So, There is This Club

It is a 5:00 am club. I read about it on GirlTalk (on my blog list). Waking up at 5am to have a quiet time with God and to get the day going before the rest of the household wakes. Let me tell you why this appealed to me.
Before I start, I want to say I am NOT a morning person. I never have been. It took my husband nearly 5 years of marriage before he figured it out (no matter how many times I told him). It takes awhile for me to get going and for a few hours all I can think about is my bed. I do not talk a lot in the morning. So, don't try to carry on a conversation with me, you won't get very far.
For the past couple months, I have realized that I am not the mother I should be. I kept pushing my kids aside to get the chores in the house accomplished, the laundry done, the meals cooked, school work finished, taking care of a baby. While doing all that I would have my kids go play elsewhere. I wasn't really interacting with them. I was also not focusing on me either. I needed to get healthy again and stop being so tired. I had also let my quiet time with God slide way farther than it ever should. Because I wasn't spending that time with God, the way I acted changed for the worst. Not that I was bad by the world's standards, but I was not living up to my potential as a Christian. I had neglected my Savior. I needed that back. So I started first with that. I began reading my Bible at night. I have been doing it for about 3 months now, and I have read some pretty amazing things. I spend some time in prayer after that. Amazingly, my patience level rose, I am more aware of gossip and try to avoid it, pretty much the way I am to all people changed. All without me asking. God convicted me of these things. Being in the word daily made me more aware of what God was saying to me.
With that change, I realized then that I was neglecting my children. I stopped worrying about the house and played with my kids. I spoke kindly to them. I will say I am not perfect, and I do slip up. But I get convicted. I have noticed that I am being more and more convicted before I lose it on them.
Along with those things, I do have other responsibilities. I do have to vacuum, dust, clean the bathrooms, make up beds, do the laundry, do the dishes, cook, buy groceries, etc.
I questioned how would I get all that done during the day? I felt like I was lost in everything. Trying to do to much, but honestly, I wasn't. These are the day to day things that keep this household going. This is my job as a wife and mother.
So, God said wake up earlier...HAHAHAHA! Really? Sure.
I liked my wake up call at 9am. That is when the baby wakes up. Never mind Ella and Olivia being in my bed already. But waking up at 9 am was not working. I would have to scramble to get the 2 bigger ones fed and sit down to feed the baby. Then get on to getting ready for the day, making up beds, getting the baby back down for a nap, and doing school hopefully before lunch. Never mind the fact, that I hadn't eaten breakfast or taken a shower...not even that...I hadn't washed my face! After school, Sutton would wake and pretty much be awake for the rest of the day. There goes cleaning! I knew I needed to get up earlier, but I just didn't want to.
Then I read about the 5:00 am club. This was my wake up call (no pun intended). So, I set my alarm for 5am and put it in the bathroom. I had to get up and out of bed then. Guess what? It worked! I went downstairs let Tank (our very fierce yorkie-poo) outside to do his business, fed him and got my diet coke. Oops! I forgot to mention that I took back to the caffeine. Don't judge...I need the help. I came back upstairs and turned on my lights, made-up the bed(this is key) and spent some time with Jesus. That day was awesome. I wish I could say that I did it again the next day, but I didn't. Oh, and guess what? Sutton is no longer sleeping in til 9 am....she wakes up between 6 and 7am! Oh, how funny God is sometimes! The days that I have woken up earlier have gone far better than any other day so far. I am able to do some cleaning and get myself together before the kids wake up so I can focus on them. It has truly been a blessing in my life and believe me, I never thought I would be able to do it. But I am...with God's nudging, ok, pushing.