When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. Isaiah 43:2



Monday, December 28, 2009

My Truths

As I stood in the very hot water of my sister-in-law's beautiful stone-tiled shower, I had a few moments of peace this weekend. In those brief moments, I had an epiphany of sorts.

Every mom has certain truths about herself and her family that can make it or break it. For me, I realized, those two things are very simple:

1) If I have enough sleep, I am a better parent, wife, friend, and person; and

2) If I get up before my children, take a shower, get dressed, greenish grayish hair done and face made up (not like I'm going clubbin', but a little foundation, a little mascara and a swipe of bronzer and lip gloss), have some hot water, tea or coffee (pregnancy dependent), and some moments in Bible Study or other inspirational reading, I am a better wife, parent, friend and person for the rest of the day.

So, once I discovered these two truths, in that peaceful, beautiful hot hot shower, I thought to myelf, "These two things are simple and yet I have not made any effort to ensure that every day has these two things in it. That's not very smart...and I am a smart lady darn it!"

So i thought about what the common denominator is in making these things happen...

That's easy, and so I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before--maybe I did and wasn't disciplined enough to implement it. Maybe I've just been too lazy and tired the last few years to really commit to bedtime enforcement (my Achilles' heel as a parent.)

The simple answer is that both require me to put my children to bed consistently at 8:00PM so that I can go to bed by 9:00PM (9:30 at the latest). This will ensure enough sleep for me and the ability to get up when that alarm wakes me up at 5:00AM (maybe 5:15) for my own quiet time and self-preparation.

What are your truths? What are the things you KNOW will make you a better mom, wife, friend or parent each day? Have you implemented the simple changes you know would help? Well, maybe if you can pray for me to be strong enough to implement bedtime (and I really need help with this because I'm a big ol' softy) then I can pray for you to do something powerful and meaningful (and probably pretty simple) for you and your family!

Blessings fellow travelers!

3 comments:

Mandee said...

My truth's are similar to yours. And so is my lack of discipline. I was just telling Aaron yesterday that my top three improvements this coming year are; patience, compassion, and self discipline.

And I just have to say that I love that you have personal bible study in the morning. The best I can do these days is read scriptures with my kids over breakfast. Which is good- cause if I at least get that much in, my day is so much better for it.

brooke said...

My truth is to get my kids in bed by 7:30 so I can have a good three hours of alone time or time with the husband. Two of the three is just spent picking up, dishes, laundry etc. but the other one is spent blogging, reading, praying, etc. I'm with you on the early bedtime but I am not a softie. That is sacred time when they are asleep and I have to keep myself from going ballistic just trying to enforce it!

Raquel said...

mine are to get the kids to bed early, and get the house cleaned before i go to bed. if i can do those 2 things my mornings/day run
SO much smoother