Following God’s Call

Trying to sneak away from my toddler in the morning is difficult. He is crazy snuggly and between 5am and 6am loves to throw his soft little arms around my neck, lay his cheek against mine and hook his legs around my arm. 

I would love to have the solitary and productive morning I hear other mothers talk about but it has almost never been a feasible option for me. Sleeping with my babies and toddlers has always been the priority. And keeping the kids in bed until 7am is much easier if they think Mama is sleeping. 

I have been reading a couple of books lately though that have talked about thinking of alternatives to making excuses. Finding creative solutions to your problems. My problem was that I feel following God’s call leads me to write again but I had no idea how to add it to my life. Writing with kids running around is difficult as I can’t keep a full thought stream going for more than 2 sentences. Writing in the evening is difficult as my brain is fried from the day.

Enter the necessity of morning writing time. And then factor in my cuddly toddler and morning loving 5 year old. 

The solution I came up with was inspired by Jamerrill from Large Family Table. She is a work at home mom of many who lives in an old farmhouse and has some amazing recipes that you should definitely check out. I was actually perusing her recipes when I came across a few blog posts she wrote about her work-at-home-mom schedule through the years. In one of these posts was a picture of her in her bed surrounded by little ones and I thought, “I could never make my bed a work zone! Wouldn’t that taint the sanctity of sleep?” 

I couldn’t shake that picture though. So I set a (very quiet) phone alarm to wake up a bit earlier than usual and, for the first time in years, brought my phone to the bedroom. And now, two weeks later, here I am (slowly and with one hand) typing out this post on my phone with my sleeping littlest in my arms and my morning sunshine 5yo none the wiser. 

I’m more tired during the day with the earlier wake up (or perhaps that is due to the 3rd trimester pregnancy fatigue) but I have also been starting my mornings with a clearer mind because I’m able to check off an important task for my day before I even get up. That feeling of accomplishment first thing in the morning is amazing.

I come downstairs more inspired and my coffee and devotional time seems to flow quicker as my mind has already worked through the morning fog. This means I’m ready to start my morning routines with less feet dragging.