I Have A Date // The Weekend Brew
The early morning quiet greets me most mornings at 5:00 AM. The darkness is still an inky black and the only light comes from the bedside lamp I turn on to start my day. There is a complete hush of quiet broken only by the throwing back of the comforter and my footsteps padding into the other room. All of these pieces work together to create my favorite time of the day. A time to renew, restore, read and center.
You see – I have a date! This one is so important to me that my day is not complete until I have had my daily date with God. I have tried to get by without my early morning quiet time, without my devotions, without the Word, but each time my day has resulted in imbalance, lack of focus and at times has been a train wreck. God has been asking me on this date for years and within the last five years, I finally said “yes”. God will never give up in relentlessly pursuing us into a deeper relationship with Him and even through my stubbornness, ability to over schedule my day without Him and my lack of understanding of the importance of centering on Him each day, God never gave up.
This is how I know:
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)
God is never going to give up on us, His masterpiece, because He made us in His own image to live a life for Him.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6 NLT)
God is our Shepherd and He lovingly pursues us even when we stray or lose our way. He will never tire of running after us to lead us back home.
[Tweet “God cherishes a date with us to meet us in our busy & quiet our souls.”]
My morning date with God is a time of quiet and stillness. It’s a time to let go of my daily schedule for about 30 minutes and just be. I’m not always successful, but starting with a quick prayer for God to join me and thanking Him for a new day is a great way to start. God reminded me as 2015 began that I needed to spend part of my daily quiet time in His Word. He will meet me there and teach me if I open my heart and ears to His truth. The rest of the time flows as I am led. My date is not perfect but it is always beautiful because God is at the center. God cherishes a daily date with us to meet us in our busy and quiet our souls.
Do you have a daily date with God? Is it more of a weekly or monthly date? How do you sustain the quiet and stillness in the midst of the busy that each new day brings?
We are blessed that you join us here at The Weekend Brew and share your hearts and words. We would be nothing without your sweet encouragement.
Now it’s your turn to share encouragement at The Weekend Brew!
1. Share a post, photo scripture — anything that breathes life and encourages.
2. Grab the button to use in your post (it’s in the footer of my site), or simply link back here.
3. Visit the person who linked up before you (and a few others along the way)!
Thanks for hosting! I loved this post. The imagery was beautiful and to have that special time with God everyday is priceless. Thanks for sharing! #bloggercaregroup
So glad you joined us. Your sweet words are lovely encouragement. Blessings!
I absolutely need to do this. I crave it! Except sometimes the bed is warm and snuggly and that wins. Right now I’m in a ‘as soon as I drop the kids off to school’ stage. That has been working well.
That works too! I just love that we are trying to be intentional in having our date with God. The time and place is our preference. Thank you for joining us today.
I love you referred to your daily quiet time as “a date with God.” That is the way I will refer to my early morning time from now on. I’ve been having a daily date with God for probably 30 years. I learned a long time ago that it is the only time to be sure that I have a date with him and there’s no better way to begin my day. Happy week to you!
I’m so blessed by your commitment and beautiful relationship with Jesus. There is something about having a date that makes it more of a daily gift and blessing for both God and myself. So thankful you joined in here today.
My daily time with Jesus has been pretty sporadic. However, this year has started differently. Back in December I added “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young to my Christmas wish list and thankfully hubby bought it for me. I’ve made a commitment to get up a little before 6:00 each morning to have my “Jesus & me” time. The cool thing is many mornings I’ve woken up a few minutes early and feel like He is calling me to come meet with Him. It is becoming such a sweet time of fellowship with my Jesus!
It makes my heart so happy to hear that Jesus actually calls to you each morning by waking you up. That is love! Jesus Calling has always been one of my favorite devotionals and when I read it through I was struck how everyday the words seemed to be written just for me. Blessings!
You too!? Each day there is something…. the devotional, Bible verse or journaling that is meant for me. This is my first time reading Jesus Calling and I believe it won’t be my last. I didn’t think a short devotional each day could have such an impact on my walk with Jesus.
What a lovely way to think of our daily quiet time with God! Thank you for the beautiful post & for hosting & God bless!
I love hosting with Barbie on the weekends. It is such a beautiful community of writers and encouragers. Praying we all find a quiet time with God to refuel, restore and renew. Sunday blessings!
I am trying to figure out what this looks like for me in this season with a newborn. All I know for sure is that it’s important!
Allow yourself grace girl! Maybe a word here or there while Haven is nursing will work. So glad you stopped by in the midst of your busy newborn schedule. Love you!
Thank you for this encouragement, Mary (& Barbie)! Timely, indeed. I have slipped in my early morning time since Christmas, and that needs to change. I’ll be thinking of you at 5am on Monday, friend! I’ll be praying for you too! Bless you!
I pray that God enters your day and reminds you always as to how much He loves you. He knows your heart and loves you without end. Developing a quiet time can be consistent or disappear just as soon as you think you have it under control. I have been in both places. Blessed you joined in the conversation and linked up. Hugs!
And love you, sweet Barbie!!! xoxo
I so love my daily morning date with Him. It’s my favorite, favorite time of the day. And I’ve started doing a quick devotional time when I first get to the office too, to give me another boost before I kick things in full gear. I love that my husband now eventually joins me in the morning for a few minutes of Bible reading together. Great encouragement, Mary, to make time for this date with God. Happy Saturday. Love you. xoxo
I know you are an early bird too, but how wonderful that we make this time with God to let Him remind us that He loves us and for us to thank Him for all He does. Thank you for stopping by and joining in. Love you!
I love Jesus dates! Sometimes I get in the car with my Bible and journal, grab a coffee to go and drive to a lovely place beside the river or the park. Those are my favorite Jesus dates.
I would love to find a quiet park or outside place too. When I take walks, my time is full of worship music and Jesus because He shows up every time. Have a blessed weekend!
Mary, I used to envy people like you because I tried so hard to do that and couldn’t. It was only recently that I realized that even the devotionals that I read while still in the warmth of my bed don’t really stay with me all day. I’m productive once I get up, but as the day goes on, I don’t always necessarily remember what I’ve read or done (that sounds a bit dementia related, but that’s not at all what I mean!). I’ve finally given myself permission to NOT have early morning time with God because it’s not my best time. My best time is at night…I don’t typically have a date with God, like you do; we’re sort of inseparable all day long. I’m always talking to Him, asking Him to teach me, looking for God-signs in my day. And sometimes, I wander in the garden with him (check out my Winnie the Pooh post that I’ve posted in the WB). And I no longer feel guilty that my time doesn’t look like someone else’s time. Since we’re all wired differently,I think that we all meet with God in different ways. loved your post! And thanks for hosting again, Mary!
I love that God is your constant companion throughout the day. What a blessing for you and for Him. God is never far from my thoughts throughout the day but my intentional quiet time does happen in the morning. So blessed you joined us and can’t wait to read your post.
Yes, nothing can take the place of developing this kind of relationship with God. Loved this post today, Mary!
Love having you here today, Ginger! Time with God is a blessing for us as well as Him. Have a blessed weekend!
My day goes better too when I begin with time with the Lord. This year I have started a new routine. Instead of checking e-mail first thing (yes, that was my habit) I am spending time in the Word. It helps to have the commitment to a precept Bible study.
It’s so easy to make other habits that take us away from time with God but oh how He loves when we stop just for Him. Have a blessed weekend!
Mary,
I like to refer to my time with God as having a date, too! The time for the date has changed over the years, but it is always a sweet time! I love how you wrote that your date is not perfect, but it is always beautiful because God is at the center. What a true statement that is! We aren’t perfect, but through our quiet times, we are deepening a relationship with a God who is!
All for Him, Joan
Amen! God is perfect and loves to take our imperfections and make them whole through our relationship with Him. I love that you have dates too. God certainly cherishes that time with us. Blessings!
5 am? How I admire your discipline, dear friend. And your devotion to our Savior! I was just writing a similar post in my head at o’dark thirty the other night. No need to do it now. You have spoken what is true.
Sabbath rest and refreshment to you, Mary!
Thank you dear Linda! Believe me the weekend time is not 5:00 AM. 🙂 Sabbath rest to you too! Hugs!
Oh, Mary, this was so good!! I believe in that quiet time with the Lord. I try so hard to not do ANYTHING except fix my coffee before I start my time with Him. No social media, no email, no NOTHING before the Word and prayer. I love the early morning, I am up at 5:30 most mornings too, feel like I am missing out (which I am) if I miss that time and then I get so busy or distracted that I never get back to prayer.
Beautiful post! Love the “date” theme. ♥
Not sure how I missed your comment earlier but I love that you stopped by The Weekend Brew. I can relate when you say you feel like you are missing out when you don’t have your quiet time. My day loses a sense of focus when busy takes over instead of letting quiet invade and embrace. So blessed you are here Nannette!
How blessed you are to be a morning person, Mary! I prefer mornings with the Lord, but it isn’t easy. I grab time with Him whenever I can and do my best to be purposeful about it. His presence definitely makes a difference in my day. Blessings.
I love that you are grabbing time with God because it means you are intentional about your relationship with Him. I know that having Jesus in my life makes all the difference. Blessings!
Thanks so much for hosting this every weekend! I have made it my New Year’s goal to have a quiet time with God every morning, first thing. I am not 100% meeting that goal, I would say I am at about 70%. But the days when I do make it a priority are the days that seem to run so much smoother and that I have a better attitude about everything.
I can understand how quiet time with God can improve our attitudes Miranda. Thank you for joining The Weekend Brew.
A friend and I were just talking about this yesterday. I do my time with God in the morning and she likes her time with God in the afternoon. Sometimes, I like to do both. I think it is important to just “do it”. She was surprised by this because mostly what was taught to her was to have the devotion time in the morning. God knows our hearts, He knows when we are attentive to Him. If we get the most from morning or afternoon, He knows. It’s just important that we spend time with the Father and grow our relationship with Him. Thank you for posting and hosting this weekend! Have a beautiful weekend. Tammy
It is just important that we have this God time-I agree! I believe many people think that they have to start their day with God or they are doing it wrong, but whenever and wherever is exactly what God wants. Blessed you joined us! We love having you here!
Yes, Mary, I’m up at 5 a.m. weekdays for my date with the Lord. I tried other times, but it never worked – too much noise and busyness! My problem is that I am not a morning person. However, He has been faithful to wake me morning by morning! Thanks for sharing!
I love that God cherishes your time together enough that He makes sure you are awake and ready to spend time with Him. That is God in action pursuing us without end. Blessed you are here and joined in the conversation. May your weekend be full of God moments!
Love this; what a catchy title!! ✿ My date with God is early morning too; love to rise and shine with my coffee in one hand and my Bible, Devotionals, and SIC (Sisters in Christ) emails/internet in the other. My day is off track and not complete unless I begin each and every day with joy that comes from praise, worship, and encouragement.
Blessings dear Mary; thanks for the link party! Have a joyful weekend!
Sounds like our early morning quiet is similar and a great place to meet God to start our day. I truly have tried going without the quiet time and it has not been pretty!! 🙂 Love that you joined us here! Blessings!
I have daily time with the Lord, it just depends on when it works for my schedule. I found that if I said I needed it to be at 5:30 in the am, then it didn’t always work out, I’d be discouraged. So now, it’s when it works that day. Sometimes its at night, sometimes in the am. But it’s consistent. And feels less routine for me, which is a nice thing. I’m glad you found something that works for you. My happy place is just to hear that all these great women are consistently in the Word! Praise the Lord. 🙂
I am agreeing with you that my happy place is in knowing we cherish our time with God and His word. Even though my day starts the same, I don’t feel like it is a routine that I will get tired of because it is a calming time before the busy of the day and God meets me right there in my mess. Love how your schedule provides flexibility to meet God at different times. Have a blessed weekend!
Thank you for hostimg! Yes, I agree! It seems the best way to study the Bible is to have a set time and for me it is early morning before the kids come that I babysit.
I love the thread that we have going here because we all are in agreement that taking the time for God is important. Focusing my day on Him instead of the huge “to do” list is more effective than jumping into the day without preparing my heart. Blessed you joined us.
Mary, I too have to get up early & have coffee with God 🙂 There is something about the early mornings, the peaceful quiet, the inactivity which just allow me to hear what He has to say to me. I loved your photo as “Longing For More” is on my to-read list 🙂 Blessings, sweet friend!
I love that you are an early bird because I know our paths have crossed during that early morning time. For me the complete stillness in the morning provides opportunities to really listen and hear which I need to do more of during this time. Love that you joined us here Joanne!
And yes, Longing for More is a beautiful devotional that hits home each day. You will love it!
Hello Mary and Barbie! Yes, I can’t go without my daily date either, but I do it at 5:30. How do you manage to get up ata 5? What time do you go to bed? I would love to get up that early, but ministry commitments and two teens make it hard to go to bed early. Any secrets? (Practical question here. 🙂 )
I love that dark, morning time too. God meets us.
Betsy-I am not always good at going to bed early enough but my goal is always 10 if not a little earlier. I definitely allow myself grace on the weekend to refuel. There is nothing like the dark of the morning to add to the complete stillness I seek in my time with God. Blessed you are here today!
BTW-there is no secret to going to bed earlier, however, I am past the days with teenage boys. I use to go to bed much earlier than them. 🙂