New Morning Ritual

A while back I had a really good habit of reading my one year Bible, embarking on a prayer walk, then coming home to prepare breakfast before the rest of the family is out of bed. Well something happened 3+ months ago, we had our 3rd child and 3rd boy. What a blessing Jude has been in our lives. He is such a treasure just like his older brothers Joshua and Jakin. But my routine was messed up a bit with Jude's sleep habits. I used to love getting up early and carving out that time, just me and God. It was some really good times for sure.

So now that Jude has been sleeping through the night, we can get on a more normal schedule again. Or so I thought... Jude gets up at 5:15AM, now being the good dad and husband that I am, I retrieve the little tyke and feed him. This had been the New normal routine. I would feed Jude, read and then we would go on a prayer walk. Fast forward to yesterday.

Did I mention that Josh is now potty trained?

With Josh's new found freedom by being able to get out of bed and go pee-pee, he has pushed the limits of his old rules of having to stay in bed until we come and get him. So for the second day in a row now, Josh has joined Jude and I for our morning ritual, minus the prayer walk. On Monday I had to explain to Josh that this was quiet time in the morning and that he needed to be silent and read if he wanted to stay up. I had to give him quite a few reminders, but overall he was really good. Today, he was up with Jude and I at 5:15. Josh came down with all 3 of his blankets and plopped himself in the chair. He was really good. I hardly heard a peep out of him. I finished reading and feeding Jude.

After I put Jude on the floor for some play, Josh came over to cuddle. Daddy was pretty tired this morning, so I was trying to get some more rest. Josh placed my Bible in my open hand, I then told him that I had already read this morning. Josh then told me he wanted to read about cheeses. I took me a second to comprehend what he was saying (might I remind you this was before 6:00AM). Then I realized he wanted to read about Jesus. Seriously, Josh is almost 3, but I would swear he said cheeses, or that is how he pronounced it. So Josh and I read in the New Testament and had a grand time. It was really precious to be able to spend 1:1 time with him. I mourn the loss of my cool morning 1:1 time with God, but to have Josh want to spend time and read about Jesus - how cool is that?

No worries - I have a lunch hour that is perfect for reading and prayer.

Ryan