My boys share a room and have been waking up around 5:30 lately. In the morning. Before the sun rises. *sigh* I love my boys. I love being with my boys. But at 5:30, I’m not always ready to be mommy.
So I’ve re-taught the importance of respecting everyone else in the house who still wants to enjoy the quiet at 5:30 a.m. And with slight resistance, they (mostly) play or “read” quietly in their beds until the “light turns green” at 6:30. (<-- love that clock! And I don't get paid to say that.) But the other morning I had a (ridiculously immature) pity party with God. I had gotten up to spend some quiet with Him and just as I opened my Bible, I heard them stirring. “God why won’t my kids sleep in like other people’s kids?! I just want a few moments of quiet before I’m needed. Please, Lord.” Ridiculous considering the major struggles that some are facing.
By His grace my heart shifted, and I remembered the immeasurable gift of their little feet. They made their way downstairs to my morning chair and I held their warm sleepy bodies while I prayed for them. Then I led them back up to be in their own “quiet space” until the light turned green.
That’s when the word “margin” came to mind. Margin.
We need margin in this life. As humans we need a white space that doesn’t demand performance, but rather invites us to just be still before God.
Jesus sought the margin. He would rise early and break away to pray and commune with the Father. (Mark 1:35) He would step away from all the people and plans of this earthly realm and tend to that intimacy our soul desperately craves.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1
Later that day, after a morning marked by my selfish pity party, God gave me some margin. I was in the car alone, driving to my next thing when I realized that I had about 30 minutes before I needed to be there. Margin.
So I pulled over at our local park, the one with the lake and ducks and empty benches, and I communed in the margin. I could have used that time to rush through the grocery store or answer some emails, but He invited me into the stillness. He invited me to revel to His truths from Psalm 146.
He may not give it at 5:30 in the morning, but if we ask I believe He’ll grace us. He designed us with the need for His filling. He invites us into the margin.
Fill me, Lord…
How do you seek out the margin?
How has the margin proven to be a blessing in your own life?
Hmmmm….. that quiet that, that time alone with him to refill – it is precious. I often wonder, when I sneak downstairs – do I selfishly hide this time from them and they miss out on seeing the beauty of worship before the dawn?
I know what you mean. My boys get a glimpse of it if/when they wake up. But I’ve tried keeping them with me and they get bored. (I’m probably not creative enough.) But I do encourage my daughter — who’s 8 — to either join me with her devotion book or spend some quiet with God on her own. Maybe I should try doing more of my time with Him out-loud so they can hear. Love you, sister.
I was just thinking, Rebecca. Jesus sought it out but he didn’t push anyone away if they came to him in that time. Such an example of love.
First of all, JUST SAY NO! If we are so busy doing, we miss out on hearing what God really wants us to do.
I envy those little ones sitting on my lap. Id have to sit on theirs now. Hahaha.
I totally agree Ruthan. Learn to say no. And if we aren’t spending time listening to his voice, we won’t know when he wants us to say yes…or no.
Boy can I relate to this! (And what is it with those kids these last few days? Mine have been getting up at 5:30 the last few days too!) I’ve actually had to let go of my desire for morning quiet time in this season of my life, it’s just not happening with my early risers and me getting up through the night with an infant. So I take my quiet time in the evenings, after the kiddos are all in bed. This Mama ends up a lot less frustrated in the mornings…(even though I’m like you, so not ready to be a mama at 5:30 am)
LOVE this! Margins. Not as a ‘right,’ a thing we deserve, but a desire. An okay desire, that He grants in His wisdom & timing. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
ugh you are not the only one with kids waking up before 6am. It’s been 5:15 here for like 2 weeks straight. I may have to look at that light!!
I really loved this post. I have found little bits of margin throughout my days but I’m afraid I’ve been so tired and thus scatterbrained and unmotivated…not using it very intentionally or purposefully, but I’m trying.
Those early mornings can wear a mama down. Praying we have His vision for these fleeting years (and early hours). And He is so gracious, not standing with a gavel in hand. He just loves us perfectly and wants to pour life into us. Many blessings to you this Christmas, sister.
Thank you so much. I was hoping I would get a break this morning but nope…5:20. Thanks for your sweet comments. Your word were just what I needed today.