As A New Day Dawns

I'm not often a "mushy-gushy" spiritual person, but I'm kind of at that point where I feel like I'm bursting at the seams with amazement about how God has just changed me. I mentioned a bit about this in a recent post, but I almost expected by now it would all be gone, that it would have dwindled away. Says a lot about me, huh? Well, it's not gone...I am still in awe, every day, of God's amazing faithfulness and I just had to say a little something about it - it's so simple!

The talk in my MOPS group a few weeks back was how to have a happy home. The woman said that as the wife and mother, we are "the heartbeat of our home". She also suggested some things that, frankly, were a bit old fashioned sounding to me but this one statement keeps coming back to me. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but as I see the days go by, I see such truth in it.

Among other things, she suggested that we be the first ones awake in our home, to set the pace and the tone for the day. (She also suggested having a hot breakfast ready each morning, but...sorry, folks, that ain't happenin'!) She also said a simple prayer that can be said when you first wake up - just to start the day with God. Now, I am NOT typically a morning person. Nearly every day I would wake up almost angry that my kids would come in at 6:30 and wake me from my precious sleep. How could they? Don't they know I need my sleep, and that I have to be with them all day? My attitude was terrible, and it set the tone for the rest of my day. I would be snappy with the kids and with Jon. I would yell at the kids unnecessarily, and take things out on them that they didn't deserve. I would look around my house and feel so overwhelmed with all that needed to be done that I would do nothing instead, which would just increase my stress for the next day. Things were not looking good, and I didn't even realize it.

The morning after my MOPS group, I decided to put that one simple suggestion into practice. I often DO wake up around 6, before the kids, but typically I try and go back to sleep, because I just feel like it must be too early to rise. That morning, however, when I woke up at 6, I took a few minutes then turned on my little lamp. I sat up in bed, and wrote just a few simple lines in my journal as a prayer to thank God for this new day, and to invite Him to be in charge of this day. For HIS will to be done in my words and thoughts and actions. It was just instantly a beautiful morning. I was still and happy and awake, and guess what? I got up and made "melt-in-your-mouth" pancakes for the family! Other mornings I will get up and shower, or spend time with whoever wakes up first. It's been truly amazing!!

And can I just say that the statement about me being the heartbeat of my home has really proven itself! EVERYONE in the house has changed! My relationship with Jon is at a high. The kids are happier and better behaved. Jon really notices a difference in my caring for the house, and now seems to almost want to help out sometimes. Things are just really good! There have been a couple of days where I didn't wake up first, or didn't spend those few moments in prayer, and I can absolutely see the difference in the day.

I feel like I could go on and on about this simple notion. I won't. But what I will do is HIGHLY recommend this simple action for those of you who aren't typically morning people. Whether you have kids or not, this could be incredibly useful. Don't let needy or whiny kids, or the annoying alarm clock set the tone of your day. YOU set it by waking up and inviting God to be in charge of your day. I literally felt like I was going insane every day - barely making it through. Now that this simple secret of partnering with God as my first action of the day has found me, my sanity has returned and everyone in my house is benefiting from it. So, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Below is one of my favorite and the most simple of Jon's songs. It's beautiful and prayerful and I want to sing it every morning...and I do many mornings. Some day when I figure it out, I can attach the song to the blog, but until then, here are the lyrics.

"As a new day dawns
I will lift my eyes to Your throne.
May this new day
Be a sacrifice pleasing to You.

May this day honor You.
May the words of my mouth honor You.
May the thoughts in my mind honor You.
May my life, now, honor You."