Morning Peace

This post is by Tami Rodriguez.

I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to be a morning person and have failed.  My good friends (and poor husband) all know how much I don’t like but desperately WANT to love mornings and be “successful”. I have often announced to my family that I was going to bed early because “tomorrow and for the rest of my life I will be waking up early”...everyday...because I’m awesome like that. 

I want to be like all the amazing women I read about and do ALL the things! I want to have deep theological studies and amazing prayer time, train for a marathon (not really), clean my house like it’s my only job (only in theory not practice), prep amazing meals for my super excellent diet (I wish) and then be ready to serve the world when I’m done like Dorcas (Acts 9). 

I’m guessing you know where this is going, right? It never happened or never lasted. I have a 3rd shift husband who has slowly turned my kids into proud night owls and a house of mostly teenagers who, for some reason, always choose late at night to pull in close and tell you their hearts or want to snuggle... which I will NEVER pass up! 

While late nights have always been part of the problem, the bigger problem was the burden I was putting on myself. Once my feet would hit the floor, my morning was nonstop which then went right into a day of nonstop.  Often I would go to bed anxious just thinking of my morning.  I always found that weird because I wanted to be up and do all that were on my list! I really did!! 

So what was my problem? Waking up early was adding more stress to my day. This was supposed to help my day be better but instead it felt like I never had a moment of rest in my life.  

I’m not a big one to choose a “word of the year,” but after 2020, let’s be honest...we all need a word!! I chose peace. Choosing this word helped me start to evaluate the things I was doing. Was it bringing me peace or was I “shoulding” on myself? Some things were easy to figure out but mornings were a bit more difficult. You see, I did feel like I “should” do mornings a certain way, but I also KNEW those things grounded me and helped me through my day. 

This time though, instead of asking how I can be more disciplined, I asked myself how I could have more peace.  How can I wake up to do the things I want to do but with calm in my body and spirit? 

For me, it was giving myself one hour, yes really, a whole hour to slowly wake up before officially starting my morning. It started as an experiment, but it’s worked so well I wish I would’ve known to give this a try long ago. 

I now wake up and with eyes still closed turn on my bedside light. The brightness even behind closed eyes helps slowly wake me up. I’ll stretch and just sit in silence and stare at the ceiling for a bit, and then I’ll grab my current book to read.  I try to have something gentle and inspiring at my bedside. Right now a book on mothering fills my morning.  Sometimes it becomes a time of prayer, and often this is when I take the time to send that encouraging text to someone who kept coming to mind, but I didn’t have time in my busy day to follow through. 

This extra hour has become such a blessing to me. I look forward to it. I want to wake up for it! I am no longer starting the day running, I’m starting it in rest. I have a morning of peace, and wow, what a difference it has made! 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 

Matthew 11:28

Tami Rodriguez has been married to her high school sweetheart for 27 years and has 5 children plus a lovely daughter in law. She has homeschooled for 17 years and still has 6 more to go...send coffee! Tami is a lifelong learner who loves to study God’s Word and share with others how she has learned to apply it to her life whenever given the opportunity.  You can find her living life as “just a mom who likes to write” over on instagram @rodfamily007.

Photo by Emily Rudolph on Unsplash