Daily Disruptions

     This is my favorite time of day:  the two hours before the house wakes up.  Most mornings I grab the dog and go for a run.  I breath in frosty air, feel the exhilaration of my heart beating and watch the horizon slowly grow lighter.  I come home to quiet. . . a cup of coffee. . . my Bible. . . my favorite chair.  During these pre-dawn hours, I am a good wife and mom, my husband is wonderful and my kids are angels.  The day before me appears exciting and manageable.  Life is as it should be.
     But even as I bask in this early morning peace, there are rumblings in the distance.  Soon feet will start down the stairs, mouths will open, the refrigerator will open, talking will ensue.   "What's for breakfast?"  "Can you take me to school early?"  "Can you make my lunch?"  "Where's my sweatshirt?"  My peace is disrupted with daily demands.  Some days the disruptions are manageable; other days they escalate and become much larger.  But, I've been around long enough to know some simple truths.  My time is not my own.  No day will ever look like what I've constructed in my daytimer.  Tasks always take longer than I expect.  Kids breath unpredictability into each day.  It's enough to make a control freak just stay in bed!
     Part of why I get up so early each day is to ready myself for each day.  It's not to "get a jump" on the day, but rather to ready my heart, to sit and listen to my Maker, to offer my efforts up to the One who gives life. 
This morning I prayed, 
         "You are the God of this day.  I confess that I want to be god of this day.  I want to control and rule and make all things work according to my plan.  I want to preserve my own comfort and sense of competency.  I want to manage my husband and kids, keep a clean house, catch up on all the laundry, serve a hot dinner and finish my Christmas shopping.  Left to myself, I will push and bully and hurt those I love just to keep this day manageable.  But God, this is not my day and I fail every time I try to be god of my own life.  This is your day.  I am your child.  Your ways are higher than mine and your plans always deviate from my own.  So please take this day and take my heart.  Let me hold tightly to You with both hands and hold loosely to my own agenda.  Give me your eyes to see what is important to you.  Give me your ears to really listen to those around me.  Give me your heart, so I am moved by what moves you.  Let me take every disruption as a divine opportunity to need you more and to see you at work.  Help me to want you more than the "easy button."  Give me the courage to yield to your plan for this day.
       
   "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"  declares the Lord.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  Isaiah 55:8, 9