because that was the only meal he was home for. But God gave us a precious schedule that fit our family. Recently though God has been speaking to me about what I am willing to trade my time for. Sleep is not something I want to take up any more time than I need. So I am a seven hours solid at this point. I don’t need anymore and more then that is not worth the time I traded for it. That means other things I love might be cut out of my day, coffee with a friend, reading, writing, something extra might have to go if I oversleep. 🙂 Reconciling my time and trading it for the most valuable things have totally helped me press for earlier rising!
This worked really well for me when I only had small children, and it was such a way to bless my family. But now that we’ve stretched our family out so that we have at-home college students (who want to share their hearts at 11 p.m.) clear on down to a first grader (who goes to bed at 8:30) and a father whose workshifts are sporadic (starts at 5:00 some mornings, not till 1 p.m on other days), I really struggle with how to get a jump on the day and cultivate peace and joy from the beginning of the day. I miss it. Some days I’m up an hour ahead of everyone, and some days I have trouble waking up when my youngest climbs into my bed with his Pooh Bear, and chaos ensues. I find myself wondering if I should just accept the whirlwind as a blessing in disguise in this season or if I really need to seek to impose more of a routine as a spiritual discipline. Any ideas?