Early Mornings

This week, talk of "rising while it is still dark" has been a theme on some of my favorite blogs (Divine Calling, Passionate Homemaking, and girltalk) . Which is interesting, because its been on my mind alot lately, too!

Rising early is something that I used to do regularly, but since Judah was born it has fallen to the wayside. And you know what? My days suffer because of it.

I need early, quiet, peaceful time with the Lord in order to have the right attitude of serving Him and my family throughout the day. With 5 boys, one of them whom is still under a year old and only recently sleeping longer than 5-6 hours at a time at night, it is difficult to achieve this quiet time... but all the more necessary!

So this past week, I determined to get up early every day. Really early. This is how it went.

Monday, I set my alarm for 5 am. It went off, and I hit snooze. It went off again, and, not wanting to disturb my sweet husband's slumber, I turned it off. But didn't actually get myself out of bed... Until 6:20, when I woke up realizing I had forgotten to get up. But at that point I actually did get up, about an hour earlier than my normal time.

Tuesday, I decided to get smart and set two alarms - my clock and my watch. My clock went off at 5 am, and I shut it off knowing that my watch alarm would go off in 20 more minutes. It did, and I got up! Hooray!

Unfortunately, that evening, I didn't get to sleep until 11:30 pm. Then Judah woke at 4 am to nurse, and at that point I just turned off both alarms, knowing I just wasn't going to survive on less than 6 hours of sleep for the entire day (hey, homeschooling 5 boys is a very full, active day!).

I still got up before 7 on Wednesday, though, so it was better than nothing. That night I fell asleep a little after 8 pm while watching a documentary about George Muller with the boys. I woke up right at the end of the movie, and then stayed up with Michael... a little too late again.

Thursday was a total loss for me. Another too-late night combined with another too-early wakening from Judah, a loud boy in the hall bathroom 45 minutes after that, and some really weird dreams after that kept me up most of the night and I was a goner until 7:20 or so. Oops!

But I wised up and went to bed at 9:15 pm Thursday night. Friday morning, my human alarm clock woke at 4:15 to be nursed, so I nursed him and went back to bed until my clock alarm went off at 5. I turned it off and then decided I should really just go ahead and get up. And I did! I did, however, fall asleep on the boys' bedroom floor a few hours later, around 10:30 am, for about 20 minutes while they played.

Soooo... so far, hmmm... I'm trying. And that's where its got to start, right? I'll also confess that I don't jump out of bed and grab my Bible and settle in to some good quiet study time. I'd fall right back to sleep if I did that! So I do my run first, to get my blood pumping a bit. Then I shower and get dressed all the way down to my shoes, and then fix myself a small snack and THEN settle into some good quiet study time. Thankfully, the kids don't get usually get up until 7:30ish or so, so between 5:30 and 7:30 I actually do have time for all of that.

That's the best part of getting into a routine of waking early! There is SO much that can be done in those wee hours of quietness. And I love the feeling of preparedness and peace I have when I'm able to spend time getting ready for the hustle and bustle of the day. I noticed on Thursday, when I did not succeed in getting out of bed early, I was grumpier and more restless - which does not make for a good mama or wife!

I know that once I can get better at going to bed on time, my body will adjust to the tiredness it went through this week.

Is rising early something you've always thought might help your days go a bit more smoothly, but you're afraid to take the plunge? Why don't you give it a try, just for a month? I know of two different blogs holding accountability series - girltalk and Inspired to Action (Kat from ItA also has a free ebook available for download full of helpful hints regarding developing a good early morning routine and sticking to it!). Why not sign up for one (or both!) and give it a go! Perhaps I'll see you there, bright and early!