Morning Praise

from www.graphics18.com

My life has gotten pretty hectic.  I've been having flashbacks to January 2011--right before I started this blog.  I was over-committed, over-worked, overwhelmed, and I just walked away from as much as possible and spent the next six months on my knees.  Fast forward to today, and I'm certainly busy again.  But this time, I have absolute confidence that the tasks given me are the tasks that God wants me to accomplish.  Thus, I know that He will help me handle my schedule.  In fact yesterday, someone from church promised to pray that I would specifically be productive in my job, and miraculously I was able to carve out 6+ hours to work at my desk--in addition to homeschooling my 5 yr old, working in the church nursery last night, and making dinner for my family.  Plus, I was in bed before midnight and actually slept all night!  Praise Jesus!

During these crazy days and weeks, it's nice to be able to start my days with more than coffee.  Lately, I've subscribed to the free Days of Praise newsletter/e-magazine from the Institute for Creation Research.  The daily devotionals written by Dr. Henry Morris have been so refreshing.  Ironically, he formats these devotionals in the same way that I used to format my blog entries.  First, a Bible verse, and then the text.  Unlike a number of other daily e-mail devotionals that I've gotten over the years, I actually enjoy and look forward to opening Days of Praise.  Not only do the devotionals focus on the awesomeness of God every day, but they're also a little "deeper" than the average e-devotional.  The late Dr. Morris wasn't afraid to take a hard stand on issues like Creation or the Old Testament or the inerrancy of Scripture (and no, he does not talk about Creation every day!).

As a coffee dependent adult who often stays up late, long morning Bible studies tend to put me to sleep.  I mean, I would have never studied for a college class in the morning, so I don't see why I should attempt an in-depth Bible study early in the morning either.  For me, study time must take place after I'm fully awake during the day or in the evening when I sit down with my decaf coffee and am completely focused.   That said, I like having some Bible time in the morning, and Days of Praise has been a wonderful way to give me something to meditate on all day long!

To subscribe to the Institute of Creation Research's daily Days of Praise (and other publications)  go to: Institute of Creation Research.

Note: Dr. Henry Morris past away in 2006.  His devotionals can be purchased as books on Amazon, but getting the daily blog posts with his writings is way more fun.