This morning I started a 7 Day Stamina Challenge that was suggested by my life/career coach, Joel Boggess.
I have to be honest: I was dreading this morning. I set the alarm-reluctantly-for 4:00am, which was a half hour earlier than I usually get up.
I just had planned on sleeping late today. (Can you hear my whiny, complaining voice here?) We’ve been on the go, playing, visiting, touring, driving, eating since Friday night, and even at the launch of the weekend, I had imagined a lazy, slow beginning to Monday, quietly sipping coffee in my pajamas on my little porch, long after the sun came up.
Alas, it was not to be.
Surprisingly, though, I enjoyed the start to my day even better than my “pj’s on the porch plan”.
I know. You might be wondering if I lost my mind. “Let me get this straight. You didn’t sleep late. On the last day of a holiday weekend. Your alarm went off at 4:00am. How could that possibly be better than the slow start you had planned?”
Glad you asked.
I had uninterrupted time for rest and refreshment. I began the day with my devotion, which I read in Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling, Enjoying peace in His presence.
She writes:
Let the dew of My presence refresh your mind and heart.
Ahhhh. It’s that gentle invitation to partake of a long, cool sip of prayer that soothes my troubled heart and quiets my busy mind.
And this:
A refreshed, revitalized mind is able to sort out what is important and what is not.
Like the spinning wheels of a car trapped in mud, the cogs of your brain spin impotently when you focus on a trivial thing.
Hmmm, that’s sounds uncomfortably familiar . . .
Then I remembered what I read a few days ago, and turned back to read this:
Doing countless unnecessary activities will dissipate your energy.
When you spend time with Me, I restore your sense of direction. As you look to Me for guidance, I enable you to do less, but accomplish more.
Oh, yes, It is that counter-intuitive behavior I wrote about here, in which I noted:
I know, it’s counterintuitive to pray when it feels like all the dams in your life are bursting and just flooding your life with problems.
But, as Bill Hybels says in his book: you are Too Busy Not to Pray.
I also know that it can be a real challenge to find time for ourselves as moms.
What I have found, however, is that the more I carve out a little bit of time to prepare myself for the day, the better equipped I am to handle whatever the day brings.
Taking the time to go to the proverbial well is worth every moment, as each drop refreshes me throughout the day.
Dear readers, I invite you to do whatever you need to, even if it’s getting up even 15 minutes before your children arise, to drink deeply of that precious dew.
Hi Kim,
There’s nothing like the still of the morning to make you feel alive, refreshed, and alone with God.
Thank you for being a part of what we’re doing.
Well said!
Thanks for having me along.