• Shop
    • Made to Give Life Planner
    • Bible Reading Plans
    • Your Intentional Family Homeschool Planning Guide
    • Fruit of the Spirit Curriculum for Toddlers
  • Resources
    • Podcast
    • Blog
    • Mission Statement
    • Goal Action Plans
    • 2022 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge
    • Bible Reading Plans
    • Monthly Checklists
    • Deals and Freebies for Christian Women
  • About
  • 2022 Planner
  • SHOP
  • Search
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Intentional By Grace

Made to give life.

  • Shop
    • Made to Give Life Planner
    • Bible Reading Plans
    • Your Intentional Family Homeschool Planning Guide
    • Fruit of the Spirit Curriculum for Toddlers
  • Resources
    • Podcast
    • Blog
    • Mission Statement
    • Goal Action Plans
    • 2022 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge
    • Bible Reading Plans
    • Monthly Checklists
    • Deals and Freebies for Christian Women
  • About
  • 2022 Planner
  • SHOP
  • Search
Many of us are working hard to rise early in the morning. We must be intentional to make mornings easier if we want to rise early. Check out these 3 tips. | IntentionalByGrace.com

3 Tips to Make Mornings Easier

Many of us are working hard to rise early in the morning. If we want to make mornings easier we need to be intentional. Check out these 3 tips to make mornings easier.

The alarm goes off at 5 o’clock in morning and the battle rages within us to hit snooze, which we do at least once. By 5:10, someone has stumbled into the kitchen to start the coffee pot, and that someone is usually Mark. I am still sitting with my feet dangling off the bed with the whistles of my father ringing in my ears along with his words, “Feet on the floor.”

Rising early in the mornings can be hard. Here are 3 tips to be intentional to make early mornings easier. | Intentionalbygrace.com

To rise early in the morning, it takes discipline and nothing short of hard work. The wee hours of the morning never fail to bring our inner personalities and desires into conflict.

  • I was up so late working hard for a living.
  • I was up with the baby twice last night.
  • It’s too cold to get up.
  • If only my husband and I had resolved our conflict sooner.
  • It’s the weekend.

And so the excuses continue. Why is there always an excuse not to get up?

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ~Lamentations 3:21-23

God’s mercies are new every morning. To encounter those mercies in all their fullness, we must be intentional to make mornings easier if we want to rise early.

My mission is to create a home that makes it impossible to not think about God. One way I am committed to making this goal a reality is to intentionally pursue Jesus, by daily emptying myself of me and kneeling before my maker in humble pursuit of His purposes for my life, relationships, and home. Once Samuel rises, intentional time with the Lord, in an intimate meaningful way, does not happen. There are far too many needs and tasks to attend to.

Therefore, I have purposed to rise each morning at 5am in order to have time to:

  • Quiet myself before the Lord
  • Exercise (though I’m terrible at actually making this happen)
  • Shower
  • Spend time with Mark before he leaves for work
Many of us are working hard to rise early in the morning. We must be intentional to make mornings easier if we want to rise early. Check out these 3 tips. | IntentionalByGrace.com

3 Tips for Making Mornings Easier

1. Get everything ready the night before.

Each night, Mark and I go through our evening routine. We prepare everything we need for the next day, and take care to ready our ā€œquiet time stations.ā€ The less we have to think about at 5 o’clock in the morning the better.

Note: Check out 9 Ways to Organize Your Prayer Life.

When purposing to rise early the next day, proper preparation the night before ensures greater success.

2. Pursue accountability with others.

Mark and I are committed to helping one another get out of bed. Being committed to rising early together has made it far easier than going at it alone. In addition, you could ask another woman to help you – a sister, a mentor, a friend, etc.

Accountability is a beautiful thing, and is so effective at helping me to get my rear end out of bed.

3. Pray for grace to change.

We are prone to laziness and slothfulness. However, because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we can have hope for change – to be intentional by grace. For that reason, we can pray that the Holy Spirit would ignite in us a passion for the Lord, a passion so deep and powerful that not rising from bed would be devastating.

On a recent date night, Mark said,

I am much more likely to follow through, or at the very least pursue, that which I am passionate about.

How true this is.

May our hearts be filled with such passion for God that we thirst for the living water that only He provides.

What about you? Are you an early riser? What tips do you have for ensuring you’re up before your kiddos?

Update: I know each woman is in different seasons, and 5 am may not be feasible for all of us. In seasons of rising in the middle of the night with babies or toddlers, I aimed for just getting up before my kids. Another thing to do is to try to get up at 5:30 am a few times a week and not daily. But I still follow these principles regardless of when I will rise in order to help get my morning off to a great start the next day!

Other posts you might like:

  • How My Kids Stopped Driving Me Crazy in the Mornings
  • FREE Intentional Living Monthly Checklists
  • Creative Quiet Times for When Your Quiet Times Aren’t So Quiet
  • How to Make a Prayer Journal

I’d love to help you gain clarity on your purpose and mission!

I created a FREE Guide to Developing Your Own Mission Statement to help women like you get crystal clear on your purpose and to give life in all you do.

Click here to learn more!

Made for Him: Guide to developing your own personal mission statement
Share18
Pin8
Tweet
26 Shares

Filed Under: Intentional Living, Productivity

About Leigh Ann Dutton

Leigh Ann Dutton is the wife to the man of her prayers, Mark, and mama to four loveable little cherubs. She takes joy in spending her days creating memorable moments with her family, studying God's Word, reading good books, and enjoying God's creation. She does it all by the grace of God.

Previous Post: «5 tips to get you started with cloth diapers Cloth Diapers: Five Tips to Get You Started
Next Post: 10 Worship Songs to add to Your Morning Playlist »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jerilynsemail

    April 19, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    Thank you again for an encouraging post. I have struggled with the very same thing for years… well 5 to be exact. (My oldest is 5) I have often shared that nothing happens spiritually if I don’t do it before the children get up. It truly helps me get my heart right before Him and makes me a better mom. I can see correlation between days that I parent well and days when I discipline myself to spend time in the word prior to their waking. My oldest has a “momdar.” An internal radar that no one warned me about. She knows when I wake prior to my feet hitting the floor. That has been a struggle to combat, as well as an excuse to not get up.

    • Leigh Ann

      April 20, 2012 at 1:11 pm

      Yes, I imagine the “momdar” can be quite discouraging. I would encourage you that there is SO MUCH grace available for these little years. I think our time with the Lord looks different from day-to-day and season-to-season, but it’s our heart motivation behind it all. I’m with you though. I notice a marked difference in my parenting when I’m up before Samuel…and sometimes even the hubby.

  2. Gabrielle

    February 18, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    Whew, I’m so glad you gave that disclaimer at the very end! It’s hard to do it when you’re not sleeping well for long periods of time. I didn’t fully realize this until my second and third children, both of whom did not sleep through the night for quite some time (10 months and 15 months). That said, I really need to maximize my mornings by purposing to get up earlier so that I wake up for my kids (and time with God) rather than waking up to the kids…and chaos. šŸ™‚ Thanks for the encouragement.

    • Leigh Ann Dutton

      February 18, 2014 at 2:24 pm

      I re-read it the other night, as I go through old posts to update them, and I thought, “How in the world did I manage that?” But then I was quickly convicted of my lack of preparation and care to at least give myself a fighting chance at rising early. šŸ™‚

      • Gabrielle

        February 18, 2014 at 2:26 pm

        Exactly. There’s a balance here between embracing grace in this season and still recognizing that we should aim for more out of our day.

  3. Carla

    April 4, 2015 at 6:56 am

    Thanks for posting on this. I find my self in very similar territory as some of you – with three kids, 5 and under, and one of them who magically wakes up the minute I peel my eyeballs open. My best days are the ones where I have a huge chunk of time with The Lord before anyone wakes up, absolutely.
    I have an incredible, godly, very spiritually disciplined aunt who raised two children, lost her husband before his old age, and whose character shines incredibly for Gods glory through the most challenging of times. She made a comment to me a few months ago as we talked about the issue of quiet time at my stage of mom life, and said – “wow, when I had small children, I just posted a verse on my fridge and read it or thought about every time I walked by!”
    I couldn’t explain the relief I felt. I honestly pictured her like the Proverbs 31 women – going to bed after everyone and getting up at some incredible hour… And to hear the grace she gave to herself around that stage of mom life was so surprising. It reminded me that this season is only a season, and God is not rating me on my minutes spent with him at the beginning of a day, but instead is finding joy that I focus my thoughts and perspectives on him in an ongoing way. While my introvert personality sure does better with alone time before tackling the masses, sometimes I need to relax a little bit in my disappointment with myself if that doesn’t happen in a morning.
    As another note, my mom kept her Bible in the bathroom, and without fail, would get her 10 minutes at least to herself, every day I remember of growing up. I’m sure it wasn’t her ideal, but it worked, and I think the consistency she was able to have that way has had huge benefit. I always tell my piano students… A little bit of practice over most days is better than a huge amount of practice on one day! If time with God is a priority, then whether we pull up a verse on you version on the phone while we are at the park watching our kids, plop something to meditate about on the fridge, or listen to a sermon while folding laundry, God will be faithful to grow us using His Word.
    I’m so thankful for the depth of spiritual encouragement I find here on this site of like-minded women. Thank you, ladies!

Trackbacks

  1. Intentional Conversations: How To Ensure You Don’t Forget God by Breakfast Time says:
    May 3, 2012 at 5:02 am

    […] to talk to you about how to ensure you don’t forget God by breakfast time. So many of us are faithful to rise in the morning to meet with God, but by breakfast we’ve already forgotten what the Lord was teaching us. For […]

  2. Remembering My First Love - Intentional By Grace says:
    April 3, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    […] my time with the Lord. I’ve extended myself far more grace than necessary. I must return to my mornings with the Lord. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the […]

  3. 10 Tips for Being Intentional Every Single Day - Intentional By Grace says:
    April 23, 2014 at 6:49 am

    […] when I take time to prepare the night before. Creating (and sticking to) an evening routine makes mornings easier. If I can start the day off on the right foot, the rest of the day has a better chance of […]

  4. How to Make a Prayer Notebook - Intentional By Grace says:
    April 28, 2015 at 8:24 am

    […] 3 Ways to Make Mornings Easier […]

  5. How My Kids Stopped Driving Me Crazy in the Mornings - Intentional By Grace says:
    September 2, 2015 at 5:00 am

    […] tried preparing more the night before. I’ve tried waking up earlier. I’ve tried going to bed earlier. I’ve tried videos for the kids. I’ve tried busy […]

  6. How to Create A Home That Makes It Impossible to Not Think About God says:
    January 4, 2016 at 9:14 am

    […] order to spend time in the Word and quiet my heart, I must rise early or be faithful to do room time with my boys. There is no other time in my day that allows me […]

  7. 12 Steps to a Healthier Life in 2012, Part 2 | Keeper of the Home says:
    May 13, 2019 at 9:42 pm

    […] Action step: choose an devotional book or a book of the Bible to read during your quiet time and make it a priority to spend time with the Lord everyday. As soon as you wake up in the morning, give God thanks for 10 things in your life. Here areĀ 3 tips to make it little easier in the morning […]

  8. 10 Tips for Being Intentional Every Single Day - Intentional By Grace says:
    June 24, 2019 at 9:01 pm

    […] Related: 3 Tips for Making Mornings Easier […]

Primary Sidebar

Get Inspired

Free Resources

Free Printable Topical Bible Reading Plans

Search the Site

Browse the Archives

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

IBG

About

Contact

Subscribe

Advertise   |   Disclosure Policy   |   Privacy Policy   |