Can I just say I love mornings? I love them so much, I sometimes consider getting up at 3 AM just to have a longer one. But that’s a little over the top, isn’t it? There is just something about waking up to a new day. The quiet, stillness of the morning shouts of God’s compassion and mercy. I bet if a doctor took my blood pressure in the morning, it would be wonderfully low.
Mornings are quiet. I wake up with no alarm, because I despise alarms. I reach under my bed and grab my Bible and my journal and I meet with God. I lay down all my praises and burdens and struggles and requests and through the process, I feel like a new creation. And after my quiet time, I write. I make tea, I grab a bowl of cereal (unless my husband decides to make me oatmeal with blueberries… yummm), and sit in front of my computer and write. Mornings are a very spiritual time for me. I have no problem being a Godly person in the morning… before the day starts.
But the day always has to start, doesn’t it? And then I just plummet off a cliff. I go from seeking God, to seeking myself. My checklist, my desires, my impatience with others, my way, my feelings, my time…. ugh. I despise selfishness. It is this little mustard seed inside me, waiting to take root and grow and grow until I’m trapped so far inside the branches of it that I can’t look outside myself. Being a mother really changes things. Because I think a lot about Brogan, and what kind of message I’m sending to him. Words mean nothing when our actions don’t back them up. I might tell him not to be selfish, but when he gets older, what will he see in me? A selfish mother? I hope not.
In the writing world, we call our current projects WIP’s, which means “work in progress”. Lately I’ve been contemplating buying a shirt with WIP on the front. I am most definitely a work in progress. I want my mornings to spill over into my days. God has blessed me so abundantly. A family, a home, a church, a job, a hope, a gift and a passion for writing Christian fiction. What kind of servant am I being if I don’t pour out these blessings to others?
My heart’s cry is this: May my life be an offering…
Question to ponder: If you were to wear a sign or a shirt that would identify you in one or two words, what would it say?
Wow! I really like the shirt idea 🙂 That is a good one – “I’m proud to be Humble.” I like it! 🙂
Yeah, Katie, it is funny how alike our brainwaves are 🙂 And God most certainly is an AWESOME God! I hope all is going well this week and am looking forward to reading your new post 🙂
I love the relationship you are building with God. As for being a father, I waited so long for you to experience the feeling of having your own child and truely understanding the meaning of unconditional love and wanting so badly for everything to go well for your child. We all struggle with so many temptations here on earth and it’s easy to find God farther away than we want Him to be. Being able to spend time with Him in the morning is a wonderful plan. As we enter into the Easter season we can all appreciate the sacrifice that Our Lord and Saviour displayed for us and the exciting promise of eternal life.
As for my shirt, the idea I have has a few more letters than 2 and I wouldn’t be able to wear it all the time, however, it would be “I’m proud to be Humble”.
Erica – caution tape! That would be great for me too! Sign me up for that!
Ryan – RANDOM had me laughing. I sometimes think you and I share the same brain. But it’s always sort of been that way, hasn’t it? I’m glad my words are encouraging to you. Despite our selfishness and our tendency to screw things up, God is one awesome God, isn’t he?
I know I have said it before, but that was a really good post…I appreciate your willingness to share your relationship with God as well as your struggles. I can definitely relate about selfishness and it is definitely something I know God is working on with me (as I am very selfish throughout my days). Your post is encouraging and comforting to know I am not the only one who struggles with that. I definitely think you may have stumbled on a great idea with the WIP shirts 🙂
I think I could definitely go for one of the WIP shirts or maybe a shirt that just said “RANDOM” 🙂
WIP would make a great shirt for me too…that or one with caution tape.
Great post, Katie. I miss having control of my mornings, but my little guy gets me up in the night still so I sleep in and then run around all day.
Kids do make you examine yourself. Wait till you have to start disciplining them. It’s tough to correct them on an issue when you know you’re still struggling with the same thing.
As for a shirt, I think I’ll take one of those WIP ones if you’ve got a second handy. 🙂