I am guilty. I am guilty of the mad rush to get myself and kiddos out of the house in the morning. I am guilty of barely getting home in time to spend a little quality time with the kids and then read to them and tuck the into bed. But we say our prayers…and I read a Bible story to them occasionally…and that’s enough, right?
I’m here to say that I do NOT profess to have the answers here. I don’t see my mornings miraculously smoothing out. I don’t even see having breakfast devotions with the kids, which I sure-as- anything grew up with. But I sure am seeing the need to change what I am doing. What do the kids see me focusing on in the morning.
When my daughter was in preschool, she was asked to write down a “My Mommy” list for Mother’s Day. Gratefully she thought I was a lot younger than I was:) But when asked what my favorite food was, she listed the most bland food I eat. My work lunch. The same healthy-ish meal every day. Definitely not a favorite. But…it was what she saw me pack in the morning for lunch….daily. So why did she think it was my favorite? Because it’s what she saw me eat the most consistently. What do my kids and my husband and my coworkers see me do…consistently? A lovely song says “In the morning when I rise/give me Jesus.” One of my favorite characters in a fiction Christian novel had worn spots in the carpet by her bed from being a prayer warrior. Daniel in the Bible was so known by his tendency to open his windows and say his prayers three times a day, despite having been removed from the loving guidance of his family for years, that he was able to be trapped by it.
“Fathers and mothers, each morning and evening gather your children round you, and in humble supplication lift your hearts to God for help…. Parents, each morning consecrate yourselves and your family to God for that day. Make no calculation for months or years; these are not yours. One brief day is given you. As if it were your last on earth, work during its hours for the Master. Lay all your plans before God, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Accept His plans instead of your own, even though their acceptance requires the abandonment of cherished projects. This the life will be molded more and more after the divine Example.”
Ellen G. White
Understand something; I don’t think that there is the perfect system for every person and every family. I truthfully do not remember a single thing from my morning devotions growing up. I found reasons to skip them (though being a Christian all my life). And if I’m just doing something for show, then that is not the goal here either. As the passage above reads, the purpose of our time is to commune with God, to acknowledge our weaknesses and reliance on God and to thank Him for answering our prayers, as simple as ‘keeping us safe’. Am I too busy…for that?
What truly am I known for? Is it being a Christian or a Cool mom? Is it for having time to listen or responding on Facebook? Is it about having meaningful conversations or binge-watching shows? Is it for prayer or work? Is it for being adaptable or completing an agenda? Understand that none of these are inherently wrong….but each day we have an audience and they are watching us….to know what we have chosen to be ‘our favorite.’
Let’s look back at the synopsis of Daniel, how he was known.
“[They] tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corruptor negligent. Finally these men said, ‘we will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of His God.’”
Daniel 6:4-5
And the key point here is…Daniel wasn’t doing this so that others would say this about him. No, he was just choosing every day to follow God, spend time in prayer.
So really…what am I known best for?
