We all make excuses.

We all talk about being in seasons of life, and how this certain season keeps us from doing this or that; how this season stops us from walking towards that dream that we have.

This season is making it impossible to loose the weight.

start the business.

venture out and make new friends…

So many times we make excuses about “seasons” of life that we are in and how that season is keeping us from doing something that we want to do… when in reality, if it was a priority, we would create time and space for it.

We can all be way too prone to make excuses. And use “seasons” as our cop- out.

But sometimes life DOES throw us a serious curve-ball. And when it does, our rhythm changes. And pretty soon our perspective follows suit. And so I do think that, while there are plenty of cop-out excuses, there are legitimate reasons for “seasons” in our life.

Take this curve-ball for an example: twice daily puking, constant draining of stale tasting phlegm draining down the back of your throat, and groggy, un-pryable (is this a word??) eyeballs…otherwise known as the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

5.5 weeks ago, I found out that we are going to be having our 3rd baby! Baby girl, baby boy, that I don’t know. But I do know that I have been feeling AWFUL.

4 weeks ago I stopped my Mama’s Mornings. And about 3.9 weeks ago I started desperately missing them.

My last two pregnancies started with 22 + weeks of constant nausea, vomiting, an awful lip curling taste in my mouth, and constant drainage that I can feel dripping (slowly, thickly) down the back of my throat and into my sea wrecked stomach. And the earlier I wake up, the worse I feel.

So, for now, quiet early mornings have stopped. And here is what I miss the most:

• not feeling groggy when the kids get up (because I now wake up with them, not 1.5+ hours before them)
• Quiet and slow time alone
• Undisturbed time and space to read the Word and pray
• Time by myself to be creative and learn
• My uninterrupted cup of hot tea

But this is the “season” that I find myself in, and waking up early is not worth all the negative that comes with it right now. BUT – this will not be my slippery slope to years of lazy mornings and groggy good morning’s to my kiddos.

Too many times we say “Oh, this is just the season that I am in” when we really know deep down that we never plan to walk out of that “season”.

So how can we stay motivated during seasons that make mornings hard, or take them away completely? I’m glad you asked 🙂

1. Remember Your Why

I know why I want to get up early, and what it does for my day. Here is my why:

I will wake up early, before the kids, 6 days a week because I know that the morning is best time of day for me to spend quietly reading the Word and in prayer, and I know being consistent with my Mama’s Morning will transform my heart and mind so that I can be a more patient, loving, generous mom, wife, friend, daughter, neighbor.  

If I continue to remember that, I will continue to look forward to the day when I will get back into my favorite rhythm.

If you are in a “season” similar to me, and want to make sure that you don’t stay there forever, craft you own WHY and review it consistently. Put it up somewhere that you can see it.

2. Write Down the Criteria For Starting Back

If we are not careful one morning we will wake up and realize that it has been 6 years and we are still not where we want to be. We never fell back into the rhythm that we said we would fall back into (and by the way, we never really “fall” back into rhythms. It takes work).

Don’t let six years go by.

One excuse after another piles on top of each other until we can’t even remember what the original reason we took the break was. So go ahead, right now, and write down what needs to happen for you to get back into your rhythm.

Right now, for me, it is when I can wake up early without sabotaging the rest of my day with nausea. For you it could be when you husband stops working night shifts, or when your baby starts sleeping 5 hours at a time. Make it direct and specific, so once that point is hit, you won’t be able to make up another excuse.

3. Re-organize and Plan Ahead

Mama’s Mornings are all about waking up early before the kids, so that we can find more energy, mental space, and creativity for our day in the quietness of our home. For me, this means spending the first hours of my mornings praying and reading the Bible. While I might be in a season where mornings are just not working, I know I desperately need to continue to be filled by the wisdom and love of the Holy God.

So, instead of just “Eeyor-ing” your day, bemoaning the loss of this great time, plan to do it a different time of time. Restructure your schedule and rhythm. Nap-time, after bedtime, or late mornings while the kids watch a show (and its OK to admit that your kids watch T.V. Girl, we all do it). Re-organize the day during this season so that you are still able to get your “morning” in, even if it doesn’t happen in the A.M.

Full disclosure here: I have NOT been doing this. I have been skipping my mornings, and have not been making up for it. Over the past four weeks, I have opened by Bible ONCE (excluding at church on Sundays). So, I am not yelling at you here, I am yelling at myself. This is what I need to hear and put into action.

We all go through difficult, schedule sucking, normalcy wrecking “seasons” in life, and I am learning that that is OK, and to understand that life will get back into a good rhythm.

BUT we can’t assume it will. We can’t just give ourselves grace (isn’t God the one who gives that to us, we don’t give it to ourselves?) and walk away. No, it is not easy. We still have to work and put some things in place to steer us back into the direction that we want to go.

So lets do a quick recap of 3 ways to stay motivated when life has your morning held captive:

1. Remember Your Why
2. Write Down the Criteria For Starting Back
3. Re-organize and Plan Ahead

So what is it that has your mornings hijacked? Drop a comment below or shoot me and email at kelsey@mamasmornings.com and would love to chat about it.

I’m rooting for you!