I am nearly half way through our Holiday Bible Club week. That's why there has been silence on here since Friday! :-)
It's a hectic, but rather enjoyable week. We have been very encouraged by the children who have attended, and how well they have listened to the Bible Stories. Lots of fun, but tiring!
I'm not sure that my brain is up to thinking about any top tips at all! But, I'll tell you what mine is!
Learn to get up earlier in the morning!
However, when I was revising my whole Bible study and prayer life, I realised I needed to make a concerted effort to rise earlier in the morning. SO, how did I do it?
1. PRAYER - the day I started "going out" with Robert, we went to a County Show, and I felt car sick on the way there. I remember Robert asking me what was wrong, and when I explained, he said "have you prayed about it?"?! I hadn't - I almost thought that I didn't need to pray about something like that. But, I did, and I started to feel better so quickly - it was an immediate answer to prayer! There is nothing in life too big or too small to pray about. SO, pray and ask the Lord to help you physically, emotionally and spiritually in your task.
2. DISCIPLINE - in all the areas that making changes is required, in order to achieve the goal of rising early, you need to be disciplined. Set your mind to do the task in hand. Really motivate yourself and determine to make the necessary changes, so that you can get up earlier.
3. DO IT GRADUALLY - don't jump from an 8.30am rise, to a 5.30am rise! You'll never manage it for very long, and you'll quickly get tired and give up! Do it in small time increments, say 15 minutes earlier for a few days, then another 15 minutes, and so on.
4. SET AN ALARM - I know it seems obvious, but you can't just hope that you might waken earlier - and, if need be, put it somewhere that requires getting out of bed to turn it off! That always helps! Or, that's loud enough for you not to ignore (whilst not wakening anyone else in the house!)
I would recommend that it is a time before your children waken. If you are wanting to do it to get your quiet time done QUIETLY, then it's the only way to go!
"But my children waken SO early in the morning already"...well, maybe here's something else you need to deal with first?!? Or, you need to just tell them to stay in the room until you tell them to come out.
I would also recommend discussing it with your husband. I currently rise at 6am and would like it to be earlier, but to achieve that, I would have to go to bed a bit earlier. My husband is a night owl, and I will end up eating into my precious time with him, in the evenings, if I go to bed earlier. So, make sure you have agreed on a schedule that your husband is happy with!
I have had such precious times in the mornings, doing my devotions when the house is quiet. I also get a lot more jobs done in the mornings, before the busyness of the day. I get the dinner ready now, most days, before breakfast. It means I don't have to do it later when the children get tired, and Elijah is more demanding! (those who know him, will understand!!!) It just gets my day off to a better start all round. Your day isn't then always playing "catch up", with the children ahead of you!
I especially love the winter mornings, when it is still dark, and I just turn on a little lamp by the sofa, and get snuggled under a blanket, with a coffee, and my Bible! Bliss!
Your body quickly gets adjusted to the new sleeping pattern, and I know I can easily rise at 6am now, with few problems, so long as I have had enough sleep! Even with less sleep, I can still rise at that time.....I just feel RATHER tired by the middle of the day! *yawn*
I may have forgotten something vital, but I am rather tired, so I wouldn't notice!
So, on the thought of enough sleep. I must got to bed!
Please share your experiences of early rising, or how you made a new habit.
I too have been challenged a lot recently about rising earlier (it seems to be one of the things that sticks with me from Proverbs 31).
ReplyDeleteMy excuses so far (and I know they are just that) are mainly that our youngest almost always senses me getting up and wakes shortly afterwards, and the fact that he is still such a dreadful sleeper through the night.
My husband is also a night owl. I would miss out on our time together in the late evening, and he also isn't a fan of me going to bed before him and being fast asleep before he gets there. That's not to say that he minds if I do this every now and again, but every night would be a different story!
So, no helpful hints from me, I'm afraid, but I do agree with you on this one!
This was a really good post, it highlights how I went wrong when I tried the rising early thing, and why it never worked out and I gave up quickly.
ReplyDeleteI never gave myself enough time to adjust, I jumped back 2 hours and was needing to bed by teatime! My husband is also a night owl, and I do thing some kind of agreement has to be made.
But wow, when it works, it works. Sooo much can be achieved getting up before the children, especially good spiritually to have that quiet time first thing, I do feel it makes a difference.
Thanks for this helpful article,
Dawn x
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ReplyDeleteSuch a good post. And coming at a time when I'm looking to put some of this into practice.
ReplyDeleteOur biggest problem with getting to bed early is the kids now that they're older! When they were young, they were all in bed really early, we had the evening to ourselves, and even if we went to bed at 10pm, we'd still had time to unwind etc. But now, our kids are going to bed at the same time as us.... in fact, they have more 'staying power' than us. It means we're going to bed with *no* wind-down time, and no time on our own....
Never happy, are we?!
Anne - I'm sure that era has crept up quietly! You think you have years of evenings alone, and then you don't any more! Old enough to stay up late...does that mean old enough to stay home alone? Evening walks with Finlay? Erm, when the weather is conducive!? :-D Hopefully I have a few more years yet!
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