I’m not a morning person (and never will be). I just dread the thought of having to get up out of bed. The type of day I know I’m going to have or the time I went to bed the night before has little effect on the mood I am in when I wake up in the morning.
So you can imagine that when I woke up this morning at 5:30 AM so I could be at church for 6, I was not feeling too great. The earliest I normally have to wake up during the week is around 7.
Waking up at 5:30 is totally not my thing.
That worries me. What’s going to happen when I actually get a real job? Seriously…A good friend of mine has to be up sometime between 4:30 and 5:30, depending on the day, so he can make it to work across town by 6:30. That’s ridiculous.
But most people in the tech field have early mornings. It’s a fact. Tech people usually have to be at the office before almost anyone else in case there are serious problems within the network that can impact productivity…which basically means that you have to get there before everyone else. I’m not quite sure what I am going to do. Maybe I should make sure that whoever I marry can actually drag me out of bed in the morning.
Some of you that are reading this may be wondering why I just spent the last 100 words or so putting down myself, but do not worry. It will all become clear in time.
I know I’m not the only person out there who has problems getting up in the morning. In fact, one of those people lives in my own household. I get my morning moods honestly, from my mother (yes, I still live at home; it’s cheap and I have almost no money…I’m in college). On Saturdays, it’s not common for her to sleep till 10 AM, where she normally has to be up by 6:30 or 7.
We Americans in general are usually not morning people. What do you see when you go to an office early in the morning? A bunch of dreary, caffeine-deprived workpeople who look like they need to be plugged into a battery charger for a few more hours.
I point all of that out to say that many of us usually start our days off on a bad foot…ungrateful for the additional morning that we get to keep breathing through…whereas somewhere out there in the world, someone did not wake up in the morning.
I really wish I could look at things from that perspective when I wake up in the morning. It would probably make my day that much better.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
Psalm 90:14 (New International Version)
I also tend to overlook the blessing of praying and having a quiet time early in the morning. Typically, my quiet time occurs late at night, before I go to sleep. I sit there with my bible and I read, and perhaps journal a little bit, and pray. But I am so tired. I rarely make it through the reading I would like to get through before I go to sleep, and often my prayers are rushed and half-hearted because I just want to get it over with so I can go to sleep.
I think that’s why most theologians and pastors encourage people to have their quiet times in the morning. You can start your day off the right way, with a little bit of “soul food”, if you will (I know, I pulled out a serious cliche).
What would our days be like if we woke up every morning and remembered the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 90?
I would like to try that out someday.
