"No more unglued Mama Mornings!"

One of my BIGGEST struggles in life is patience with my girls especially in the mornings! I have began a study on the Bible app called "No more unglued Mama Mornings!"

 I truly felt like God wrote this for me. For years I have prayed about this but often feel like a failure. It is a five day devotional and when I read the first day's Devo I cried because it was like some one was writing what was in my head...

I'm making a bold commitment: No more unglued mama mornings. In other words, I want our mornings to go better with less frustration, yelling, and chaos.... I thought to myself, "Something has to change. Each day I promise myself I won't yell at the kids in the morning and yet every day I do. I don't want to. But each morning something happens that triggers me to just lose it." 

Ever been there? 
It's not like we wake up in the mood to get frustrated with our people, right? I mean honestly, I usually wake up in a pretty good mood. But then the stress of getting everyone ready and to school on time makes the crazy creep in. This one can't find her shoes. That one needs a report printed, and we have no ink in the printer. The dog just had an accident on the new rug because no one listened to my instructions to let her out. The bread for sandwiches is still sitting on the grocery store shelf because I forgot to buy it yesterday. And to top it all off, I have no cash to give the kids so they can buy their lunch at school. 
The whining. The complaining. The feeling that I just can't ever get it all together. It all just escalates and sends me over the edge. 
Well, I want our mornings together to be different. 
Do you want more calm and less chaos too? Then we have to start by exchanging whispers with God before shouts with the world. Our key verse says, "Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin." (Proverbs 10:14) Even if it's only for a few minutes, I have to store up some knowledge from the Word of God first thing. 
I know, I know—mornings are way too stressful to add something else in. But I like to think of it this way—when I wake up, my mind is like a dry sponge. What I soak up first will saturate me most deeply. If I don't want to be consumed with the stresses of my day, I must soak up what will renew my mind instead. When things like tight time schedules, a kid's attitude, or conflict with another person squeezes me I want to leak out peace, patience, and gentleness. And this is much more likely if I've soaked up God's transforming truth. 
Even if it's only for five minutes, I've got to put the world on hold until I've had a few minutes of peace with God."

Each day has a "MAKING IT A REALITY" section:

Day 1:

Make a commitment for the next 31 days to read one chapter of Proverbs each day. The chapters aren't long so as you read take time to stop on nuggets of wisdom that apply to things you are facing right now. Write at least one verse per day on a 3x5 card or sticky note, and put it somewhere you'll see it throughout your day. 

Day 2:

Make the choice to bring the atmosphere you want by writing out the words that describe what you want your morning to be like. Try using a dry erase marker on your bathroom mirror. You can also write these 3 statements for "bringing it" on other windows and mirrors throughout your home:
 
* "Feelings are indicators not dictators."
 
* "Bad moments don't make bad mamas."
 
* "Find the joy treasure." 
When your family asks you about these statements you've written, just smile and proudly proclaim, "They help me bring it." 

Day 3:

Write each of your kids a note and list five things you've noticed about them lately that you love and admire. It's amazing what happens in our hearts and theirs when we focus on their blessings rather than their chaos. 

Day 4:

Go ahead and think through some logical and realistic consequences you can give when your kids need your correction. This is especially good to have for rushed and stressful morning routines. For example, tell them what time you expect them to be in the car ready to go. For every minute they are late, they will have to go to bed 10 minutes early that night. Six minutes late will mean they'll be heading to bed an hour early. For older kids you might want to adjust their weekend curfew time. 

Day 5:

For the next week, write the words imperfect progress (Imperfect changes are slow steps of progress wrapped in grace … imperfect progress) at the top of every day's to do list. If you have a smart phone, set an alert to pop up each morning of this week to remind you, "Make imperfect progress today." Then determine that making imperfect progress with your reactions is the most important thing you can accomplish today.

 We are only on day 2 but it made a huge difference yesterday and I am prayerfully confident that change is coming "One day at a time!"