morning bible study

Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

The mornings go so much smoother when I purposely wake up before the kids to have a cup of HOT coffee with my favorite creamer, in my favorite mug, while sitting in my favorite spot on the couch with what has become one of my favorite books to read in the quietness and stillness of the house. Typically, that quietness only occurs in the wee hours of the mornings but lately my littlest angel baby has been requiring all of my attention during those hours. And its been affecting me, my attitude and parenting.

Let’s just cut to the chase…I miss sleeping.

My sister tells me to get over it because I’m a mother of three now and I’ll never sleep again. I’m trying my hardest to prove her wrong. I don’t need a lot of sleep. I love to be active…but I need my sleep to be uninterrupted at least for a few hours so that I can function…and be happy.

Truth be told, I have not been loving the Lord my God with all my heart these past few weeks. I’ve been grumbling, cranky, and down right miserable. That’s not me. That’s me with no sleep.

How, in this season of my life with a 4yr old, 2yr old and a 5month old, do I love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul and all my mind? I do not have the answer to that. The only thing I know is that when I spend the first part of my day in His word, I am a better wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.

While I’ve been all out of sorts because of my lack of sleep, I’ve been cooking up a storm of comfort food. (And of course I know this because I can’t stop photographing it- I just popped a meatloaf in the oven, photo and recipe to come soon!) Searching for comfort in the kitchen yet once again, while all along I should be…on my favorite spot on the couch with my favorite mug filled with coffee with my most favorite book of all time, my Bible.

And while I waited for the big girls to wake up, I prepared their favorite table with a few of their favorite breakfast foods- homemade granola bars, yogurt and some fresh fruit.

Love & Prayers,

Katie

I have been doing a lot of cooking this week and its only Wednesday. It seems that when my anxiety is through the roof, I tend to skip my early morning bible study and when I skip my early morning bible study, I cook…alot. I start doubling recipes, stuffing them into a Ziploc and freezing them. While its awesome to be prepared and have a stocked freezer, I’m not focusing on whats really important… God and my family. That all hit me this morning when I was telling a girlfriend about the amazing Shepard’s Pie (my ultimate comfort food!) that I made last night. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Hmm… so here I am searching for comfort, so I make comfort food. When all along I should have searched for comfort from Him.

I was up early this morning and while the whole house slept, I did get about twenty minutes of study time in. Maybe that’s why I was able to see my previous actions so clearly. Maybe that’s what I needed. So I made the comfort food yesterday and found comfort from Him this morning. I do have to admit that my anxiety is at a much more controlled stated. There has been no yelling today and that’s a win for this house!

Did I receive the seed that fell on good soil? Today, I did.

“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:23