I love my quiet time in the morning, with my coffee and my thoughts; it's where I read my Bible and pray and plan for the upcoming day.
And I haven't had it since the kids were born, except, maybe 3 times.
My kids have some sort of sensor (probably the same one that tunes into the phone when it rings) and will wake from some serious slumbering if there is a change in the ambient temperature of the kitchen air, due to my body being there.
I have tried everything. I've made the coffee the night before, and set the timer to go off at 4:30. They meet me at the pot at 4:35. I've gone outside to grind the coffee, under a heavy blanket and bathrobe, on the deck. They greet me at the door, blinking. I've tried getting up earlier. They could match my early-ness, and have more energy at 3:45 in the morning than any human being ought to have. My son now slips into our room around 3 a.m. and into our bed, so it's not like I can just take the coffee pot into our bedroom and sit on the floor under that heavy blanket over a steaming cup of joe and my Bible. They have all the bases covered.
To add insult to serious injury, I can call my best friends at 9:00 a.m. to see what they are up to, and they have the unmitigated gall to speak softly into the phone, "Well, ------ is still sleeping, so I'm just folding up my laundry and having a little quiet time." "Really?", I respond, " You guys must've had a late night..." (Hopefully)
"No, the kids were in bed by 9. " At which point I question exactly WHY we are really best friends. It was the same when the kids were infants. I'd call T. and H. and B. for a little sympathy, during the 15 minutes my daughter slept during the rinse cycle of the dishwasher, only to hear about little -----'s 4 hour nap, and how they got 2 rooms painted, the floor mopped, a shower taken and (you know what's coming...) a little quiet time.
Do they give them sedatives? Cough syrup? Tie them to the bed?
Now I must tell you that I do get prayer time. I pray while the kids are fighting, while Bob and Larry are singing that cheery little Veggie song, while I'm trying to get the stain out of what's left of our carpet, while dinner is burning, while I'm trying to locate the little darlings in the 200 square miles of prairie where they went on a "quest" with the dog and bum calves. Oh, I pray, all right! It's just not quiet. Sometimes I get to read my Bible, in about 3 minute spurts, while I tell them I'm going in to the bathroom. (That's when they escape to the prairie...)
There are women who nearly glow, talking about their quiet time in the morning, with God. Focus on the Family applauds the endeavor, Today's Christian Woman just assumes all women get this. I always feel like sort of scrunching down in my seat when I hear of it.
I realize that these years go fast, and pretty soon all I will have is quiet time. I will be wishing for little bouncing bodies and chattery voices and sticky kisses before my coffee in the morning! And I do love them. I just wish I could figure out a time to recharge that isn't somewhere between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. (I'm sure they'd figure that one out, though...)
(And if you think I could be having quiet time, instead of blogging, you should know that I'm typing this while the kids are running back and forth, chasing the cat, and Wayland is trying to capture them to eat Cocoa Pebbles or yogurt. It's not quiet. And it's not yet 7 a.m.)
5 comments:
Uh oh, my baby wakes up (in the womb) when I start drinking the coffee, Soon, it will smell that delectable aroma, and think "mom's awake, I should be too!" Are they too little to have a little quiet time with God while you do? Probably not without guidance, huh?
Oh well, we always want what we can't have at the moment. Soak it all in, and I mean that, because very soon you will be taking two little kids to some dorm on a college campus, helping them lug their stuff up the stairs,hanging clothes in the closet while you eye the kid next door that may be a boy in a girls dorm or girl in a boys dorm, then you will take them to supper. You may not talk much, because if you say anything you will burst into tears. Then you will have to take them back to the dorm. Maybe they will want you to come to the room, maybe not. Finally, you will kiss them, and have to get in the car and head for your home on the prairie (you will cry all the way home). That's when you will really need your quiet time praying to God! But everyone adjusts, and you will be so proud of the brood you raised with God's help. He is with you even if your prayers are "breath prayers."
4:30 am? Seriously? There are so many reasons the Lord did not deliver me into a farming family... not the least of which is the hour at which you deem it time to get up. Mercy!
I rise with the sun. Not before.
A friend of mine from Florida used to tell a story of a woman who would sit in her favorite chair and throw her apron up over her head... if the apron was up, the kids knew better than to disturb Mama! Just one of the house rules!
I wonder if she ever took a cat-nap under the guise of being in prayer! ;-)
As for your bible reading... maybe hubby won't notice if you double the time it takes you to have a shower. Spend half the time hunkered down in your bathroom, reading!
I am SOOOO GLAD you posted this! Did you peek into our house, did you crawl into my head? One day I'll have all sorts of time, now I just have crazy times. Yes, SO know what you are talking about here! Thank you for posting this! :)
Perhaps it is a consolation to know you are all the more Christ-like in this predicament --you know those passages about how he went off to some solitary place to pray and the crowds heard about it and followed Him hoping for more miracles? It's almost hilarious in its similarity (if it didn't simultaneously make you want to cry!).
That said, I ache for Jesus every time I read those parts --- just like I ached for you as I read this! I am always exasperated that He doesn't tell them to go away because He is having his Quiet Time and that He performs those miracles instead.
Anyway I feel for you in this and I can't believe the lengths you've gone to for this time with God. But lately I've taken notice that mothers have an amazing ability to get what they need and how it's usually after they've just broken and fallen into a million pieces. Or maybe that God has an amazing ability to provide but has to wait until we are emptied of ourselves.
Isaiah 40 -- in the middle -- has that little verse that says God gently leads those that have young. He's talking about sheep, but I'm stupid like a sheep and so I apply it to myself. Because it's true. He does. As mothers we are always up against some unsolvable battle that we can't figure out. Sometimes it takes longer than I'd like, but He is faithful to lead and give me ideas and insight when I've reached the end of myself. Anyway, I know you've experienced that in many other areas with your kids, so I guess that my lengthy way of saying "it'll be OK, He'll come through just in time -- just like before".
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