10 Tips for Waking Up Early

        
            One of the best habits I have ever developed was establishing a pattern about a year ago of getting up at 5:00 am every weekday morning.

I know most of you probably want to stop reading at this point. But hang with me for a bit. I’m not saying everyone should get up at 5:00 am every day at all. I’m saying that it has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life. Getting up at 5:00 am doesn’t happen every single weekday for me. Especially during the school year when unexpected assignments can keep me up late, I have to get sleep when I can. However, it is a great pattern to establish.

Getting up at 5:00 is hard. Definitely. But here are some tips I use that I hope can help you with that very first battle we all face each day.

1.     Establish WHY you're getting up early

Why in the world WOULD you get up at 5:00 am in the morning? For me, it was because my mornings were busy, and often my afternoons, and I needed time to get school done. As I rolled into summer, I wanted a time dedicated to writing blog posts for Morning Glory as well as other various writing projects. Also, it is so refreshing to start the day off with my Bible in the peace of a quiet house of sleeping family members.

It feels amazing to have three fresh, productive hours before 8:00 am. For me, it makes me feel like a busy day is less daunting if I have several hours of quiet time with God and my school or writing.

2.     Make a firm decision the night before to get up no matter how you feel

When 5:00 rolls around, TRUST ME—you will not want to wake up. You will be lying there, “Do I have get up at 5:00?? I don’t have anything that needs to get done right now. I can get up early tomorrow.”

NO.

Don’t let those thoughts persuade you to go back to bed. You must make a firm decision the night before that you will get up. No matter if you feel like you’ve been mowed over by a truck.

3.     Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room

I’m a hard sleeper and I’m sorry, but having my alarm clock on the bedside table does not wake me up. Countless times I’ve flopped over and hit it and gone back to sleep. I keep it on my dresser on the other side of my room so I physically have to get up and turn it off. Days that I’m really, really exhausted, I still might crawl back into bed without thinking and fall asleep. But in general, physically getting out of bed helps me a lot.

4.     Turn on your light immediately

Sitting in the dark being like, “Wake up! Wake up!” isn’t going to help at all. Turning on the light helps a lot.

5.     Leave your room to make breakfast and coffee

Again, more movement to wake me up. You could take a shower or something like that. Making breakfast helps me.

6.     Do NOT read your Bible (or pray) in bed

Just don’t do it.

I have a specific memory of getting up to read my Bible and deciding I would “pray” in bed. I snuggled up in my warm comforter after reading the first couple chapters of Acts and started foggily praying, “God, thank You for…for…for giving the disciples Your Holy Spirit… And… thank You… Like… I love You…” And the clonk I was asleep.

Don’t do it.

7.     Have someone keep you accountable

My dad usually wakes up between 4:00 am and 5:00 am. He gives me a hard time if I sleep in later than 5:00. It is really helpful.

8.     After breakfast and quite time, get to work

No crawling back in bed. No lying on the couch or even floor. Sit down at your desk and get work done. It became such a joy to sit down at my desk at 5:30 and write for two hours before the house woke up.

9.     Make it routine

It’s crazy hard to get up at 5:00 am one or two days a week. You have to get up every day or every week day consistently so that your body gets used to it. After a few days, it gets a lot easier.

10. Discipline yourself to go to bed early, at a pre-planned time

I still needed to get sleep every night. It’s extremely hard for me to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:00 and it’s not healthy. Going to bed earlier makes it easier to wake up earlier.

Is this something you would like to work on in your life? If you do already wake up early, what are some helpful things that you’ve done? Share in the comments!

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Summer Ministry Opportunities

Summer is almost upon us! I have eight days left! Some of my friends still have like a month, but everything is finally winding down with the last stretch of exams.

With summer coming up, I bet many of you are already listing out all of the things you want to do this summer. If you’re like me, being more involved in ministry may be on that list. If so, I wanted to highlight a few ministry opportunities you can be part of here at Morning Glory this summer!

1.     Devotional Writer

A slot just opened up for a weekly devotional writer! If you wanted to write about what God’s doing in your life on a weekly basis, then this is for you! Each devotional is short and based off a Scripture. The devotionals may take only about ten or fifteen minutes to write and the impact you can have is incredible. Over 160 ladies all over the country read these devotionals every day.

2.     Guest Blog Poster

Has God taught you something recently? Maybe you have something to write, but it takes too many words to write in just one devotional. Depending upon how much interest there is in guest posting, Morning Glory may be able to go back to posting twice a week! This is a fantastic opportunity to share what God has been teaching you, as well as share any fun crafts/recipes/hair styles/modest fashion you have recently discovered! I absolutely love to write blog posts and I encourage you to think about it!

There you have it! Two great opportunities to impact girls all around the country this summer! If you are interested in either one, please check out the Submissions tab above and leave a message in the form below or leave a comment!

What are your summer plans? Any goals? Trips? Share in the comments! 

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Where do You Find Peace in the Crazy?

-By Musical Girl

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

John 14:27

Wow! Look at this verse! Read it again.

During the past few months, I have started professional school, flown by myself, and been pushed way out of my comfort zone. Do you have this kind of peace? I know that I don't most of the time. So let us take a closer look at this kind of peace.

First, what do you think of when you think of peace? I usually think: when I can take a nap because I have no more deadlines pressing on me, after a great piece of cake and afternoon of reading a novel. Well this is a fairytale. By this standard, I will never have peace! But this peace is the peace of the world!

We are to have peace in stressful situations. How in the world? We are to have peace that no matter what happens, or how much homework is drowning us, we know that that God is in control. We need to realize that we already know the end of the story—Jesus is King! This should make us different from the world. This should make them want what we have!

So this week, ladies, focus on having this peace. How do we get this? By spending time with our Prince of Peace!

Now I want to focus on the second part of the verse. How are we not to be troubled? The world is going crazy! Even our own lives can seem like a hurricane! But we are not to worry because God know what He’s doing with our lives. I know that for me, the Lord has been showing me He has so much more in store for me than my best dreams!

Our peace should have us confident in God's plan. I know that if I stopped worrying when my life is not following my plan, I would have so much more time! But more than that, we need to remember that our peace is not based on our circumstances, which are out of our control! We can easily be scared and confused when we focus on ourselves. But putting faith in God for everything can result in amazing things!

I encourage you to rejoice in this "peace that surpasses all understanding!” I also encourage you to memorize this verse; it has been very comforting to me!

Does your life feel wild right now? How has God shown you His peace recently? Share in the comments!

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The Lord is My Refuge

I am your refuge.

This is a powerful truth that God has been teaching me the past week. GOD is my refuge. Not another person. Not school grades. Not anything else.

Where do you take refuge?

What’s the first place you go? To your friends? Family? Alone time? Computer? Music? School? How many times, when you are dealing with something, do you go to God first?

I found myself this past week going to people for refuge. I found myself emptier and grumpier and just overall unsatisfied. It was then that God showed me, “It’s because only I can be your refuge. Your TRUE refuge.”

Ladies, we serve a God who is good. Who is beautiful. Kind. Loving. Protecting. He is our shelter. He wants to hide you under His wings and protect you.

The definition of refuge from Dictionary.com says:

1. shelter or protection from danger, trouble, etc.: to take refuge from a storm.

2. a place of shelter, protection, or safety.

3. anything to which one has recourse for aid, relief, or escape.

This is what God is to us. He is our protection from danger or trouble. He is our shelter. Our hiding place. Our covering. He keeps us safe.

This does not mean that He will never allow you to suffer pain. On the contrary, He will allow suffering and trials in our life for the purpose of bring us closer to Him. But He will not allow us to be hurt beyond the temporary pain He will allow for His good purposes.

I encourage you to read through some of these verses and choose one to memorize. I challenge you to meditate on this truth this week. The LORD is your refuge.

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.

Psalm 46:1-3

For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

Psalm 27:5

In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have refuge.

Proverbs 14:26

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

Proverbs 18:10

For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.

Isaiah 25:4

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2

What does it mean to you that God is your refuge? Do you go to Him for refuge? Or do you go to something else? Share in the comments! 

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Why I Decided to Save My First Kiss for My Wedding Day

This is not a blog post about what you must do or not do in a relationship. It is absolutely your decision when you give your first kiss away. I’ve thought a lot about it, and I have decided to save my first kiss for my wedding day.

It took me a long time to make this decision. I given it much thought, prayed about it, asked many people’s opinions, and read a lot of blog posts on the topic.

I finally decided that I wanted to wait to give my first kiss away. You may decide differently. This post is for you if you are not sure, or simply want to hear some arguments for it. Again, it is not a mandate or anything I’m forcing on you. I do not think that it’s necessarily a sin to kiss outside of marriage—though that’s a completely different discussion—and I think it’s different for every couple and every couple needs to make this decision.

So why did I decide to wait? Here are a few of my reasons.

1.      I don’t want to kiss more than one guy.

         I would not want my future husband to tell me, “So…um…sorry, but I’ve kissed five other girls beside you.” Likewise I don’t want to have to tell him about other guys I’ve kissed. Even if I didn’t tell him, I wouldn’t want to have to think about that, remember that or regret that.

2.     I don’t want unnecessary temptation.

         Especially in the case of a long term relationship, kissing during even an engagement would make it very hard to stay pure. With the way that our culture is permeated with sin, it is already hard enough to keep correct mindsets about things and not fall into temptation. Kissing takes you to another level of temptation. I decided that, for me, I would rather be safe than sorry.

3.     I want to enjoy it fully.

            I do not want to be kissing my fiancé thinking, “Should I be doing this?? Is this okay? Am I sinning? Are we going too far??” I don’t want the joy of being close to someone I love in that way to be overshadowed by the fear that we might be overstepping our bounds.

4.    I want to be as pure as possible on my wedding day.

            I don’t want my attitude in a relationship to ever be, “How close can I get to the line without crossing it?” but “How can I always glorify God and be an example of purity and holiness?” I want to be able to give the gift of my first kiss to my husband. Not my boyfriend. Not my fiancé.

5.     It will be more special.

         When you wait for something longer, when you finally get it, it is so much sweeter. I don’t want to throw away my first kiss and already be casual about kissing by my wedding day. Kisses are far more valuable than this culture will tell you. I want it to be very special when I am finally able to give that gift away.

6.    I don’t want regrets.

         Just because I may not kiss before I’m married in no way means that I somehow automatically won’t have any regrets. But because I do not want regrets, I’m setting boundaries for myself, one of which is to not kiss until I’m married.

Your first kiss is a beautiful gift, young ladies. I strongly encourage you to not throw it away. Think carefully about when you will decide to give it away. Do not be careless about it—be intentional. You do not have to make my same commitment. You may have many valid reasons to kiss your fiancé, etc. But I encourage you to do your own research and come to your own decision, and to do it soon. I strongly encourage you to not enter into a relationship until you have that settled with yourself, and then with the guy you’re dating.

What do you think? Have you come to your own decision on this topic? Do you agree or disagree? Any thoughts or stories? Share in the comments!

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