This verse runs through my mind so much when I am writing to you all. I
want to share with you, to the best of my ability, how the LORD has been
transforming me and my home. We serve such an awesome, awesome God.
There is nothing like getting to know Him and love Him more. So many
women are searching for something other than falling in love with Jesus
Christ their LORD. They might be trying to simplify their life by
cutting out some modern conveniences. They might be trying to find the
perfect household management system. They might be homeschooling. Some
of these might be very good, but they do not get to the heart of the
matter. And the heart of the matter is the most important of all.
What did Jesus say to Mary when her sister Martha asked that Mary might
help her? He said, " Mary has chosen the best part and it will not be
taken away from her." The best part. We have to understand what this
means. It means getting alone with Him and sitting at His Feet. A sitting
that begs not to be pulled away. It is a deep time alone with Him.
Believe me, Ladies, this is where Strength is. It is not praying for
five minutes and going through a five minute Bible study. It is sitting
at His Feet and hugging every Word of His to your heart. It is falling in
love with Jesus, Your LORD and Savior.
This is the heart of the matter. When you start getting your heart
aligned with His, all the rest follows much more peacefully. I remember
when I started to fall in love with Him and His Word. My husband did not
see things the way I did. He did not want me to get up so early as he
was worried I would get sick. He was not in the Scripture every day (at
that time) as I was and did not see The Word as I did. I remember
begging the LORD, "Please don't let this time be taken away from me."
The LORD reminded me from His Word that He was my husband's head. I was
to rest in Him and "win him without a word." So that is what I did.
I would quietly get up (praying all the while as my husband is a very
light sleeper) and steal away as silently as possible to the kitchen. I
had everything set up the night before for my coffee to make as little
noise as possible. I would pray and pray that the household might stay
sleeping. They did. I would pull out the bread from the refrigerator to
complete its rising. Then I would pray that He might teach me and help me
to know Him and love Him more. He did.
"He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures."
Luke 24:45
He is The Teacher! And it is fabulous, Ladies, to sit at His Feet every
day and learn from Him. There is no better time in the day than that
quiet time alone in the pre-dawn hour. Why? No one wants it! Everyone
is sleeping, no one is calling on the phone, no one is coming to the
door, no one is interrupting you, and there is this hushed peace over the
house. His Word is able to penetrate as you "are still and learning that
He is God." Then you speak back in prayer and praise. I call it a "Holy
Conversation" going on in my kitchen. It is a blessed, blessed time of
the day. And if you visit anyone or go anywhere, again you are assured
of your time alone with Him, for no one wants that time of the day. It
is yours and His alone.
Soon my husband began to see the "fruits" of my early morning rising.
Fresh warm bread with his coffee. My face lighting up when he walked into
the kitchen. Wonderful early morning chats over coffee with just the two
of us. Soft praise music playing. A nice lunch made. And the peace of
God in my heart. This was the most noticeable change.
Summer is the perfect time for training yourself to get up early. Why?
Well, it is so nice to get as much done as possible before the heat sets
in. Presently it is 11:45 a.m. and the heat has definitely set in. But I
have most of my work done. Why? I was trying to beat the heat. An in
beating the heat I am training myself to get as much as possible done in
the early morning hours.
For the morning is the foundation of my day. And I find that if I use my
mornings wisely the rest of the day follows that much better as well.
Also if something crops up later on in the day that I did not expect (and
something always crops up), I have the foundation work done. What is the
foundation work? Well, for me, it is my dinner on its way, my laundry
caught up, my beds made, my living room clean ( in case the LORD should
bring someone by), my bathroom clean, my garden watered and picked (or
something new planted), and a treat for tea time.
This early hour is the time that is mine alone. I have had a time alone
with my Savior and now start to work with His Words on my mind after
seeing my husband off to work. As the music softly sounds from the
stereo and my children sleep, I start cooking before 6:30 a.m. Today I
made two loaves of zucchini bread, a dozen and a half of tortillas,
marinated the meat for a BBQ, prepared the potatoes for baking, made two
quarts of pickled chilies, put up a peck of pickles in the refrigerator,
and started two more batches of peach jam in my crock pot. I also did a
load of wash, hung it out, and brought in my dry clothes.
Before my children woke up I stole out to the garden to deep water, plant
some squash, sunflowers, coriander, and some cucumbers. I picked some
peaches, a couple of cucumbers, and some grapes. It is a blessed time of
the day. I am able to work alone in such sweet solitude. I find that I
can get twice as much done during this special morning time than I can
the rest of the day. Soon my children were calling for me and I was
ready to go back inside and have breakfast with them.
Now I know I am leaving some questions still unanswered here. I will
continue writing on this subject. It is my heart's desire that you might
get alone with the LORD on a daily basis to know Him and love Him
intimately. For this is truly life. I remember when I would skip this
part and just hang onto a woman's management system. It would work for
awhile, but soon I would find myself crumbling again. I am going to be
sharing with you my management system. This is not the foundation of my
home. My foundation is: "I love you, LORD, my strength." For "I count
it all a loss at the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ my
LORD." This is life!
Love,
Laine