Girl, Wake Up!

There are things I expect when I'm fasting.  Hunger is obvious.  Prayer is an absolute.  Answers to prayer are certain.  Revelation and spiritual insight are profoundly exciting.  Being told to wake up and get it together?  Not so much.

I have been waking up early for a few weeks.  Not. On. Purpose.  I'd just wake up.  And lie there.  And stare at the sunlight beginning to creep in.  And turn over.  And force myself to go back to sleep. I like to sleep until about 7:30.  Or 8:00.  It just feels right.  I wake up and kind of feel like I can start my day.  Waking in the 6 o'clock hour feels like someone is being mean to me.  So, I didn't appreciate it very much when, a few days ago, I felt very impressed to begin setting an alarm and having a plan for the day.  You better believe I'm baby-stepping it.  I've been setting my alarm for 6:50.  That's all the courage I can muster, thus far.

However, I've also been drawn to the Proverbs 31 woman.

Proverbs 31:15  She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day's work for her servant girls.

I don't hate her.  Seriously.  I know plenty of women who do, but I don't think that they are seeing her in the right light.  I don't believe she's meant to be a standard of what every single day should look like for every woman.  But, I do believe that she is a reflection of a woman's lifetime, and the productive seasons we should be living.

My husband says that women have a built in thermostat for knowing the needs of her family and home.  I think that's true.  You know whether the kids' moods are off balance, whether the grades are right, whether your man feels neglected, whether the family nutrition is stable, whether a simple thing like a bookshelf with completely "fix" a room that just can't be kept organized.  You just know.  There are plenty of things that we can multi-task, but I think all of chapter 31 at once is a recipe for disaster...and failure...and guilt.

So, when the seasons change in my life, I always go back to that chapter for some review of where I've been and where I need to go.  Right now, I need to wake up.  I don't wake up and grab my Bible.  I can't even THINK straight that early.  But, I can follow a well-devised plan.  A plan that was not created in morning hours!  Without a plan, the people will perish!

I will now give a shout-out to an app I have discovered called: Any.Do
Got that?  Any dot Do
This "to do list"  app is helping me to be faithful during this season.  I type in all the tiny details of things that I might normally overlook or just get around to eventually, and it sends a gentle reminder to my phone so that I pick it up and go do that thing.  I make my list based on the schedules and routines I have learned on www.flylady.net.  You can check out her site for great ideas on getting started.

People, my list is D.E.T.A.I.L.E.D.!!!
-Make bed
-Get dressed
-Face/Hair/Teeth (I do let my phone read the Bible to me while I'm doing this part.)
-Wipe bathroom counters and toilet
-Wake kids
-Empty dishwasher
-Decide dinner
-Start laundry
-Breakfast & vitamins
-Bible time/school
-Afternoon routines
-Blog
-Yoga
-Evening routines
-Dinner
-Dishwasher
-can you see where I'm going with this??????

Right now, I may look like a crazy lady to you, but I'm willing to risk it, because it's getting my life back in order.

It's helping me to be a P31 Woman.  I'm getting up and making a plan.  I'm owning my life instead of it owning me.  Our time is so valuable, friends, and we need to get the monotonous out of the way so that we have time for the crucial.  The crucial is instilling character in our children.  The crucial is being available to our husbands.  The crucial is having time for that friend who is hurting.  The crucial is even making time to take care of yourself.  Don't be afraid to say no to something that would over-commit you.  If you would no longer have flex time to do the crucial, then that commitment is too much for you to offer during this season of your life.  Don't wait for a catastrophe to remember what the crucial things in your life really are.

So, I hate to say it ladies, but, it's time to get up and get going.  After all, nobody says you can't schedule a nap in there somewhere, right? ;)

Today's Prayer:
Father, thank you for refocusing me.  Thank you for drawing me back to your Word and for keeping me centered on your will.  I know many of the steps that I should be taking, and I trust you to reveal others to me.  Help me to stay on track and to be disciplined as I work to be faithful to what you are calling me to.  Help me to find beauty in the simple, and help me to create beauty in this life you've given me.  Show me how I can serve those around me, and help me to find joy in the little things.  Amen.