don’t be alarmed.

There was a recent forecast that freezing rain was headed our way overnight. My girls were super excited about the fact that there might not be school the next day. One might think my youngest, who wakes up at 5:45am, would be the most hopeful because she wouldn’t have to wake up at such a terribly early time! However, I learned that my oldest daughter was the most excited. At 5:30am I received a call from the school letting us know that indeed school was canceled due to hazardous road conditions. My oldest daughter wanted me to be sure to wake her up, no matter what the time, to let her know school would not be that day. So I go into her bedroom, and she is NOT an early morning person mind you, wake her up from a deep sleep, deliver the news, with which was met with a squeal of excitement. I asked her if she wanted to turn off her alarm and she quickly reached for her phone to do so. She then asked me if I would turn off her Alexa alarm that was set.

“Alexa, cancel alarm.”

“Which alarm would you like to cancel? 7:10am alarm? 7:20am alarm? 7:30am alarm? 7:40am alarm? 7:50am alarm? 8:00am alarm?

“Cancel all alarms!”

I could not stop laughing! How does this child have so many alarms set?!

And this got me thinking. Ephesians 5:14-16 says

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Many of us are sleepwalking through life. We are missing out on opportunities that God puts before us. We may miss them because of busyness, striving for temporal things, feeling numb in your faith, the stresses of life and hardships, or it might just be that you’re simply trying to make it through the day. Before we know it, another day is here and what have we done with the time being given to us.

One thing I have been doing lately is instead of being disgruntled when my alarm goes off in the morning (because I either don’t want to wake up that early or I have things that I don’t want to face for that day), I simply thank God for waking me up and giving me another day.

So, next time your alarm loudly greets you in the morning, no matter how many alarms it takes, may you find yourself waking up with a thankfulness in your heart. May God open your eyes and wake you up to what it is that He has for you that day. Every day is truly a gift and so are you!