5 AM

It took us a while, but we finally figured out what so many around us already knew: If you have children and you want to spend time working on your physical, personal or spiritual growth, there is only one time to do it. 5 AM!!

I had been noticing dear hubby and I had been complaining a lot. Not enough time. Not enough time to exercise. Not enough time to do the laundry. Not enough time to read our bibles and pray. Not enough time. If we tried to fit it in somewhere during our already crammed days, it cut into family time. That just made for grumpy kids and grumpy spouse who got to stay with the kids.

I was the genius who finally figured out what the solution was (neither of us wanted to face the hard, cold, dark facts).

We have each had desires to do this at various times before....independently of one another. I finally figured out we needed to approach this as a united front for it to work. We ALWAYS work better together toward a common goal than we ever do alone. I mean, who wants to wake up at 5 while their spouse is snug as a bug in a rug? Never lasted long.

Now we have a game plan. The week is divided up - one of us gets to go work-out and the other still has to wake up at 5. The one at home has a list of suggestions for productive use of the time.

We're only into our second week, but it is going so much better than any other attempt has. GO TEAM! Whether I'm the one out getting my exercise, or the one at home working on bettering myself in other ways, I have a sense of accomplishment. I can actually look back on my morning and know that I've actually done something other than say "Get off your sister!" 50 times.

Don't get me wrong, there still isn't enough time. But now there are 7 to 10 more extra hours in the week.

Thank you God for the blessings of the morning!!