to wake or not to wake

So how's getting up at 6.00 going, I hear you ask?

Very well, for a week. Lots of peaceful time to pray, read the Bible, reflect, and read Christian books. A more relaxed morning getting the children ready for school.

Then the entire family was struck down pretty much simultaneously with a horrible cold. One of those phlegmy, throaty, coughy, chesty kind of colds which leave you feeling exhausted and useless for anything.

And here is the triumph: I didn't attempt to wake up at 6.00 that week!

Does this sound like a victory to you? Well, it is for me! My tendency is to think if I find the perfect spiritual program, I'll get on top of my godliness once and for all. It's easy for me to serve plans not people. It's easy for me to worship programs instead of God.

So once I've planned something, I find it very hard to be flexible. Which is a brilliant way to make sure no plan lasts very long. Have you ever tried to keep a complicated, demanding plan going for a month? I have. It ended in tears, exhaustion, and discouragement.

So it took some courage to even decide to start getting up at 6.00. And even more courage to decide not to for a week.

Plans are not my god: God is. When they help me serve him, I'll use them. When they stand in the way of wisdom, love and godliness, I'm learning to let them go.

But if only I could get some sleep, that 6.00 wake-up is looking very attractive ...