^walking Gwen and Jenna to the school bus stop this morning
<--Autumn, sleepingProverbs 31:15
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
I have been praying that God would get me up and out of bed earlier. I have always loved the time before the dawn and I enjoy watching a quiet sunrise in solitude while drinking my coffee. It is a great way to gather my thoughts and take some time with Him before all the kids wake and the day is thrown into our daily hectic schedule.
Right now I wake up at 7:00. I'm getting better-it used to be around 7:15 or 7:30. My goal is at least 6:30 or maybe 6. When the kids were little, I used to get up at 5 or 5:30 and I was always falling asleep by 7:30 at night because I was so tired, so instead of just waking up super early right off the bat this time, i'm gradually waking up earlier and earlier. It will get easier after we "spring forward" I think, and, of course, when it warms up a bit so that getting out of bed before sunrise doesn't seem so darned cold and uninviting-right now, my blankets are so warm and cozy I just keep snuggling up in them until I fall back asleep.
I sleep with my blinds open because I like to be awakened by natural sunlight. Usually if I wake and it is still dark, I go back to sleep. (Shame on me.) If I wake and the sun is up I get out of bed. I don't use an alarm clock, my body just naturally wakes up every morning-first at 5:30 (I go back to sleep) and then again once or twice by 7.
Right now, I wake up at 7, get my shoes on, get some coffee and have a few minutes of quiet, and then wake up the bugs (Gwen and Jenna) to get them ready for school. (Yes, they go to public school. I homeschool my 13 year old.) After I walk the girls to the bus stop I wake up Christian (he's lucky, he gets to sleep in until 8) and have him get dressed, eat brekkie, and we start on his lessons. I put away all the dishes and then start a load of laundry. Usually Autumn wakes up by 8 or so and we eat breakfast together and then we do her "schoolwork" too. (She's doing preschool work right now.)
My goal is to wake up earlier so that I can devote about a half hour to my morning devotional uninterrupted, and possibly have time to start my laundry and put my clean dishes away and do my morning housework routine before I wake up all the kids. It would be awesome to get all that stuff knocked out before the kids are up. The day would probably seem less busy as well. It might even leave me some time for sewing!
I am a constant work in progress. I'm striving to be what He wants me to be as a mom, and a human being, and it is coming slowly and with effort-but that's ok. At least it is coming.
