Hey Beautiful Giant Slayer,

Do you dread your mornings? Are you overwhelmed and exhausted before the day even gets started? Do you secretly wonder how many cups of coffee you can get away with drinking before others start to notice something’s wrong?

I know this feeling of dread that can come along with rising early.   I distinctly remember the first morning I intentionally rose before 5 am to purposefully change the trajectory of my life.  It wasn’t easy.  But, I did it, and you can too. I believe in you.

The Backstory

We were stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. My children were 4, 6, & 8. I was teaching full time at a local DoDEA school with a 35-minute commute one way.  My Superman was working/soldiering 12+ hour days. We were in full swing of wrestling season and the ONLY day off we ever had was a Sunday to catch up on laundry, housework, grocery shopping, and food prepping.  

I was exhausted and running on fumes. I was frustrated. I was overwhelmed. I was hiding deep anger and resentment over my life.  And I knew something had to change or I was going to break, and I don’t just mean those black pants that were pulling at the seams across my rear-end. (That’s another blog post.)

Before I could reclaim my mornings, I had to wade through the Enemy’s lie.

Satan feeds us lies that sound an awful lot like the badges of motherhood society says are totally appropriate.  His lies pervaded our thoughts with words like this:

1. I am too busy to get organized and to have time for myself.
2. I’m too exhausted to rise any earlier.
3. I can just read/pray/journal/exercise later.
4. Time for myself is selfish.  

It takes realizing those lies and combating them with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) to change our mindset about our mornings. We must silence the Enemy’s malicious whispers.

NONE of us want to wake up stressed and on edge thinking of all the things that we must do to get out the door on time every single morning.  I’ve been there. 

This leads us to a life full of frustration, anger, and shouting matches with those we love.  It is possible to start our mornings in peace without guilt or overwhelm because of these Spirit-led Strategies I’m sharing with you.

When we are out of step with the higher calling we have from the Creator, life feels full of frustration and overwhelm.  His higher calling beckons us to live like we’ve been called out from the grave into His abundant life!  Which means this truth bomb:  We suffer from being a lesser version of ourselves when we are stressed out and exhausted. And this lesser version struggles to serve others in love.

Part of my morning routine became to combat the lies of the Enemy with Godly Affirmations.

I have learned to recognize the Father’s voice because I’m spending time with Him daily.  I adapted some strategies from the secular book The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod to practice Christian Miracle Morning Strategies. 

So to practice self-control and reclaim our mornings, we need to be focused and intentional with our limited time.

We can be intentional with our mornings when we prepare for the week before the week begins. 

I want to help you reclaim your mornings, find a quiet time with the Creator, and to be intentional with a Power Hour before you meet the demands of everyone else!

Use a MAP

If you’re thinking a MAP was that thing we used before Siri told how to get around, you’re right.  But, we can also think about it this way:  When we have a MAP we know exactly where we’re going and how to get there.  Even in the case of a detour, we can still arrive at the destination with less stress than if we’re just wandering in the wilderness. (Side note: I much prefer to be marching around Jericho with a purpose than wandering in the Wilderness in forty years of stuck!)

To combat the hundreds of mindless time-sucking decisions we need make each morning, we can use a Morning Action Plan (MAP) to ensure we are ready with a plan in place to save our thoughts for more important tasks (like serving others in our purpose).

I rise early and give myself a Power Hour daily.

The Power Hour

What do I mean by a Power Hour?  I mean an hour in which we fill our cups so that we can serve others better.   I love to claim this thought here:

His truth.  His love.  His precepts.  His whispers.  His words. His affirmations.

They fill me.  They are endless.  They are of Him: the Lifter of my Head. 

These are my Superpowers.

If you want to learn more about creating Godly Affirmations like this to help transform your mind as Paul speaks about in Romans 12:1-2, I’ll be writing about that soon.

What should you include in your Morning Action Plan?

Include the following in your plan:

1. Quiet time with the Creator. Waking up with coffee (or tea) and quiet time with the Creator sets us up for calmer moments throughout the day.  I use this workbook to dig deeper into my Bible study and time with the Lord.  In this workbook there is a place for me to write out gratitude, reflections/affirmations, and intentions for serving others later in the day.  (steps 2-4)
2. Gratitude. *Offer thanks always!
3. Reflections. Mindset/Affirmation. *Who does God say I am? 
4. Serving Others. *How will I serve others today?
5. Workout or Stretching.  *I use at home fitness programs which I highly recommend for anyone.  There is something about challenging our physical body and creating discipline in this area that spills over into self-discipline in other areas of our lives.  
6. Listen to something Motivational.  Choose a Podcast / Audiobook / Meditation App / Motivational YouTube or Ted Talk to listen to while you’re getting ready in the morning doing the mundane activities.  Getting dressed, brushing your teeth, doing makeup or your hair provide excellent opportunities for us to listen and challenge our mindsets and grow in our thinking.   
7. MAP.  *Which tasks must be done BEFORE I leave my house for the day?
8. NAP. *Which tasks must I do in the evening to be prepared for the morning?
9. Make Good Choices. *I know I have weak areas.  When I write down my intentions for when the “temptations” come, I am much more likely to overcome them.

Set a time to do each of these activities by working backwards.

Use a Timer/Alarm

Timers and alarms can save your sanity. Set an alarm for your wake-up, your study time, your workout, the time to wake up the kiddos, out the door in 5 minutes, etc. Whatever you put on your MAP to do, use those alarms until it becomes a habit. Also, don’t worry about if people call you OCD. When we make changes that others can’t relate to, they tend to view us as strange. That’s totally okay.

Blessings from my toolbox to yours,

Stephanie