Monday Morning Rise

“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us.” Luke 1:78

There are those mornings as a mom where you know you could stay in bed for just a little bit longer, but you hear your little one awake and ready to start the day in the room next door.  The clock said 6:25am and normally Carter sleeps until 8:00, so I waited a little bit to see if he’d go back to sleep.  Well that wasn’t going to happen, the little man was ready to start his Monday off nice and early!

I went and got him up and realized the stench in the room smelled like a nasty diaper.  I said to Carter, “Well I wouldn’t be able to sleep with that in my pants either!” I got him all cleaned up and we snuggled on the couch for a little while.  I got up to get myself a cup of coffee and Carter brought me his shoes.  It’s his new thing when he wants to go outside, (which is basically 24/7), he will bring you his shoes and say “go go?”  I will admit it’s super cute!  It was only a little after 7:00, but the sunrise was absolutely beautiful this morning so I decided we could head outside and go for a little walk.  It was a little chilly so Carter had his Harry Potter sweatsuit on (pictured below because it’s adorable).  I took Bella with us too of course!

I started one of my morning worship playlists on my phone and sat it in the stroller so Carter could hear it too. And we were off!  I love listening to worship music.  There is something about listening to it in the morning as I see the sun rising that just calms me.  My current favorite artists are Caleb and Kelsey.  Many people have shared their videos on Facebook of their worship song mashups (me included), and my current favorite is their own rendition of “10,000 Reasons” and “What A Beautiful Name It Is.”  I will attach the youtube video below so you can listen for yourself and feel the amazingness of it!  It’s incredible to listen to especially in the morning before you start your day.  You won’t regret it!

We just did a short walk but in that little time I just feel like I reflected so much on everything.  There were words of the worship music that just made me feel the presence of Jesus right there with us.  The sound of Carter babbling away, and Bella’s “happy feet” on the pavement (when she gets a little trot going because she’s excited we call them her happy feet), both made me smile and feel peace within me.  There is SO much to be thankful for.  I completely understand that we all have bad days, I absolutely have them too.  But there is so much to be thankful for, even on those off days.  I believe it’s important to take the opportunity to be with ourselves and God for at least ten minutes, even five minutes if that’s all you feel like you have, just remember how much there is to be thankful for.

I’m guilty of rushing and flying around throughout the day to get things done as fast as I can.  Then all of a sudden I will stop myself and realize I haven’t even been thinking at all, I’ve just been doing.  I’ve started to become more self conscience about this and try to remember that it’s not a race to get things done.  If I only get one thing done off of my list in a whole day, that’s fine!  As we kept walking and I watched Carter pointing at the trees and the squirrels running across the road, I thought to myself, “this is exactly where I need to be.”

I believe that God gave Carter a little nudge to go grab his shoes way earlier than normal to go outside.  Even though I was tired and hadn’t even finished my coffee yet, God wanted us to get outside and be in the moment with him.  I had to share this in a small post because I encourage everyone to have those moments that God tries to give us each day.  Life is so short, and our kids grow up way too fast.  Carter is basically up to my waist already in height!  I know how busy everyone gets (I’m right there with you), but even if it’s getting up just a little earlier to have a moment with God to pray, go for a walk, read the Bible, whatever way you’d like to connect with him will do wonders for you.  It will help your day start off completely different in the best way!  When we got back to the house I felt so refreshed and ready to take on the day, even with the earlier wake up call.

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.  His love endures forever!” Psalm 107:2

If you do find those small moments, I would love to hear about them!  Feel free to comment on this post or message me.  I’d love to hear your own feelings and benefits of taking those moments to yourself before you start your day, or before you go to sleep at night.  Thank you so much again for taking the time to catch up on some of my Mommy Minutes, and for continuing to follow the Next Play!

Lots of love and God Bless,

Alyssa