So, Mornings… How Are They Going for You?
Have you met my friend, Kat? Allow me to introduce you…
- She makes a ball cap look great.
- She loves Tex-Mex food (me, too- except I live in Canada. Drat.)
- She actually has a chin-up bar in one of the doorways in her home, and every time she walks by, she does a chin-up.
- She is one of the coolest moms I know, and inspires me to want to be the same.
- She has a thing for teeny-bopper music, and at the same time, she held her own in a music conversation with my hubby and introduced him to artists he’d never heard of (truly, amazing).
- She was an incredible teammate in the Philippines and it was so beautiful to see her love on the children there and connect for the first time with her mother’s country of birth and the relatives she’d never met.
- She helps me get out of bed in the mornings.
So that last statement isn’t exactly literal. She doesn’t pull back the covers, turn on the lights and pass me a steaming mug all the way from Texas. However.
Helping Women All Over North America Stop Pushing That Snooze Button
See, Kat realized several years ago that when she got up in the mornings, before her children, she had time to spend with the Lord. In quiet. In prayer. In the Word. Praying for her children. Prepared to begin her day well, and not just as a grumpy mom that had been rudely awakened.
She began to look forward to her time in the mornings, and found that it made her a better mom and gave her the time that she needed to cultivate her relationship with the Lord. She began to exercise as well, and enjoyed the time to quietly reflect and just be by herself, before the day really got going. She even wrote a free ebook on the topic.
About a year ago (I believe), she and Michelle put together the first Maximize Your Mornings Challenge.
They grouped women together according to time zone, what time they wanted to wake up at, whether they wanted to use Facebook, Twitter or email. And Hello Mornings was born.
Why I’m Passionate About This Challenge
I have known for so many years that when I get up early, spend time with the Lord, spend time exercising, prepare myself for the day… I’m a better mom. I’m more at peace. My days tend to run more smoothly and calmly.
The challenge that I’ve had is making myself do it, consistently. Sure, I can do it for a few days, a few weeks. Then I get tired and I started to give up. I wake up early less frequently and I fall out of the habit.
There is something about the accountability of a group of ladies, also getting up early along with me, that spurs me on.
I was a part of the recent Hello Mornings challenge this May-August. Although I had a few bumps in the road and wasn’t consistent like I wanted to be (trip to the Philippines only a few weeks in, then getting pregnant and going through 1st trimester sickness and fatigue), I was so grateful for the group. I could tell that, in any other season of life, this group could actually help me to stick to my goals of making my mornings count.
None of us were perfect. We all had mornings where we slept in, or struggled to wake up early. We would get off track, then work hard to get back on track. We prayed for each other, encouraged each other, and we all just kept fighting for it, together.
I was so delighted to learn that a new challenge is starting up in September. I signed up immediately, and now that I’m through 1st trimester and have more energy again, I am fully committed to getting up early every morning and being accountable to my group. In fact, I can’t wait for it to begin!
Want to Join Hello Mornings?
The fall session runs from September 15- December 15. You can sign up for it here.
I guarantee that you won’t regret it. There are no requirements, such as everyone must wake up at 5:30 or if you miss too many mornings, you’re out. It’s about making your own personal wake-up commitment that works for you and your season of life, and then doing your best to stick with it, having the help and encouragement of other women trying to do the same.
I’ll definitely be there. I hope you’ll join us!
I must say that Hello Mornings has truly been a life-changer for me. My accountability partner texts me in the mornings to be sure that I am up and prays for me throughout the day. It’s so encouraging. The group of ladies are all so uplifting. I am thankful for Kat and for this “ministry.”
@Rambling Heather, I’m SO glad you’ve been a part of it!
Wow! Talk about timely! I’ve been thinking lately of how this is something I really need to srart…about how much better of a mom I would be if I would try to get my day going, spending time with the Lord, before my little ones got up in the morning. Then last night the baby was up nursing most of the night, and I already had my mind made up- I was going to sleep in come morning! But at 6:30 the baby needed a diaper change. So I got up, changed him, nursed him again, and laid him back down, fully prepared to go back to sleep with the rest of the household…but for some reason I first grabbed my phone to check my E-mails. This post was waiting for me! All I can say is- thank you! (And now that I’m up, I wont be going back to bed :-)). I’m headed to grab my bible, a cup of coffee, and to spend this beautiful morning with the Lord! Blessings <3
@Heather, I hope you had a lovely time with Him…
Wow–this post really hit home! Mornings are a HUGE challenge for me. I read Kat’s e-book over a year ago (I think? Or whenever it came out?), but I put it aside thinking I shouldn’t couldn’t do it. Either I was pregnant at the time (so that would make it a little less than a year ago) or got pregnant soon after, and I knew I couldn’t handle it while pregnant.
My daughter is 10 months now, and I STILL haven’t gotten the hang of getting up earlier than she and her 3-year-old sister.
In fact, I have been thinking the last few weeks about joining Kat’s challenge. I even looked it up the other day and saw that it starts in September. I am STILL nervous that I can’t do it!
Maybe this post is part of the Lord’s prompting to join? Got some things to think/pray about today!
Thanks!
@Erin@TheHumbledHomemaker, Well, Erin, I was praying the other day and the Lord told me that Erin is really struggling with her mornings, so you should share this on your blog just to challenge her to get up earlier. LOL! (Or not… I’m entirely kidding!)
You should totally join me and do it! It was so helpful, and I’m doing it even pregnant, so if I can do it, you can, too!
@Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home, LOL! But, it’s true! The LORD knows I need this! The morning you posted this, I was up and had some good time with Him and time for some reading of blogs (obviously), etc. (I did have that time somewhat in the summer while my hubby, who is a teacher, was home a little more.)
The next day (yesterday), I was woken up again to my kids. I have also (*blush*) taken showers with my children either in the tub with me or right there beside it for almost 3 years. The other day I said to myself: I really want a shower by myself again! I need to do the morning challenge! And then…this came in my inbox! I signed up!!
@Erin@TheHumbledHomemaker, the best thing about the challenge is that the goal is the habit. The goal isn’t perfection. So getting up 5 minutes earlier than them (or just waiting 5 minutes to go get them) so that you can read a verse and pray is a great goal – anything more than what we’re currently doing is progress. And if you create the habit, then when they sleep longer, getting up earlier will be a snap!
@Kat, Thanks so much, Kat! I signed up and am excited. I SO need this!
Thanks for this post! I just came off a lovely vacation where I had ample time in the mornings to spend in the Word (I worked through Becoming a Woman Who Pleases God – and loved it so much I hated it was over!). Now that I’m back at work again I was wondering how on earth I was going to keep in touch with the Father. I’m signing up – and am praying God will honor this commitment with the ability to get up at 5:30 in the morning (which I have to do because of work schedule).
Blessings on you!
@Amanda Z, I’m so glad you’re joining us Amanda!
Whoa!!! this is like a DIRECT answer to prayer!! Than you so much! Now, if they can only make a scheduling challenge… and a menu planning challenge. and a raising Godly children challenge.. i would be alright! haha! but seriously, thank you so much for letting us all know about this, it IS an answer to prayer!
@Denise, Well, I’m thinking of a menu planning challenge… I wonder if that is something that other women would be interested in?
@Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home, I’m interested in the menu challenge, too!
This is a DIRECT answer to prayer for me! The Lord has been speaking to me about getting up early for over a year now. There have been days I have and more days that I haven’t! Especially lately… My hubby gets up at 5am, so I do too, because he has a love of peanut butter sandwiches which cannot be made the night before (EEEW!) as well as putting all the other stuff in his cooler and make his coffee……problem is, STAYING up after that…..Truthfully, if it were just an hour later, I could get up and be fine, but for some reason, that hour of the day is just too early. SO, I go back to bed and set my alarm with the intention of getting up before the kids….alarm goes of and I sit up, grab it, and….SHUT IT OFF! The kids and I haven’t been getting up untill 8 every morning and later on Mondays because Sunday is always such a late night! God has TRULEY used you to answer my prayers!
@Volleysoft, So glad this was a timely post for you. God is so kind to work that way, isn’t He? 🙂
@Volleysoft, What a sweet wife you are to get up at 5am to make you husband a fresh Peanut Butter sandwich! He is a blessed man.
LOVE the MYM challenge. I did the summer challenge and it was great. Really helped me to purposely focus on the Lord first thing in the mornings. Also, the example of the ladies in my accountability group inspired me to start exercising. I bought a ZUMBA dvd on Ebay for $10.00 and I lost 9 pounds. 🙂 Can’t wait for the fall challenge to begin!
@Danielle, 9 pounds? That’s awesome!
i just wrote about this this morning! it’s something i’ve always wanted to be: a morning person!
I’ll have to look into this more, thank you for sharing. My mornings are the worst for me. Its worsened by pregnancy fatigue (hopefully now that I am past the 1st trimester it will get better) but I need to be better about this. I will look into this.
@Nola, Well I looked at it and it does look like you have to have Facebook and Twitter, is this correct? I am not on either of those and do not want to be at all. Great idea but won’t work for me…but I guess it had to work somehow with the social media to keep people accountable.
@Nola, There is also and email portion of the challenge, if that works better for you.
@Nola, And I totally struggled with it this summer, during 1st trimester. Now that I’m 16-17 weeks, my energy has been returning so I feel ready to really get back into it. But even if you chose a time that is more reasonable for how you are feeling (perhaps not as early as you might idealistically like) but still a little earlier than your kids, that might still be helpful?
So glad to see something to encourage younger moms to be up and about before their children wake. As a much older mom of many grown children, This was a routine I assumed was natural for moms…….fast forward a lot of years…..I”m listening to young moms and I am noticing they are not starting their day before their little ones are up,,,,I encourage them to do a couple simple routines and I’m met with either a blank stare, or, for the ones who get it, a great big thanks for the idea!! Blessings to all who desire to begin their day in their homes in a better way!
@Cathy, It is great that you are helping younger moms after your own experiences. I know that I continue to pray for a godly woman who is further along the journey from me to shine light on my path and have wisdom that I don’t. Thank you.
Ugh. I like the _idea_ of waking up before my children… but they get up earlier than I ever have! I have the oldest one trained to play quietly until 6:30/7, but the baby is now waking up around 5:30. And then big sister wants to play, too.
That said, the days go a lot smoother when I read my Bible with the baby playing at my feet before I tell the big girl it’s OK to get up… or at least read it while I’m eating breakfast (in between trying to feed both kids).
I don’t remember when I first heard of this challenge, I think in the middle of the last trimester. I so want to wake up earlier and this would be such an encouragement. I’m nervous though b/c by committing I actually have to do it. I can’t just say that I want to but never actually follow through. I should probably go sign up now…
@SaraR, Consider me your personal morning cheerleader. 🙂 Hopefully, me encouragements and those of your group will be the inspiration you need to make mornings your best time!
This is actually the first year I am waking up before my kids– for the simple fact that I have early risers (I’m talking 5:30-6 a.m.). Needless to say having two in school full time, two littles at home, and a baby due in about 6 weeks I needed to make that time for myself. The mornings I have been able to get up and get going have been great- the ones I haven’t we have made work. The first time my oldest came in my room and saw I had just gotten out of the shower she said, “What’s going on?” 🙂 It made me laugh. Love this challenge and I think it is so important that us as mother’s find that time for our-self.
I did this a couple years ago and it was great, I have slacked and actually have been reflecting on her suggestions and doing it again on my own recently. I’t so easy and inspiring!
Thanks so much for sharing this. I am so doing this. I have the hardest time getting up early but I know it would solve a lot of my frustrations. Thanks!
You are just the sweetest, Stephanie. Cracked me up that you wrote about my chin up bar! I honestly think you and Ryan are two of the most genuinely kind people I know. I told Jimmy we have to plan a trip up there sometime because I so want him to meet you two!
@Kat, You are welcome anytime you like! We have a big guest room, a huge kitchen, and would love to just eat and laugh with you and your fam. Plus, you can see how cool (literally!) Canada really is. 🙂
Would love to meet Jimmy, too. He sounds like such an awesome, supportive husband. I mean, he even lets you have a chin up bar. He’s a total winner!
Much love to you, friend! Can’t wait to see you in just under 2 months!
I can sooo relate! I have always been one to press the snooze button and have never really been a morning person. This year I really wanted to change that, and this past week I started off doing pretty well getting up and spending some time with the Lord. Joining a challenge like this would be great! However, it seems like the registration is now closed 🙁 Hopefully I can join during the next round!
I know this is a great idea, but I need help: we have a co-sleeping one year old who still wakes up an average of 3 times a night to nurse and one of those times is between 5 and 6:30 am, which sometimes ends up being his “up for the day” time. He doesn’t have consistent wake up time so I don’t know how to make a wake up time for me. Just getting enough sleep to be bearable is a challenge.
@Jessica, I would probably just set a time that works for most mornings, maybe 6 or 6:30. If he happens to be up those days, then just do your devotions while you nurse him or while he’s playing hear you. If you can get him back down, then you would have some nice quiet time to yourself.
And if there are days when you are just too tired to do it, then take the sleep and don’t feel guilty about it. Sometimes, that’s just part of being a mom with little ones who wake in the night. 🙂
@Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home,
Thank you Stephanie. Having an external point of view and encouragement is very helpful!
How are you doing this while pregnant? I’m inspired! I’m currently 6 weeks pregnant and I say every night that I’m going to get up early the next day, but I always end up sleeping until my daughter waked me up. I usually do pretty good with mornings, but this pregnancy thing is wiping me out!
@Sarah, Well, I’m not 6 weeks pregnant anymore, that’s how! 🙂
I tried doing the challenge this summer, and I had signed up for it before knowing that I would be pregnant. I really struggled to get up early during those first few months, and it wasn’t until I hit about 15-16 weeks that I began to feel like I had enough energy to start waking up a bit earlier. Now, at 21.5 weeks, I don’t find it hard, so long as my bedtimes are decent.
But for now, in really early pregnancy, I would just give yourself grace and get the rest that you need. Your body does so much work in the first trimester, and I find that getting plenty of sleep helps to keep the nausea more manageable and makes me get through that time more easily. When your energy returns, then you might be ready to do the challenge again!