“Not yet. I just need a little space. I’ll read to you later.”
Those were the words I spoke to my then two and five year olds one morning while I sat in the recliner in a drowsy daze holding their baby brother. Yet again it was morning. Yet again these little people needed me. Yet again I didn’t have the patience or energy to give them the attention they needed. Instead, they were getting a grumpy mom who just wanted a little time to herself.
Morning after morning the same scene repeated.
Then one night I did something that changed everything. I set my alarm for one hour before the children usually woke me. Instead of getting up whenever my children crawled all over me making it impossible to sleep, I decided to be intentional about getting up before them.
When my alarm sounded, I really wanted to snuggle under the warm blankets for just a little longer, but the silence beckoned me. As I padded out of our room, I half expected chaos to break out and that the other four members of my household would be awake wondering what to eat, wear, do. But the silence remained. And when they did come out, I was ready to greet them with a smile and a hug.
Gone was the harried mom who daily denied the pleas for morning snuggles. Gone was the mom who was always “gived out.” You know her, right, the mom who gives and gives and gives until she is exhausted and doesn’t want to be touched, and then she gives some more until she is so drained she snaps at the next person to ask anything of her.
That hour saved my motherhood that day and each day since. Rising early gives me time to be refreshed, to have my cup filled so that I can pour out into the hearts of my children. Isn’t that what motherhood is about, pouring into the hearts of our children and nurturing the little people God has given us?
By setting aside the early morning hour before the rest of the house stirs, I become a better me. I spend some time reading my Bible, praying, and journaling. I sip my coffee while it is hot, watch exquisite sunrises, and gather my wits about me before the demands of the day begin. Sometimes I even get in a little bit of laundry or other housework.
Before you start thinking that I am some overly ambitious person who has it altogether, let me tell you that I have not been perfect in this discipline. There have been days I have ignored the alarm. Other days I have fallen back asleep in the recliner. Other times it has been my family interrupting the calm. Some days my husband has to leave early for work. Others the baby wakes early or someone else needs a cuddle. Sometimes we are out late, and I need the extra sleep.
The goal isn’t so much perfection in getting an hour to myself every morning as it is the habitual practice of rising early to spend time with the Lord so that I can be a better wife and mother. It is the practice that sets my heart right for the day and the practice that now protects my motherhood.
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8
How about you? What do you do to fill your cup so that you can pour into those God has placed in your life?
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