Stretching My Spirit

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give me your best five minutes on:::

Stretch…

Most mornings when I wake up, I stretch--my arms above my head, my back, my legs.  It's a way of readying my body for a new day, transitioning from sleeping to wakefulness.  It tells my body what my brain already knows: It's time to get up, start moving, start the things that need to be done today.

What if I stretched my spirit, too?

I confess, my spiritual habits have been lacking lately.  I do devotions with my husband every single morning--I read the Scripture passages, sometimes nearly a whole chapter, he reads the devotion, and we pray together.  But I haven't been reading my Bible on my own much recently.  And my first thoughts in the morning aren't always prayer.

This morning my husband and I both woke up feeling way better than we had when we went to sleep.  So my first thought was this morning, "Thank you, Jesus, for helping us feel better!"  I was singing the Doxology in my head when I went to make breakfast.

But it's not always that way.  I wish it were.

Exercise of the body takes discipline.

So does exercise of the mind--or of the spirit.

It will take discipline for me to remember to stretch myself spiritually each morning, and throughout each day.

But I know that's something God wants me to do.  So when I pray and ask for his strength, his courage, and his help to do so--I know he'll answer that prayer.  God wants me to be closer to him, and I know he'll help me as I seek to approach him more and in a deeper way.

Stretching my body feels so good every morning.  I know stretching my spirit will be even better.

Linking up today with:

Lisa-Jo Baker (of course, with FMF); Your Thriving Family; Consider the Lilies; finding joy; Susan Godfrey