5 More Years

Did you ever have one of those periods of your life where you sensed God's work in your life and felt his movement? Right now is one of those times for me.

Making time with and for God has always been a struggle. There are times when I give myself a big pat on the back for continually making time for him, and times where time with him is far from my mind. Since having Cooper, it has been much harder to "find time" to open up God's word and let it soak into my heart and mind. Add to having a baby: a work schedule, ministry, and family problems of all sorts. God should have been my first retreat. However, I slowly walked further and further away from quality time with him. There have been times in the past year where I have spent time with him, but it has in no way been a consistent priority for me. Other things fell apart during this time, too. Health (mine and Andrew's), budgeting expertise (I would completely forget to pay bills...not because we didn't have money to, but because I was completely overwhelmed), home-cooked meals, having fun...the list could go on but I'll spare you.

I have the intention of making my time with God out of want, not requirement. Nowhere in scripture does it say "thou shalt spend 30 minutes a day reading the Bible" (crazy to think that the Bible wasn't "The Bible" when it was written). I have wanted my time in scripture to come from my desire to. And honestly, my heart just hasn't been in it for a while now. It's been about a month since school ended and I can tell you that having a "break" (as much as a break you can have with a child and husband home with you) has brought back my desire. This past week week I longed for time with God. Funny that when everything else kind of calms down, that desire is strong.

*I know this blog entry is a long one, with no entertaining pictures, but you're getting ready to encounter my 5 More Years point of it all*

Yesterday I had the hardest time finding time to spend with God. Cooper's naps were short (he is growing out of his 2 naps a day and into 1....NOOOOOOOO.) and I'm pretty sure I procrastinated with a ton of stuff. But, I finally found some time. During that time I wrote at the end of my journal entry that I had a new goal: Wake up at 6am, spend some time with God, workout, and then fiddle around the house before anyone else wakes up. This may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but during the summer I love to bask in the glory of sleeping in. God has given Cooper an ability to sleep until 8, 9, sometimes 10 this summer. Also, I am a lover of sleep. I am a pro-nap girl; always have been, always will be. Andrew used to give me a hard time about my napping. He didn't understand how I could just go and nap in the middle of the day. Becoming a dad has changed his perspective a bit, but mine has grown even more concrete: Naps and sleep are soooo gooood. So, waking up early during summer is quite a feat for me. A habit I'm not so sure I will do well with, but am going to try.

So, this morning I heard my 6 am alarm sound at what seemed to be a not very long sleep. I "snoozed" for about 20 minutes. For my first day I thought that was pretty good...better than not getting up at all....right?! I've been going through a book about the Proverbs 31 woman. Guess what today's chapter was about? Getting up early! No joke...I couldn't believe it. I came away from that feeling rejuvenated with my conviction confirmed to wake up early.

Here is an excerpt from today's chapter.

"If you can do nicely with six hours of sleep instead of the eight you now may be getting, saving those two hours a day, Monday through Friday, would give you an extra forty hours - one additional work week - every month! ...Just one hour less sleep per night would mean: six extra work weeks per year, which adds up, over a working lifetime, to more than five years. Think what you could accomplish in an extra five years! - Up and at 'em!

I am by no means showing off that I got up early today. It is only day one, it's 1:30 pm, and I'm EXHAUSTED already. I just wanted to share what is on my heart today. To all those people who "don't have time"...try waking up early. I was one of them, and I can assure you I will be going to bed earlier tonight. But all I'll be missing then is TV. What I'm gaining is much more valuable.

I have had the sense that God is getting ready to do great things for our family. I can feel him moving all around me. God is on the move and I can't wait to see what he does.

Cooper wanted to share something too:

"6s 5986357-==87rrre64r567890-iikju867890[[" - love, Cooper