I started a new routine recently. Since I've done it five times now, I feel safe calling it a routine (at least for now). I have a habit of waking up a few minutes before 5 a.m. and I'm not sure why. Maybe a neighbor leaves for work at that time and I hear a car door? Maybe that's when traffic in the distance picks up? I'm not sure, but I know I'm up at almost exactly the same time every morning, about 4:57 a.m.
I don't particularly like getting up that early. I'd rather be able to sleep until 6 or 7, but I guess I don't know how. So what can I do at that time of the morning that won't wake up the kids, that would help me start my day with a victory?
I get up, straighten the blankets behind me (my husband's on the road so I've got my room to myself most of the time), turn on the lights, and get dressed to workout before I can change my mind. Then I pop my Zumba workout DVD into my laptop and get moving. Because Zumba is fun and energizing, I get just a few minutes into it and think, "Oh yeah, I actually LIKE doing this." Before too long, the workout is done, I'm breathing kind of heavy, and I hit the shower. There's something about the quietness of early morning that I do actually enjoy. Each day is a clean slate, a chance to learn from the previous days, and a chance to become better today. I sit on my bed with my Bible, pen, and a notebook and begin my quiet time of reading, studying, meditating on the Word, and praying for those I care most about.
I know there's lots of ways to start a person's day, but for me, this allows me to start each day with a victory - a victory over laziness, victory over my health, victory over where my thoughts for the day will begin, and in my faith, I believe in victories in the lives around me because God does answer prayers. Sometimes the answer is "no", but many times it's a victory over illness, or struggles, or relationships, and for the many things I have been given, and have witnessed, I am truly thankful.
What can you do tomorrow to start your own day with a victory?
