Hello Mornings!

It has been several weeks since I last checked in with everyone on how our household is doing with the Hello Mornings Challenge.  I am very proud to say that we are doing VERY well.  I have stayed really consistent with my 6:45 am wake up call, which gives me about 30 minutes of prayer time before the girls come downstairs.  We then all head to the kitchen together for breakfast and a devotion.  This has really made our mornings go much smoother.

I often play music while I am at home during the day.  I tend to listen to the same Christian artists.  After listening to some of Kat's suggestions in her ebook, I found a new artist that has great lyrics for worship, Phil Wickham.  I have also been a long time fan of Jeremy Camp and he just came out with a great worship album called We Cry Out; The Worship Project.  It is excellent! It has some of my absolutely favorite songs from church that always move me.

A little tidbit that you may not know about me:  I HATE exercise!  But as I continue to grow old older, the metabolism just isn't what it used to be!  A few weeks ago a Zumba class started at our grade school just down the street.  I signed up and have actually been enjoying it.  I've lost 3 pounds!  Which is a very good thing, because some pants were getting a little tight!  Actually enjoying an exercise routine is a major milestone in my life!

I've also been working on a cleaning routine.  I don't have all the kinks worked out yet, but I will have some fun things I want to share with you on a later post.  Stay tuned!!

All in all, I am really happy with how these changes have been coming...thanks Michelle and Kat!

Hello Mornings

Ah, the backslide. 

It hurts.

It is disappointing.

It is maddening.

I was so excited for school to start, with the hopes of finally getting a schedule to stick.  I was anxious to continue getting up and enjoying my quiet times, as I had during the summer.  I was so ready to get a daily schedule put together for cleaning, computer time, menu plans, and the like.

FAIL!

I did get up earlier than the girls, but it just wasn't early enough.  About all I accomplished was getting the dog out and reading a quick devotion.  I had thought that after the kids got out the door for school that I could then finish up with my prayer time.  But instead, I found my mind had already raced ahead of me with all the things I needed to accomplish in the day, and the prayer time suffered.

So it is back to the drawing board this week.  I need to reassess what time to get up in order to have a sufficient quiet time.  You know, my friends, that I am not a morning person, so this continues to be a struggle.  I was so proud of myself for getting up at 7:00!  I can hardly bring myself to type the numbers and the statement that it might need to change to 6:30.  Oh the pain!

You may need to pray for me!

Hello Mornings!

At the beginning of the summer, I had written a post about getting up early  to be more consistent with my quiet times with the Lord.  My friend Michelle over at So I Married A Mennonite has trouble getting up in the morning too, as neither one of us are early birds.  We had discussed it a few times and tried to encourage each other.  Recently Michelle discovered a great website, Inspired to Action, that sets up some terrific action plans to help you be successful at maximizing your mornings.  Michelle started a great challenge a couple weeks ago, Hello Mornings!  It is to help us all come together to encourage each other on this journey of getting up early and getting work done!


I was on vacation the first week of the challenge, so I can say I got up early most days because we were on the run all week!  Then it took me a few days to recover...whew!


I must say I have been pleased with my progress so far throughout the summer.  I have been successfully getting up between 7:30-8:00, which I know isn't early for most people, but it is still earlier than most of my family, so it worked!  I have enjoyed many quiet mornings on my back patio, and some mornings I have invited my furry friend, McKinley on a walk while I prayed in high gear!


I just selected some great songs to incorporate into my morning quiet for worship, so I am really excited about that.  The exercise, on the other hand, might be more of a challenge!  Does anyone else agree it is really hard to get motivated to go out and exercise when the humidity is near 99% and the temp is 95 degrees?  I love summer, but this month has been brutal!


I haven't selected my study for the year, but I have a couple here at home that I can choose from.  I just need a few minutes to look over each one to decide what looks good right now.


There is still time to join the challenge! Be sure to check out all the details over at Michelle's blog!