Joy in the Morning

Wow!! Gotta pinch myself cause I can’t believe I did it. And liked it.

Ok, so for the last month or so I’ve been really trying to re-organize my time—just really trying to make the most out of my day in the best way possible. If you haven’t read in my entries…..my day is unnecessarily hectic because I don’t get home til close to 9pm every night. Yes, getting home at this hour seems doable for a single woman---as I am---but it leaves very little room to do things in the evenings like have a quality “date night”, do the catch-up with girlfriends over dinner, or even do a little shopping at the local malls. Sooo, these social necessities have been allotted to the leftover time on the weekends, after spending time with the family, church activities, and my mandatory “me” time. No, no, no…..my Sunday afternoons are for ME, and me only---lol.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been screaming……. “something’s gotta give”!!!! I could no longer continue to pile all of my non-work activities on Saturday. It was driving me crazy and making me feel like I had no weekend. From grocery shopping, to washing the car, to personal grooming, to real estate activities, to social functions, to quality time with family and friends, whatever……all on Saturday. It had gotten to the point where I’d get cross-eyed when I was invited to something. Can’t do it. And don’t want to do it.

Cause first, on Saturdays I ain’t getting out the bed before 9:30am. That’s my only day to sleep in and to be honest…..it’s gotta be a darn good reason to even get me out the house before noon. Its nothing for me to get home well after midnight on Saturday evenings, but don’t touch my Saturday mornings.

And second, if it’s raining……oh chances are I won’t show up to nothing--lol. And I hate to commit myself to something and not follow through on plans. So more than likely I’ll show up late or grouchy or plan to leave early if it’s rainy and dreary out. I know….I got issues--lol.

So for a long time, and I mean years, I couldn’t figure out why I’d get to work on Monday mornings and hear about other people’s exciting and eventful weekend, and be baffled. I mean, how can you really plan something exciting in 2 days???? The only 2 days we have off from work. I mean, really. Ok, me and [my friend] have "date night" over the phone on Friday nights cause we’re both extremely exhausted from the work week. And he has to try to stay awake long enough for me to get home and wind down---usually after10pm. Saturdays are the catch-all days, and my Sundays are MY days after church. So I just couldn’t understand how people have time to do much of anything on weekends, especially those with children.

I guess this is the perfect time to insert one of my favorite quotes…… “a natural pattern will show in detail what the Spiritual reality consists of.” LOL

(Deep breath). He’ll get a kick out of me saying that he is right about something. But I gotta give him his props…..he’s so right. [My friend] has tried to convince me forever that the morning is the best time to get stuff done. By the time I get up on weekday mornings he has already showered, shaved, dressed, had coffee and read the paper. Many mornings he’ll brag that he’s been up since 5am-ish preparing for a meeting or something. I laugh with a……whatever. I think he’d given up on some good quality conversation with me in the mornings. Cause he knows he won’t get a decent response from me until after 10:00a. After I’ve had time to scope of the office premises, and have my tea. This irritates him---lol.

Sooooo, I had run out of choices. The only way to make the most out of my day was to stretch it at the beginning instead of abusing it at the end. You know…for peace sake--lol. For the last year, I’ve been working out at my office gym. It’s small and quaint, but does the job---I guess. And its convenient. But the problem is that I don’t usually finish working til close to 6pm-ish, which didn’t put me on the machines til well after 6pm. After a good two hour workout that calculates to getting home at 8:45p-ish.

Before they installed the gym at work, I made good use of my 20-year Bally's membership. The major downfall to that was getting home after 7:30p from work, driving all the way to Germantown to the nearest Bally’s and after a good two-hour workout…..uuuum, back home at almost 10p. So working out at the office made so much better use of my time. At least that’s what I thought.

Sooo, a couple of weeks ago I decided to look for a gym closest to my house in which I could get in a good morning workout and still have time to get into the office by 9:30a. I knew it made more economical sense to utilize the free office gym while continuing to maintain my $6 a month membership at Bally’s on the weekends, but it has gotten to the point where managing my time is just as important as managing my finances.

Let me tell you how God works.

A couple of weeks ago I got a coupon in the mail for a new “no nonsense” gym that has just been built…..uuuuuuh one minute and 30 seconds from my house. No lie……it’s a quarter of a song away. Convenience---CHECK. So I go to the gym about a week or so ago to check it out and me and the trainer hit it off immediately. Not only did he give me a power workout routine that will only take 45 minutes, but he also hooked it up where I only pay $29 a month with no contract and no down payment. I was like…… “this is too good to be true”.

So after meeting with dude, I got home and looked at all brochures of the classes, state-of-the-art equipment, the facility's amenities, AND they’re open from 5am-11pm…..I was sooo excited. I mean, even if I wanted to come home in the evening and chill for a while, I could still go and get a quick 45 minute workout and be home in time to make my phone calls. But I decided to do something a little different. I said……. “I’ma try to workout in the mornings.” Yep, I had it all mentally planned that I was gonna get up at 5:15a, and be on the machine by 5:30a. Then last week I got sick. And now I understand why. The devil was pissed.

But I can’t be defeated. Not when I make my mind up about something. So this morning I got up bright and early at 5:10a. I threw on my gym clothes, brushed my teeth, pulled my hair back in a ponytail, made a protein shake, grabbed my keys and phone, and was pulling up in the gym parking lot by 5:27a. When I got there it was LIVE. So many people were there getting their workout on. I couldn’t believe it. It was just a burst of energy in the air. I’m telling you…..I worked out til I was drenched. I felt like I had put in a full day. When I was leaving out I looked up at the clock and it said…..6:22a. I couldn’t believe it. I usually don’t get out the bed til 7am!!! Shhhhhhh. But I had sooo much vigor. I even got to work a little earlier.

You know, the Bible talks a lot about the morning time. One of my favorite books is Good Morning, Holy Spirit by Benny Hinn. I read it years ago, but I remember it speaking about the morning time. I’ve gotta repent, because I’ve taken advantage of the morning time. The morning is such a precious time. It’s when I hear God speak to me. Even when I’m groggy and in my last dream before I awake. But the morning is the most powerful time of the day. And it took this morning to fully realize it.

When I left the gym there was a freshness in the air. Like I made an impact and was productive, but hadn’t really started yet. It was a weird feeling. But I welcomed it. And I liked it. I like it. And I like the fact that I have my entire evening ahead of me to do WHATEVER I want to do. But I think I want to catch the kickboxing class at 7:30p. So I’m outta here. PEACE!!!

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. –Psalm 5:3