Good morning!

With only a little sleepiness and gritting of teeth I have begun my slightly modified daily schedule. The kids have a setup that already works, so it has just been a matter of tweaking my time to make room for all the important things (bible study, exercise, piano practice, husband time, etc etc) without foregoing too much sleep. I essentially swapped my exercise and piano practice blocks, as I was sleeping through the piano way too much and my brain wasn't awake enough when I DID practice to do much effective work. So now I am waking just before 7:00, doing my bible study until 7:30, and then working out from 7:30-8:00 am. I'd love to have hour blocks for both the study and working out, but that has me waking up early enough that I couldn't stick with it when I tried. This is much more doable. Piano practice got bumped to the 3:00-4:00 pm slot, right before I wake the kids from their naps and begin dinner prep.

The thing I think has been missing most from my time lately is self discipline. I've gotten lazy and complacent as a default, just getting by, and it crept into multiple parts of my life - eating, worship, fitness, and yes, even meal prep and parenting. But as with every other time I have tried to 'relax' my personal standards and spend more time in leisure or relaxation, I have gotten thoroughly sick of the result which is constantly feeling lazy, behind the curve, and seeing a mounting pile of unfinished tasks. Extra sleep or a few more minutes reading a book just isn't worth that, especially when I have found that if I discipline myself to get to bed when both me AND my husband need it, I manage to get everything done WITH enough rest to manage it all. Go figure, right?

As a Christian I am supposed to be characterized by wisdom and self discipline, not laziness and foolishness. I know this intellectually, and yet I find I must be vigilant, year and after, to walk in the manner I know God has commanded me and not slip into what I find temporarily convenient, but what ultimately costs me far more than it affords. There are a plethora of scripture on this topic - especially in Proverbs - but as always the Bible has no power unto itself to change men. I really had to go cry out to God and beg Him to control my will in these areas to overcome this sin I have struggled with my whole life (a lack of diligence in the taste set before me). Even knowing what to do wasn't enough - I had to put it into action and I praise the Lord He changed my heart enough to manage. On my own power I can't make it through a single day in the manner I need to, as the past few months have shown.

Lesson learned and hopefully remembered. One task at a time I need to be diligent. This crosses into cleaning, crafts, eating, the way I instruct my children - having a hard working attitude and a willingness to say no to myself to serve others as I am commanded is necessary in almost every moment of my day as a mother and wife. This is the calling the Lord has given me, I will answer and fulfill it joyfully and to the best of my ability. For me, that means rising early and consistently and beginning my day with a study of the Word and a disclipline to take care of my body. I need it in good shape to do everything else I have on my list, after all!

This morning began a new study by Paul Washer called "The One True God", which is a free ebook I cannot recommend heartily enough: http://www.worshipatsgbc.org/Web%20Messages/OneTrueGod-Ed3-online.pdf

It was then capped with 7.7 miles on the bike, and now I'm off to wake the kids, shower, and proceed with the rest of the morning.

As for the site issues, I talked with Peter and we both agree a redesign and combining of all my sites is in order. I need to investigate other journal editors as I am not great with JAWS. With any luck that project of expanding and combining the site will commence in a few weeks' time.

Off to get de-sweated ;)