{"id":5312,"date":"2020-02-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5312"},"modified":"2020-03-05T19:00:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T01:00:34","slug":"starting-my-day-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5312","title":{"rendered":"Starting My Day with God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart\nsmile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How I admire people who are cheerful in the morning! They irritate me, but I admire them.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One year my\nwriter\u2019s conference roommate was amazing! It didn\u2019t matter what time we went to\nbed, she got up each morning dedicated to getting at least an hour of prayer\nand another hour of Bible study done before starting her day. Four or five or\nsix o\u2019clock! It didn\u2019t matter. I\u2019ve gotten to know this woman fairly well and\nthis is still her normal routine. She\u2019s very consistent \u2013 no matter where she\nis in the world, no matter what her daily schedule holds, no matter what! She\u2019s\ntruly an extraordinary person whom I admire greatly. I almost felt guilty\ntelling her not to worry about the light shining in my eyes when she got up \u2013 I\ncould sleep through anything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, I\u2019m\nstill a firm believer in starting my day with God even when I have difficulty\nrolling out of bed. My spirit is willing, but my flesh truly is weak (Matthew\n26:40). So I don\u2019t wait until I get up each morning to acknowledge God. I do it\nfirst thing when I wake up \u2013 even while I\u2019m still in bed. I say, \u201cThank You,\nLord, for a brand new day.\u201d It\u2019s amazing what that quick little prayer can do\nto make me mindful of God\u2019s daily presence in my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I\nadd, \u201cAnd thank You for that great night\u2019s sleep!\u201d If I don\u2019t sleep too well, I\nmight say, \u201cI didn\u2019t sleep well last night, Lord, so I\u2019m going to need a little\nhelp to make it through the day.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I oversleep,\nI might say, \u201cWow! Look at the time. Thank You, Lord, for that extra sleep. Now\nplease help me get moving and stay focused on You!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to have the philosophy of my favorite cartoon character Maxine\nwho says, \u201cAny day on this side of the flower bed is a pretty good day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each day is one the Lord has made and we are told to rejoice\nand be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). That means every day is a brand new gift from\nGod. Each new day is full of opportunities and possibilities. It\u2019s another\nchance to hold loved ones near, to enjoy creation, to praise and worship God.\nAnd we are encouraged to rejoice and be glad IN it \u2013 not in spite of it or\nafter it\u2019s over \u2013 but IN it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a joy to go through each day with God! Starting the\nmorning by acknowledging Him is a little gift I give myself that sets the tone\nfor the day. It helps me focus on the spiritual, not the physical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no\ndenying that some days are good and some are not so good, but God is with me\nthrough them all. I don\u2019t want to rob myself of appreciating today by living in\nregret of yesterday and fear of tomorrow. Let\u2019s face it \u2013 yesterday is gone and\nthere is no guarantee for tomorrow. Today is all I have, so I better make the\nmost of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Heavenly Father, what a comfort to know I never have to go through a day alone. You are always with me. Saying hello to You each morning reminds me of that. Some days are harder than others. That\u2019s when I need to feel Your presence so I can make it through. And please help me not to take the good days for granted because they are a blessing from You.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren How I admire people who are cheerful in the morning! They irritate me, but I admire them.   One year my writer\u2019s conference roommate was amazing! It didn\u2019t … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}