Early Mornings...are they worth it?

I've never been an early morning person; though David would beg to differ.  I guess I am a morning person in comparison to him, who loves to roll out of bed as late as possible.  But compared to my dad who is up at 5:00 every morning, I'm quite a slacker! 

My mom has always told me that whomever is up first in our house will rule the day, and that may be true, but I refuse to get up before the boys.  My boys got their early rising genes from my dad apparently because as soon as the sun is up, so are they.  We've tried everything to keep them in bed a bit longer, even darkening shades to fake them into thinking the sun isn't  up yet!  Alas, they have internal time clocks that are unable to be turned off.

Orchestra practice at church begins at 8:30 am.  Considering I have three kiddos to get ready and out the door, 8:30 is a pretty daunting time of the morning.  Our Worship Pastor was gracious and said that as long as I practiced at home during the week, I could just come and play for the 10:30 service, not worry about 8:30 practice.  I tried that for a couple weeks, and was just feeling as though I needed to practice with the group to really be a part of the group.  Not to mention Pastor Jason is a creative soul and likes to add bridges between songs; and even with all the help from Judy and Cheri, I was still at best, winging it.

Even more daunting then getting everyone out the door was the idea that the kids would have to sit in the sanctuary while I practiced for 30 minutes.  The thought was overwhelming enough to keep me from going.  It's one thing when I have David with me and he can keep the kids sitting with him.  But on the off month when David works weekends and doesn't come out to church with me it usually frazzles me just to do church on Sunday morning.

I spent some really great time with someone who is quickly becoming a real mentor in my life.  Cheri Keeton is one of our pastors wives and someone that I went to for some advice.  You see, I have plenty of people that would pat my back and give me sympathy over the things that I pity myself for.  But when I want someone to listen and then tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear, I go to Cheri.  She is not unsympathetic, but spiritually she gives me the wake up call that I need.  When I told her about my orchestra frustrations, she told me what I needed to hear. 

Her suggestion was, "Bring the kids and have them sit in the row right next to where you are practicing so you can keep an eye on them.  It teaches them how to show respect for God's house, and none of us mind if you have to get up every once in a while and have a talk with one of them."  What she said next really stuck out in my mind, she said, "Don't let Satan give you any reason to keep from serving God with your talent."

And there it was...the spiritual slap in the face that I needed for motivation.  So this morning I was up at 6:30, showering, dressing and planning on what to make for breakfast.  I had laid out everyone's clothes the night before, and we were out the door at 8:00 sharp.  There was no rushing around and mommy wasn't acting like a crazy person trying to make it to church on time.  I lined the kids up on the front pew without even so much as a spare second to threaten them within an inch of their life, and we began practice.

And you know what?  All three of my kids were still, quiet and very well behaved.   I thanked the Lord, and the three kids for their good behavior.  I was able to not be crazy mommy, rushing in to catch the last five minutes of practice and it turned out to be an amazing day.  Just think...our Heavenly Father loves us so much, he's preplaned our future lives with him.  Just think how peaceful it's going to be, no rushing, no craziness, just one good day after another; living with the best Father ever.