Mourning Routines

I wanted to talk this morning about morning routines.  I think a lot of women overlook the importance of a morning routine, I know I did for many years.  I also believe that a lot of women believe that a morning routine would help them but have no idea what one should look like or how to set one up.  I know I tried many different systems over the years including fly lady and others but none seem to fit my family. There is no one perfect routine that will fit every woman and every family, so what I want to do is to show you the steps I took to figure out what mine looked like.

1. I looked at what I was currently doing in the morning and what I wanted my mornings to look like.  When I first started this I found I was sleeping in and not getting out of bed until 8 or so, when the boys were in public school I wake up take them to school and climb right back into bed.  When I did get out of bed I always felt guilty and like I was wasting my day.

So what I saw was that I wanted to get up earlier in the day, I wanted to read my Bible and pray before the boys or JD woke up.  I also wanted to have coffee ready and either the news of music playing softly when JD and the boys woke up.  I love to have some sort of praise music playing in my house most of the day I once heard a Pastor speak on Psalms 22:3 "O' Thou that inhabits the praises of Israel."   He talked about how we have been grafted into the nation of Israel, into God's chosen people and that he inhabits our praise.  One of the things that struck me was the idea of surrounding your self with praise music because people tend to sing a long with whatever music is playing and I loved the idea of His Presence in my home all day. ( Sorry for the rabbit trail.)

2. Once you have seen the things that you want changed write them down and talk to your husband and children about them (you're more likely stick with it if someone else knows). For me it meant setting my alarm for 6 and getting out of bed no matter how tired I was.  I wouldn't even turn on the computer but instead would hit the coffee button wash my face, brush my teeth, get a cup of coffee and go sit on the couch with my Bible, a pen  and a notebook.

3. Start small don't worry about making every change right away and don't worry if you mess it up one day because God's mercy are new every morning ( one of my life verses because boy do I need it).

4. After doing this for a week step back and look at it.  Is it working?  What things do you need to change? What things do you want to add?. 

5. Do as much as you can before you go to bed.  If I wake up in the morning to a cluttered house with dishes in the sink and floors that need swept, I tend to start feeling overwhelmed and have a harder time getting things accomplished that day. So my morning routine actually starts the night before.

 

These are the 5 things that I find most important to my routine, now I know that I did not line out my routine for you but I am going to do that below, as with everything else I do in life it is a bit unconventional and doesn't line up with what most organizing experts say but it works for me.

Before bed: prepare coffee, tidy house ( make sure kitchen, bathroom and living room are tidy, make sure table is cleared off), set Bible, pen, notebook and any Bible study I am doing on table.

6:00; Wake up, start coffee, wash face, brush teeth talk to God and start music.

7:00 Make sure boys are waking up, help with breakfast, check email's. I also will quite often start a load of laundry here.

8:00 Breakfast is done the boys and I set at the table and go over our family verse, do a short Bible study and pray together.  We also talk about the day ( any appointments,school projects or plans).

8:30 Start school I help them as much as I can with Titus needing more help then the others.

9:00 I exercise and then take a shower and get dressed.

Now all times are approximate but I don't get dressed right away.  I don't like exercising first thing in the morning and don't like to shower and get dressed before I exercise.

  

Remember there are no wrong routines, just ones that work for you!