Mornings are not my favorite. They always seem to come too soon. Michael is usually out the door to his French session by the time I make myself get out of bed, having mercifully made a smoothie or started oatmeal for the rest of us to have breakfast.
The kids clamor around the table with way too much energy for their poor mother. They talk, laugh, wiggle, push and occasionally argue, until I pull out our bible and verses. Before we came here, we did this every day together. We were reading through Proverbs and working on verses every morning as a family. Then life got busy and we unfortunately slipped out of the habit.
Until a couple of weeks ago. I was feeling very “dry” in my faith that day, hungry and thirsty for truth, and I pulled out the bible at breakfast. “We’re going to read a chapter or two from Ephesians today, because mommy needs it,” I announced, before beginning. When I finished, I reread a few verses that were particularly encouraging to me and explained how I felt to the kids. And I wondered why I hadn’t done this sooner.
Since then, we’ve been working our way through Ephesians and Philippians with a few verses from Proverbs on the side. I like starting our mornings like this. Chances are, we are going to get grumpy and impatient with each other far too quickly after breakfast is over, but for that brief, beautiful 20-30 minutes in the morning, I feel fed and encouraged. And then there’s the occasional question from the kids that is far more insightful than I was expecting and launches us into a discussion about the word of God. Nothing makes me happier.
Mornings are not my favorite. But l wouldn’t miss breakfast for the world.