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Last year my friends and mentors asked me to be on their podcast (that just celebrated their one year anniversary!) We had such fun visiting and talking about God, the Old Testament and what it’s like to be a political wife during this season. But one of the first question Chrissie asked me about was how I started getting up so early for my quiet time. I shared with them, as I share here so often, that my alarm goes off every weekday morning at 5:30. Now, do I snooze a few times? Absolutely - it’s actually rare that I hop out right at that moment.
But I do aim to get my coffee and get seated on the couch with my Bible and laptop by 6ish AM. The rest of my family gets up around 6:45 so I have a good amount of time to hear from the Lord in the quiet before the crazy mornings begin.
This is early, I know. This can be challenging, I know. This is worth it. I KNOW.
Here are a few reasons I do this in the morning instead of at nap time or in the evening or whenever else I could try to fit it in.
First, it sets the pace for my day. I used to roll my eyes when people said this, but you can ask my husband or my kids. This literally changes the course of my day. Taking time early in the morning gets my heart right and fixes my perspective onto the gift of a new day.
My mind is sharper, clearer and more open in the morning. I am able to focus on the Holy Spirit’s direction easier before the distractions of the day set in. I’m not worried about that email, carpool pickup, scheduling that haircut, what’s for dinner quite yet. It’s really just me and the Lord, and those moments are rare.
I also have recognized that by nap time, or really by ANY time after 7:30 am, my mind is already mush. I’m not the best multitasker but I multitask (mommas - can I get an amen). And when I finally have a second to sit down during the day, I’m basically not even good for reading a magazine! If I make it through a 30 minute show on Netflix after the kids go to bed it is a miracle!
Sister, make time for the Lord. It’s the end of the week, so over the weekend, make a plan for Monday. Get up earlier - even just fifteen minutes - and spend some solid time with God. Grab a devotional book to start, grab a journal to write in, grab a great study bible to read. Any one of these things will help. And it’s sort of like the more you do it, the more you want to do it.
Over the summer, I gave myself a break and decided I could get up later because my kids would *hopefully* get up later. But that never happened and I usually missed my time with the Lord in an effort to give myself a break. But y’all, not only did I miss it, but I also felt a loneliness from not having been with Him.
Plan for it next week. Do it and reap the fruit of your time with Him over the course of your days! If you want a plan to kickstart your quiet time, I wrote out some tips you can check out here.