Early Riser

Are you an early riser?  

I'm really not at all.

When I'm up early I do enjoy how quiet and calm the morning is but as far as loving to get up early...

I'm not a huge fan. 

This weekend I had the privilege of  hearing several different women speak about women in the bible.  One of the women we studied was Abigail from I Samuel 25. It was the second time in recent months that I have been in a class about Abigail and I'm learning tons from her.  This particular lesson compared her to the woman in Proverbs 31.  And all though there are many applications and comparisons that can be made from the two one particular is in my head this morning - getting up early in the morning and being prepared.

Without retelling the entire story of Abigail let's just say she had a big task ahead of her and she was ready for it.  When Abigail learned of the big task ahead of her she did not hesitate and was ready for action.  

1 Samuel 25:18 says,

"Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys..."

 

That's a lot of food to just go and grab.  I don't really have prepared food in my house that I can just go and grab.  There is food that will take planning and preparation to do but I'm thinking that is not best way to go about it.  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just go and grab a bunch of food for a family that needs it instead of having to plan a trip to the grocery store, finding the time to cook the extra food, etc?  I think it would be fabulous to be able to serve others better if I were more prepared.  

So how did Abigail accomplish this?  We know she was a wealthy woman and that she probably had servants to help but I'm thinking she was prepared because she was a woman who was doing what she was supposed to in her home.  

 Proverbs 31:15 says,

"She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants."

So if I'm putting two and two together correctly I'm thinking Abigail was a  

wise worthy woman of noble character.  

I think the rest of the story of Abigail points to that fact.  And if I am supposed to be a woman of noble character too then I need to be more prepared like Abigail.  I think she probably got up before the sun and took care of her family's needs.  You can probably get a lot done in the mornings.  So I'm going to start something new in my life - beginning tomorrow because I didn't do to well this morning, hey I'm being honest here.  I'm going to get up early and make sure things are taken care of for my family.  You may say that, "lp you've only got you and MK to take care of."  Well that's true it is just me, MK and the pups but that doesn't mean we don't have laundry and food doesn't need to be cooked and the house doesn't get messy.  I'd venture to say a lot of things get put off due to the fact we both are working long, long days (which is an understatement at this point) and we're too tired in the evenings to do anything.  By 6 or 7 my brain is spent and my energy is gone.  

But a good cup of coffee in the quiet of morning can really get me going.  And who knows getting up early may make things easier for me in the evenings.  

It could be a win, win (win).  

So here's to being an early riser, being prepared, and trying to stay on the path of being a noble woman.

- super early riser (fingers crossed) lp