Slapped in the Heart

Have you ever had the opportunity to get slapped across the heart by God?

If not, Then read in, maybe today is the day as it was for me.

14 oh so short years ago, my world changed for the better.

I became Mom.

At 9:17 in the morning, Japan time, the doctor pulled My Son out of my belly, all whopping 9 LBS 1.5 ounces of him (he was 10 days early, too, can you imagine how big he would have been if he continued to grow in there?...YIKES!)

He was amazing.

And he still is amazing.

Over the years, God has used Christian Keith to teach me lessons I would have never have learned on my own.

That is what happened this morning.

For the last several months,  I have been trying and struggling to get up in the morning. The kids are old enough that they don't need me to get them up, dressed, fed, and on the bus on time, so I dont. Sleep has always been picked before my kids, before exercise, and yes, before God.  I always justified it because my kids don't need me in the mornings, I can always exercise in the evening, and I read a daily Bible verse on my phone's Bible app when I'm on the toilet.

Yep, you read that right. I multitasked God's time with using the bathroom.

There was always a hint of guilt that came with that, but never enough to really change my habits because that time was normally used for Facebook, so I figured I was doing good by not browsing walls and browsing the Bible instead.

Today was different.

Today is my son's birthday, and he didn't want his birthday cake until Saturday, and I HAVE to make him a cake for his birthday, so I got out of bed and sleepily made him pancakes and bacon for breakfast.

I was able and more than willing to get out of bed for my son, but I couldn't do it for myself to exercise my body or my soul.

Christian was so happy to see those pancakes and bacon when he came downstairs.

I was happy to make him happy.

Having extra time this morning, I decided to sip coffee and read my daily Bible verse that was promptly delivered to my phone at 615 this morning.

It was Romans 8:5-8.  The NIV version hit me pretty hard, but the. I switched it to the MSG version....

Romans 8:5-8 MSG

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.

And SMACK!

God slapped me in the heart.

Right where I needed it.

At the exact right time.

If I am so ready, willing and able to get my sleepy butt out of bed for my kiddo, shouldn't I be able to the same thing for God?  He had been telling, nagging me, and now slapping me into mornings.

He has big plans for me.  He has big plans for you, too. But if we don't make Him a priority in our life, we will never be ready to learn those plans.  Our hearts will never be open and trusting enough to follow those plans.

I don't know what the rest of today holds, (besides more coffee) I'm not supposed to know it until that time comes, but I do know that I have an incredible peace about it because God slapped my heart this morning.