Bring more peace into your days through healthy habits and a solid morning routine.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
Psalm 5:3 RSVCE
Why a Morning Routine Matters for Catholic Moms
Before I had my oldest son, I did not have any sort of morning routine. I certainly did not pray, nor have any preoccupation with prayer. My life had no rhyme or reason. I took care of my responsibilities (like showing up for work, school, and at the bare minimum cooking for my husband). There was no clear vision of anything really. I guess I didn’t really feel the need for a morning routine, or the need to have rhyme or reason to my life.
But God is good. He is so good.
When my son was 4 I began to incorporate daily prayer as part of a morning routine as I began to come back to my faith as a cradle Catholic. I began to learn of the importance of my calling as a mother and the power that daily prayer has in my life to give me strength and courage for the journey of motherhood. Even so, as the Lord worked in me, I continued to struggle with prayer and sticking to a morning routine. It wasn’t until I had my second child, 6 years later that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I got pregnant quickly after having my second child, 3 months post-partum and here we were again expecting our third child. My second had just turned 1 when my daughter was born.
Life quickly becomes chaotic when you don’t have a set morning routine in place, between your family’s needs, children’s needs, your own personal needs, and all the other demands placed on us as homemaking moms, working moms, single moms, we need structure to our days in order to fulfill the beautiful calling that the Lord has bestowed upon us to care and love for our families.
A great way to start with structure is to hone in on your morning routine.
Still not convinced?
3 Reasons Catholic Moms Need a Morning Routine
- Time with the Lord in Peace and Stillness
The Lord is faithful, we are the ones that aren’t. He is always ready to listen, it is we that don’t speak. The Lord is always ready to fill our cup, we don’t bring our empty cup to Him. In the quiet of the morning before your family wakes up, you can hear the Lord clearly, you can feel Him comforting you. This time is necessary, mornings are when the mind is freshest, early mornings are where the world is quiet and the daily demands of motherhood are at its stillest. Sit still with the Lord during this time and receive His comfort.
2. Spiritual and Physical Self-Care
This is time to replenish your spirit and body. Pray, have a cup of coffee, drink water, exercise, stretch. Prep yourself for the ministry the Lord has called you to.
3. Preparedness for the Day Ahead
With a solid morning routine you will feel more prepared, and ready for the day as your family awakens because you have taken time to refuel yourself for the days joys and struggles.
What to Include in Your Catholic Morning Routine
- Begin with Prayer and Scripture
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
Scrolling through your phone, watching TV, or sleeping until the last moment will not bring you rest. The Lord will, make Him a priority in your life and watch how your soul begins to find peace in the midst of chaos. Pray all day, but especially in the mornings, when your soul, mind, body and heart are at its stillest and sit with Him.
2. Gentle Movement or Exercise
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Cor 6:19-20
Even if it is just stretching, move your body. Engage in something that gets the blood flowing to your body. Now, I am not promoting vanity, or extremism in exercise. I am simply suggesting that movement is important. Our body’s are temples of the Holy Spirit, as temples of the Triune God, let us respect our bodies, let us care for them as one would care for the temple in which God dwells. It does not have to be a 2 hour long gym session if that is not your strength, but like I said, a simple stretching session, a short walk, whatever your preferred form of movement is, do it and watch how caring for your body begins to change your days.
3. A Joyful Hobby or Restorative Practice
Do you enjoy crocheting, reading, writing? Take time to do something that you enjoy, that brings you joy.
How to Build a Morning Routine That Works for Your Season
Assess Your Time and Family Rhythm
- Identify how much time you have in the mornings to spare according to your family’s rhythms. Can you wake up 1 hour earlier before everyone? How about 2 hours? How much time do you need?
- Be realistic with your season in life, and start small with time and activities that you can stick to.
- Choose What Matters Most Right Now
- Identify what “supplies” you will need to make this happen. DO you need your bible, your rosary, an exercise mat, your crochet supplies? Keep them accessible.
- Prep the Night Before for Success. You don’t want to be scrambling about at 5am trying to get your things together especially when trying to establish a new habit.
- Identify how many hours of sleep you need a night to function properly and from your wake time count backwards that amount of hours, this is your target bedtime.
- Go to bed at the time you chose the night before (or course without neglecting the needs of your family, but try your best to make it happen and be patient and compassionate with yourself and your family).
- Start your morning routine the next morning, don’t forget to set your alarm!
Of course, there is much more that you can add to your morning routine depending on your state in life, and that’s okay, this is to help you incorporate some important things in your morning before the days picks up its pace.
A Word of Encouragement for the Weary Mom
- Be gracious with yourself, as the Lord our God is gracious with us.
- Be flexible! Adjust as necessary, and let go of perfection, as fallen human beings, we are far from perfect so don’t place that unnecessary pressure to yourself.
- Be realistic, you cannot go from 0 – 100, establishing good habits and routines takes time.
- Be conscious of your own strengths and weaknesses and work with them, not against them.
The Lord promised to be with us until the end of age. Our God is a God of order, a solid morning routine as a mom is one way to bring order to our mornings.
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