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Susan Alexander Yates

Susan Alexander Yates

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How to Beat the Morning Blues

by Susan Alexander Yates

A few years ago I realized that often when I woke up and began to think about my day I became “down” or “discouraged.” There was no prevailing reason why, simply a feeling of dread followed by guilt for feeling this way.

Mothers of young children don’t have the luxury of thinking before they get out of bed. More likely there’s some little foot kicking them or a big voice screaming for them. But some of us don’t have kids. Others have reached the season when we do have a few minutes to awaken and the time to contemplate. It can be a moment of rejoicing or a moment of feeling blue. It depends upon our focus. Lying in bed that morning I realized I needed to adjust my attitude, to shift from thinking about how I felt about my day to focusing on God.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2,“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

It was a different kind of wake-up call for me.

In the gospel of John there is a scene in which Jesus is talking with His disciples as He tries to prepare them for His death. He says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

To stop my habit of thinking negatively as I woke up I began to ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of one character trait of God the Father or of His Son that I could meditate on that day.

I remember the first day I did this, the trait that came to mind was He is a God who rescues (Psalm 18:19, Psalm 91: 14-16). Hopping out of bed with more joy than usual I went to get a cup of tea when my phone rang. A friend on the line burst into tears, “Susan,” she exclaimed, “I’m having so much trouble with my teenage son. I feel like he needs to be rescued.” Can you imagine the joy that flooded my heart? It was as if the Holy Spirit placed an exclamation point over His leading.

On another day the character trait was He is a God who lavishes (Ephesians 1:8). As I thought about God lavishing His love on me I realized how radical that was. Too often I act as if He parcels out his love, trickle by trickle, drip by drip, definitely sparingly, without waste. Oh no! He lavishes. Contemplating this fact changed my entire day!

For many years I have continued this habit. Sometimes I forget and then slowly the morning blues return. I realize I need to resume my habit.

Psalm 90:14 states, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

This small practice has changed my attitude and enabled me to focus more on Him throughout each day.

It was out of this habit that I wrote the book, The One Devotional- One Verse, One Trait, and One Thought for 100 days. 

This little devotional is to encourage you to begin a daily habit of focusing on one character trait of our amazing God. It is so easy for our lives to become about me and my stuff. When this happens we lose perspective and our joy begins to evaporate. God delights in revealing himself to us.

If we will begin to walk through each day focusing on Him and His character we will gain a healthier perspective on our stuff.

After the book was published my artist daughter-in-law Christy, my graphic artist friend Jess, and I developed the One Word cards and stationery. Each one is an original depiction with one word, one verse and one thought. These are used in a variety of ways to help us focus on one character trait of God.

We found that having a visual reminder of God has helped us to focus more on who He is each day rather than on who we are or are not or on our issues.

We want to encourage you to begin a practice of focusing on one character trait of God each day.

Our prayer is that as we focus more on who He is than on how we feel we will be transformed!

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September 4, 2018 · 8 Comments

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Comments

  1. Sandy white says

    March 15, 2018 at 1:10 pm

    Perfect timing for me. Thank you Susan.

    Reply
  2. Shannon Campanelli says

    March 14, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    Thank you Susan! Such truth in these words this AM! Such a good strategy to fight what many of us experience in the early morning moments. Wonderful photo of your wall to greet you in the morning….
    I might just do the same to mine?.

    Reply
  3. Keri McCue says

    December 29, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    I love the idea of focusing on one character trait of God! I think when we do that we will get to know Him better and we will have a more intimate relationship with our Father. Thanks for this!

    Reply
  4. Cathi Cash says

    August 18, 2016 at 11:14 am

    Susan, you shared that list with us years ago…and my dog eared copy is in my bible…ever reminding me of the beautiful character of GOD!

    Reply
    • Susan Yates says

      September 8, 2016 at 8:27 pm

      Libba,

      I love your idea and highly recommend it! I am going to do this tonight!
      Blessings, Susan

      Reply
  5. Libba Sprunt says

    August 17, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    I love this idea! Sometimes when I wake up during the night and can’t go back to sleep, I go through the alphabet of attributes of God, Jesus, or His Holy Spirit. I fall asleep with a smile on my face.

    Reply
    • Susan Yates says

      September 8, 2016 at 8:25 pm

      Jodie,
      Thanks so much for reading my stuff.
      I love you sister!
      Susan

      Reply
  6. Jodie Berndt says

    August 17, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    I LOVE THIS POST!!! Susan, nobody would EVER think you woke up feeling blue…thank you for sharing that with us! And thank you for giving me a new “tool” to use as I face the empty nest mornings. I love how God confirmed his word to you through your friend. He is SO. GOOD.

    Reply

Hello, I’m Susan.

Susan Alexander Yates

I’m a wife (of 50 years), mom to five children (including a set of twins), and grandmother to 21 (including a set of quadruplets!). My favorite time of the year is when all my kids and grandkids are together for a week of “cousins and family camp” in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.

Read more…

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Hiking on the AT with Charley Dog. ❤ God's been Hiking on the AT with Charley Dog. ❤  God's been speaking to my heart through nature recently, and I'm blogging about that this week @rootandvinenews. Here's a short excerpt -- link in my bio to read the rest. I hope you can get out in nature this summer!⁣
⁣
Ever so slowly over the past decade God has been opening my eyes and touching my soul in ways I had not expected. For the past 40 years I’ve written books and blogs and spoken throughout the country on topics of parenting, marriage, and faith. These areas have been my primary focus. I still love to speak and write on these themes. ⁣
⁣
Yet more recently our heavenly Father has been awakening within my heart a deep desire to dwell in nature, to really look at His creation, to observe His beauty, to marvel at the things I learn about His creation from twisted roots, fragile flowers, craggy rocks, singing birds, crawly creatures and unusual quiet. Silence. We live in a noisy world, but we were also created for silence. I think of Jesus slipping away in the night to be alone in the hills enjoying the company of His heavenly Father in quiet. Oh, the sweet fragrance of simply being alone together.⁣
⁣
At least once a year we all sing “Joy to the World,” the beautiful Christmas hymn with the familiar refrain, “Let heaven and nature sing.” One winter day on a walk in the woods this hymn came to my mind. I began to think about these words as I looked around a snowy, bare path. Because the birds had flown south there was more silence than in the spring. Focusing on the quiet, I asked God to enable me to hear his voice. There wasn’t a lot to hear but as I concentrated, I heard bare branches squeaking as they rubbed against each other. Wind gusts magnified sounds of creaking and worn-out limbs fell to the ground, bumping against bare rocks with a resounding thud. ⁣
⁣
Read the rest -- link in bio, or go to susanalexanderyates.com/blog
I snapped this picture of a parent watching over h I snapped this picture of a parent watching over her flock! 

It reminds me of Psalm 121…God your Father is watching over you! At this very moment He is watching over you!
I need this reminder often! It can be easy to get I need this reminder often! It can be easy to get caught up in my to-do list: if I check things off I feel good about myself and if not, I don't.⁣
⁣
But my identity is not dependent on my accomplishments. God cares a whole lot more about who I am becoming than about what I'm checking off my list.⁣
⁣
This is just one small point from my blog this week: Help, I Can't Do It All: 4 Faith Principles for Overwhelmed Moms.⁣
⁣
I hope it encourages you! Link in bio or go to susanalexanderyates.com/blog⁣
⁣
PS: this photo is from one of my hiking trips out West. 💚
I loved Julius’s message on Mephibosheth. Here’s a clip! @thegospelcoalition #tgcw22
One of the special things about being at the TGCW2 One of the special things about being at the TGCW22 with over 8K present and more online is the women you meet and old friends you connect with from all walks of life! Here are a few special women. We just listens to a fabulous message from Courtney Doctor with new insights on David. Check it outline!#TGCW22 @thegospelcoalition
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We had 5 children in 7 years including a set of tw We had 5 children in 7 years including a set of twins. Not one of our kids was a sleeper. We did not sleep through the night on a regular basis for 10 years! Sleep deprivation stinks. 

When our twins (the last ones) were 6 weeks old we moved to a new state. I had no friends, no family nearby and no help. It was a hard, hard season.

Today all 5 of our kids are married and we have 21 grandchildren. I never imagined my life would turn out like this! (Swipe right to see our kids all grown up with their spouses, and then the whole big family -- a pic from a few years back.)

At different times over these years, I’ve felt like a failure, worried over a child, been frustrated with my husband, disappointed in my career, and wondered if anyone else felt like “this.” 

And I’ve realized again and again that I can’t do it all. No one can. 

Looking at Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook doesn’t help. Those people all look so perfect. 

And I’m not. 

What about you? 

Are you feeling defeated, lonely, “less than,” confused, anxious or hopeless? 

Let’s be honest. We can each feel these things no matter what season of life we are in. It’s easy to feel stuck. 

Where do we go for encouragement? How can we find perspective?

This week on the blog I'm sharing 4 Faith Principles for Overwhelmed Moms -- things that will help when you feel like saying, 'HELP! I can't do it all!'

Check it out! Link in bio. 

#christianwomen #christianfaith #christianwoman #bedeeplyrooted #womenintheword #shereadstruth #womenoftheword #belovedlife #womenoffaith #gritandvirtue #choosejoy #lampandlight #biblestudy #bibleteaching #biblicaltruth #christianwriter #christianwriters #christianlife  #pursuewhatislovely #christians #sheislight
One of the most fun things of TGCW22 is reuniting One of the most fun things of TGCW22 is reuniting with old friends and connecting new friends.#TGCW22 @thegospelcoalition
So much fun speaking on a panel on “Aging with G So much fun speaking on a panel on “Aging with Grace” with Karen Hodge and Susan Hunt.#tgcw22 @thegospelcoalition

Copyright © 2022 · Susan Alexander Yates · All Rights Reserved
Calligraphy by Jessica Blanchard · Paintings by Christen Yates
Blog and Ask Susan Photo by Natalie Puls Photography · Books Photo by Cambria Elizabeth

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