“Morning doesn’t start with coffee. Morning starts with your evening.” This was my takeaway from the book my husband and I read “Leading On Empty” by Wayne Cordeiro.
Isn’t it fascinating how you read 224 pages to have a one-liner takeaway? Just that unique perspective can pivot the direction of your trajectory. Imagine a plane heading from New York to Paris, if it had a slight navigational deviation, such as 2 degree heading change, your Paris trip would end up in a town you can’t even pronounce Caudebec-les-Elbeuf. About 121 miles away from where you want to be.
It’s this one-liner takeaway that grabbed a hold of my mornings. It was my 2 degree shift that landed me in the Paris of my routine. “Morning doesn’t start with coffee. Morning starts with your evening.” Wayne Cordeiro
I can’t wait to wake up before the world needs me. It wasn’t always so.
At 4:45AM my brain knows the drill. Gym clothes on. Pour milk into English tea. Sprinkle honey on my peanut-buttered cracker like the Levites sprinkling the altar. Generously. Jazzy music set to a gentle volume (Not worship music, so I don’t sing-along. If one can sing to jazz, more power to them). Journals, maps, ESV Bible and my crayons crowd the dining table like people at the airport.
Hence the 15 minutes before 5 AM. It’s my preparation for the morning Shabbat. I wake early, because I get to. It’s a privilege to be with Jesus “on the Mount of Olives”.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.” Mark 1:35 (NIV)
My morning Shabbat doesn’t really start at 4:45 AM, it starts at sunset.
I wake up early, if I don’t stay up late. I wake up joyful, if I don’t let the sun go down on my anger. My ginormous mug is available for tea, if I wash it the previous night. My living room is attractive, if I take 5 minutes to straighten things up on my way to bed. (“Don’t put down, put away” I nag my kids with this catchy phrase Rhonda, our friend, shared with me.)
I wake up early, if I don’t stay up late.
The previous night can set us up for morning success.
“…Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…” (Ephesians 4:26) If you leave a problem unsorted out the evening before, it will dictate how you’ll start your morning.
It’s interesting how God bridges from one day of creation into the next…
“And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” Genesis 1:8b
How we wrap up our evening, will affect how we roll the next morning. Our night routine developed with time. And desired changes won’t happen overnight. It’s okay to have 2 degree shifts. It’s the small habits that have greatest impact and longevity. Don’t be shocked by discouragement, and road blocks. Apostle Paul shares in 1 Corinthians 16:9 “because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” When there’s effectiveness, there will be opposition.
Here are some excuses your brain will come up with…
- I’m not a morning person, I work best at night
- My best sleep is in the morning. I need to sleep in.
- It’s complicated. My spouse, my kids, my dog, my cat…
- I can’t because family routine won’t match mine.
- It’s the only time the house is quiet.
Don’t quit before you even start.
Giving credibility to these excuses is quitting before we even start. Just a quick rebuttal to the statements up-top.
- Our brain does what we teach it. If we were offered a million-dollar job that required to be a morning person, we would make a way. We can re-train our brain to learn knew habitual pathways. (***I’m not referring to anyone with health conditions.)
- If your body needs to sleep in, that’s okay. We shouldn’t ignore it. I agree with author Cordeiro who points out that we can sleep in at the front side of our sleep cycle. Just go to bed earlier to get in those extra needed hours.
- It’s a great opportunity to lead your family into a healthier routine. Communicate your needs with your family. Expect resistance, but don’t give up.
- Early mornings can be as quiet, or quieter than midnights.
Would you give it careful consideration if this is for you, through these action steps…
- Evaluate first.
- Am I exhausted every morning?
- Does my soul take naps when I pray?
- Do I get anything out of my Bible reading?
- Am I rushing every morning? Not enough time?
- Do I bookend my day like Jesus? Mark 1:35 (AM) and Luke 22:45 (PM)
- Do I give God the leftovers? “I ‘ll make time for Him later today.”
- I am busy. (The serial-killer excuse of faith.)
- Create a mind map
- Dump all things that consume your time on a paper.
- Sort activities into clusters. Place “-” to the things that drain you, and “+” to the things that benefit your soul. My mentor would call them “drainers and gainers”.
- Declutter your schedule, your house, your toxic relationships. Simplicity is spacious.
- Reset
- Like a computer, we need to reset. We must reset our software: our system of operation that drives our actions. And we must reset our hardware: the tangible things that make up our lives and use our time (our body, people in our life, house, job).
- It takes hard work to rest. Take the time to evaluate, to restructure, to shift your habits. Each Shabbat was preceded by a preparation day. “And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath” (Mark 15:42 ESV)
- Start with a two degree directional adjustment, and increase slowly to land in the Paris of your routine.
- Pray hard
- “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain…” Psalm 127:1
- “The soul is willing but the flesh is weak.” The disciples couldn’t do it even when Christ himself incarnate asked them to stay up and pray. They were “exhausted from sorrow”.
Create a routine that will most benefit your soul. Jesus had one. “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives…” Luke 22:39 What is your “as usual”?
This is not a callout to be legalistic. This is an invitation to be diligent and disciplined as we do with other areas of our life. Are you heading to Paris or Caudebec-les-Elbeuf?
As you pour coffee (or tea) into your morning mug today, let this thought sit with you “Morning doesn’t start with coffee. Morning starts with your evening.” Make this your prayer.
What is the 2 degree shift you’re willing to make that will benefit your soul?