Mornings are a Crisis

Mornings can be a crisis in my house. There are many mornings that I spring out of bed, roll out the task list and plug away on anything and everything that gets in my path as I run around the house like a highly-caffeinated house keeper. (The highly-caffeinated is the only true part here, y'all.)
But then there are mornings where the alarm goes off and I hit snooze a few too many times...you know...the Tuesdays after a holiday weekend that just leave you dazed and confused. (You mean it's not Friday?!) After hitting the snooze too many times, I scramble to the coffee pot and spill grounds all over in the water before hitting the on button, and I stumble over the dog to the pile of (miraculously) clean laundry to find something that resembles pants and a shirt (hoping and praying that I'm not grabbing something that would raise an eyebrow at work - y'all have the "oh really?" concert t-shirt, admit it.) And I'm doing this all before I remember to turn on a light. As I shove contact lenses in my eyeballs and coping with the war that is my hair, I glance at the phone and see I have to have my kid to her school, 30 minutes away, in 25 minutes...and she's still sleeping.
There is a lot of yelling about shoes, praying for no speeding tickets, and heaven forbid I get stuck behind a tractor during harvest season (they earned their road - they were up on time.) Mornings are a crisis sometimes. It's terrible and it sets the tone for us all under the Ruhlig roof.

They say it takes 21 days to kick a habit, and then I read that's a myth, and it actually takes 66 days. Then another article said it takes 90. Either way, kicking a habit is hard. Whether it's smoking, establishing a new routine, reading your Bible every morning, getting your taste buds to accept healthy things over unhealthy things, not hitting the snooze button in the morning, getting to bed earlier...all of these things are hard to cement in. But developing good habits are everything. When you can make a habit out of spending quality time with God in your mornings, you get a kingdom tone to your day. The tractors are less frustrating, the shoes are still lost, but the patience presents itself more willingly.

We see an array of things take place in Luke 19:1-10. I'm sure most of you know the story of Zacchaeus. (The wee little man who climbed the sycamore tree?) He sure had some habits to get over, yet he was curious about this Jesus he had heard about, and Jesus called him out. Not in a judgy sort of way, but in a "let's be friends" sort of way. The people watching commented in a judgy sort of way, but Zacchaeus overcame his habit of cheating people and promised Jesus he would pay it all back. Now, we know it wasn't easy for Zacchaeus to do this. Habits, good or bad, as we know, are hard to kick. Yet Zacchaeus wanted to experience this Jesus fully, without his old ways. It's not easy to break those ways, but we can find something better waiting from below our trees.

Scripture to read:
Luke 19:1-10, Ephesians 4:17-32

Questions to ponder:
What are some habits you have that you would like to trade in for a better experience with Jesus?
What kind of joy could you experience if you gave up certain habits - like the joy Zacchaeus had when Jesus came to his house?
How can you help others get through kicking habits that you once had?