Early Rising

I have become an early riser. Every morning, ok most mornings, I get up at, or shortly after, 5am. Insane you say? Just a month ago I agreed. I love sleep, I have always loved sleep. So getting up any earlier than necessary is not my idea of a good time. On one of my message boards they were discussing getting up before the kids to get some quiet time, some time with God, to get the day started on the right foot. I had lots of excuses why it wouldn't work for me. The kids are in bed with me half the time, they would wake up with the alarm. I'm up a couple times a night with the baby. Besides, I read my Bible every morning during bfast and get quiet time when I take a shower, I don't need more than that. Etc etc. Then a few weeks ago DH asked me to start calling him in the mornings to wake him up for work, at 4:30am my time. I didn't have a problem with that, I figured I would just roll over and go back to sleep. And so I did for a while. Then it occurred to me that DH was going to bed at the same time I was, literally. We would talk on the phone, hang up and then we both went to bed. So why couldn't I get up at the exact same time he did? The alarm excuse wasn't good any longer, I had been using the alarm on my cell phone and it didn't wake the kids at all. So I decided to give it a try. Fast forward a week and I was still getting up at 4:30. I had a few days were I went back to bed, but they were few. I wasn't really getting anything extra done around the house. I was so afraid of waking up the kids there were some days I didn't even turn on the lights! But I began to notice a difference in my days. I had been going through a rough spell, felling down and out and just beaten and alone, but after only 3 days of waking early the spell had almost completely lifted! The only thing I was doing in the morning was reading my Bible and praying, really praying to God. Not just the 10 minutes in the shower when the baby was sitting outside the tub fussing and I was worried about the boys were getting into, but real talking to God and praying for everything and everyone that I could think of. Shortly after that DH switched jobs and needed me to call him at 3:30am. I was NOT getting up that early and staying up. So I call DH at 3:30, then usually again at 3:50 b/c he requests a "snooze" and then I reset the alarm for 5am and go back to sleep. Most mornings I hit snooze once, but half the time I turn it off before it goes off again. I truely cherish my morning time now. So the moral of the story, regardless of how many excuses you have to not get up early and spend time with the Lord, regardless of how much you think you don't need it, just try it for a week or two, actually don't try, just DO IT for a week and two and see if it makes a difference. You may be surprised. I was.