....Get Set...

Just as I make lists and plan in preparation for a trip (my husband can pack in under 5 minutes, I'm lucky to get packed in under a day!) it's helpful for us to plan for our launch of the Hello Mornings Challenge. Here are just a couple of ideas that may be helpful for you.

• Get your bible and any devotional you are planning to use and place it near your bed, or better yet in your sacred space that you'll be using for your early morning quiet times.

• Organize your exercise equipment and clothes so they are ready to go. For me it's a matter of setting out the exercise band I'm using for some physical therapy for my shoulder (I can do this in my robe). On alternate days I'll be taking a walk so I'll need shorts and a top, shoes and socks, and probably my iPod.

• If you want to use music, candles, have a cup of tea, etc...get those items all set up so you are not scrounging around at early o-clock trying to find stuff. That's a great way to suffer a setback.

• For the planning part of our mornings you might need a calendar, notepad, your to-do list...I know lots of us use electronic means for planning and I'll let you decide if you have the willpower to ONLY look at your planning materials..if you think Facebook and Words With Friends might creep in then start out by using good old fashioned paper and a gorgeous pen in a fun color...you can find a time slot later in the day (while you are waiting for someone to make their move in WWF) to update your electronic stuff.

• Last but certainly not least...the alarm clock. Find it, set it, give it a little polish and try to think of it as a friend.

Praying blessings over you as you set the stage for our great mornings!

Awake, my soul! ...I will awaken the dawn.          Psalm 57:8

I'm adding a link to a great article "First Things First, Making the Most of your Morning" by David Mathis, in which he quotes George Muller as follows:

. . . it is as plain to me as anything that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for the inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. . . .

How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one!

You'll have to read the article if you wish to glean the rest of the pearls of wisdom it offers!