First Things First

If everyday began with a beautiful sunrise, a hot cup of coffee, meaningful prayer time, and upbeat music, mornings would be my favorite time of day.

A former pastor from my church came back to give a sermon yesterday. The theme of his sermon was to put the most important things in life first, in order to make sure that they actually get done. The first "most important" thing on his list was communication with God through means of prayer and scripture reading. I know for me, it's difficult taking time out of my day to do those things. Whether it be I'm lazy or tired, or "too" busy, I easily neglect setting aside intentional time to spend with God. But, being the new year and all, our former pastor encouraged the church congregation to start each day with meditation and prayer.

From experience, I know how important it is to do so, even though I haven't done it much lately. The past few summers, I've worked at youth camps where the days are tightly packed. While at camp, if you want time alone, early mornings are your best option, around 5:30 or 6am. I can't imagine waking up that early now (because I'm spoiled with a late-starting school), but with campers waking up around 7:30, I had to wake up early to ensure time alone. During that time I would journal, drink something hot, pray, read, and think about the day ahead of me. I valued the solitude, and I know it helped keep me sane though the busy days.

Though, as school began and as I stepped into a normal daily schedule, I slowly pushed my morning routine aside. Instead of waking up 30 minutes earlier, I would sleep until I absolutely had to get out of bed. Usually, I get up around 8 each morning. With that habit, my mornings are rushed and I don't get a chance to relax until the evening. Thankfully, yesterday's sermon motivated me to start my routine again. This morning I awoke at 7:30am (SO early, I know) instead of 8. I went downstairs, poured a cup of coffee, sat down on my couch while enjoying the gorgeous sunrise and time in prayer. The subtraction of those few minutes in sleep had little to no effect on me, but what I did with those extra minutes put me in a cheerful mood and ready to face the day.