I have always woken my children to start their day instead of relying on an alarm clock. I think it is due to the fact I cannot stand the sound of the “beep…beep…beep” the alarm clock makes. It has to be the most obnoxious way to wake up.
My son, Sam, used to wake up before God turned the lights on outside every day of his life until the week before he was to start kindergarten. It didn’t seem fair to a sleep deprived mother. I took great pleasure in waking him for school when kindergarten began. I would look for fun ways to make it happen. I would sing to him. I would open all of the blinds and shine light on the situation. Sometimes I would tickle him. My favorite was to kiss him with those loud kisses all over his face until he would giggle and dive under the covers. Over the years we have had a variety of “wake up calls” in the morning.
Now, Sam is a teenager and old enough to wake up with an alarm, yet still prefers mom’s crazy little wake up calls. This morning, the Lord allowed me to experience one of the greatest blessings a mom can have. I went in and woke Sam up in one of my obnoxious ways and went down the hall to grab my things from my room before heading into my office to have my date with Jesus. As I looked to the end of the hallway to see if there was life in my son’s room, I saw the most beautiful thing. My son, with his long hair sticking up in every direction (because it’s longer than mine), was kneeling beside his bed in prayer to his Father. I had to pause and think how blessed the Father’s heart must be.
You see, I treasure our silly little wake up routines because I know that in just 4 short years, Sam will be gone to college and I won’t have that time with him anymore. It is just one way I stay connected to my son. As I looked at Sam, the Father told me that He treasures this wake up routine with Sam because it allows Him to stay connected to Sam and when Sam goes off to college, he will need to stay connected to the Father. Psalm 5:3 says, “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”
What is your wake up routine? Do you give the Father your undivided attention or is He an after thought? Take time to tell Him good morning and ask Him to guide you through your day. I promise, you’ll have time for everything that you need.