I used to be a morning person. I’m talking annoying morning person. I’d literally spring out of bed, race to the shower, get dressed and eat breakfast and bound out of the house before anyone was even awake. My favorite job? Barista at a small coffee shop. I would be the only one there during my shift and got to socialize with all the locals. I was a fresh Christian and on the forefront of my mind was that I had the ability to determine how somebody’s day would go. So I’d smile and speak kind, loving words. Praying continually. Enjoying every moment I could make another person smile.

And then I had kids.

And now I was the one who needed the coffee.

I miss those days and how easy it was to start my day off right. How I had enough energy and compassion to encourage others as well. Where did that fire go?

I’m happy to say that through the encouragement of a dear friend I have been waking up every morning to read the Bible. Actually, a small group of us have been. We e-mail each other every morning and let the others know that we are awake and tell what we are reading from the Bible. And can I tell you how encouraging it is to have this beautiful accountability? We are all moms with two or more children. There have definitely been times my little ones have hobbled down the stairs in the wee hours while I’m trying to read. That’s ok. If I have to stop then I’ll continue in the afternoon but usually they’re kind enough to sit on the couch or at the table and wait for breakfast. Or I sneakily distract them into doing something else in order to buy myself a few extra minutes.

This all began from the blog Inspired to Action.

She has a wonderful e-book that explains how to create a morning plan. God bless her, she has exercise in there. I’ll try and add that in come October. Baby steps, right? Can I tell you that I’m slowly feeling that spring coming back into my step? Without an alarm clock the Holy Spirit has been waking me at 6:27. Every. Single. Morning. I love it! But most of all I love that I’m back in His word! I so easily allowed my exhaustion to keep me away from reading. So many excuses to choose from. I’ll read after the laundry. After homeschool. After dinner. After bathtime. Oh I’ll read tomorrow. But tomorrow would bring the same excuses. A terrible cycle that seemed unbreakable. Until a sweet soul, determined to not allow the needs of the world get between her and God, invited a few of us to hold each other accountable every morning.

Do you know of a few friends whom you could join together with? Would you be willing to be the encourager? The one that re-ignites a tired mothers passion for the Lord? Send that email invitation out. Make that phone call. Hold each other accountable and encourage each other in your walks with the Lord. It will change your days!

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)

As a young girl I loved music. I would listen to the radio and record tapes from my favorite songs that would play. I would sing and sing and sing. No idea if it was pretty to others or not. Then one Christmas I got it. I opened up a karaoke machine! How my heart leaped! I now had a microphone to project my voice to all! I popped in the casette in front of everybody there on Christmas morning and I sang. And I saw the smiles. Oh no. Not smiles of “how pretty she sounds”. Smiles of snickering. Giggles. And from family. I was humiliated. And they kept having me perform the rest of the day and for other relatives. As I type this I can feel my cheeks glowing red. I wanted so bad to sound pretty and to make others swoon. But that wasn’t to be.

A couple years later I entered middle school. A new world was opened up to me. Choir. Dare I try out? I did. I met with the teacher. Just her and I and a piano. She tested me to see where I could best be placed. I left the room not believing I had actually just tried out. As the first day of school neared….I dropped out. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t risk seeing those snickering laughs again.

The next year I signed up for the school musical. They were doing a show on oldies music. I was assigned to sit in the crowd of girls on stage swooning over the boy who was playing Elvis. I wore my poodle skirt and swayed back and forth in my chair watching him perform. I sat there in the background.

And so I began to play the french horn. An instrument that quite suited me. It is very rare for a french horn player to receive a solo. It was our job to play the accompaniment. To round out the sound of the band and allow the others to project their melodies. And so I played the background for eight years. Almost as if my Father was training me up. Teaching me that as we go through life it isn’t all about us. This world was not created as a stage to star me. I am supposed to play the background and to play beautifully. So as to glorify Him. The One who deserves the solos, the attention, the swooning over.

Don’t get me wrong, my human nature still longs for that solo. I constantly battle my will. Renewing my mind daily in the hopes of bringing glory to Him and not to myself. But I won’t deny that I get jealous of the gifts of others. How they have the courage to go in front of others and stand in that desired limelight. But whether it is beautiful to others or not, I will continue to make a joyful noise to Him. Praying that my children will stand with arms raised high worshipping our Lord with no care in the world what another soul may think of them.

I want to encourage you to enjoy playing the background. Place Him at the forefront. Show Him off as the star of the show. Here as an excerpt from Crazy Love by Francis Chan that pretty much sums it up.

It goes sort of like this….

Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie.  You will probably scrutinize the one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two–fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom or your closest friend get excited at that two–fifths of a second with you…maybe.  But no one else will realize it is you.  Even if you tell them, they won’t care.

Let’s take it a step further. What if you rent out the entire theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you?  People will say “You’re an idiot!  How could you think this movie is about you?”

Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I’ve been describing.  So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us.

Now consider the movie of life…

God creates the world.

Then people rebel against God…

God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it.

Several generations later, God singles out a ninety-nine year old man called Abram.

And on it goes.

You get the picture. The story/movie is ALL about God!

We have only our two–fifths-of-a-second-long scene to live.  I don’t know about you, but I want my two–fifths of a second to be about my making much of God.  First Corinthians 10:31 says “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  That is what each of our two–fifths of a second is about.

So,what does that mean for you?

Frankly, you need to get over yourself.

And that is so true. After hanging my head low for years and years thinking that nobody cared about me I finally realized that I need to get over myself. This life is not all about me. It’s not all about you. It’s about Him! And if He needs to bring me down so I can then lift His name higher then by all means! I’m dense. I need smacked over the head every once in a while {figuratively}. So do I bow down at every opportunity to praise Him? Honestly no. I still struggle with my love of me. But pray for me? And I will pray for you? That we will all take joy in playing the background for Him. Exalting Him in every moment of our lives.

Blessings!

I have been preparing all week for today. Ever since I saw the forecast declaring a thirty degree drop in temperatures my heart has been all a flutter with excitement for autumn. My absolute favorite time of year! My husband asked me last night why I’m so excited. I love every seasonal change, but why autumn so much more? And that got me thinking. The smell of bonfires? Crispy leaves underfoot? The dancing of colors down winding roads? Cozy hoodies?

Those all sound wonderful but really, that wasn’t it.

And then it hit me. It’s the traditions. I know what’s coming every autumn. I know we’ll go apple picking.

I know we’ll have a bonfire and s’mores.

I eagerly anticipate the pots of soup simmering all day long. Leaving windows open. Gatherings with friends and family. All of it! Every blessed second!

If only we could enjoy the changing seasons of our lives as much. But we resist. We see change coming around the corner and we take a step back! Trying to hold on to what is or to what was. Or to what we thought we were going to see {or forbid, what we believe we deserve}.

As followers of Christ we need to live our lives the way we proclaim to believe. Do we trust Him to take us through the valley? Will we trust His guidance when we feel we’ve been cheated? Are we living for His glory or  for our own? Traditions are wonderful. Celebrating the changing of seasons is good. We now need to learn to take hold and celebrate the changes in our lives just as much. Just like autumn is a time for the beauty to die down and to prepare for the next year. The Lord has given our lives seasons. Appreciate and embrace each moment you are given. Each breath is a blessing and an opportunity to praise Him. Be thankful.

{A Time for Everything}
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
{Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV}

Blessings!