Morning Necessities.....

I have recently re-entered a season of writing and speaking. With this reentry, I have found myself wandering towards Starbucks more frequently for a little caffeine when I hit the afternoon or occasionally late night lull. Funny thing is, I am not even a coffee drinker. A non-fat, chai tea latte is as serious as I get.A few weeks ago, I had a Friday deadline to meet followed by a conference on Saturday morning. As I was parked outside working on Friday, I noticed the wide variety of people entering the store. There were business executives dressed in their top of the line suits, students with backpacks loaded down with laptops, and many that looked like they had just rolled out of bed. I am not the type that feels compelled to be put together every time I walk out the door, so I smiled glad to know there were others willing to go out in their sweats, too.The next day as I headed to speak, I felt my car pull towards the Starbucks again. Certainly something warm and soothing for my throat would be great before I had to go teach, I justified. Little did I realize that Starbucks are not only packed on weekdays, but even early on a Saturday morning. The drive thru line was so long, I had to skip getting my little happy. Seriously? I had no idea.Hard to believe so many of us will do whatever is necessary to start our day or our afternoon with some caffeine. Things are not right without it. Not to pull the God card… though I am… this routine observation stirred in me: Why is our culture’s need for Starbucks so much stronger than our need for Him?Maybe it is not coffee for you. Maybe it is Twitter or blogs or a morning run. For many of us, there are non-negotiables to our morning. We will do whatever is necessary to run to Starbucks or the gym to jump-start our day, but we have missed the truth that God is the best jump-start. We frequently use the excuse that we are not morning people, yet we seem to be capable of doing everything else we deem important in the morning.Our hearts are designed to attach. If we do not attach our hearts to God each morning by being in His word and prayer, then our hearts will just attach to the next thing. Is your heart attached to your to-do list, your struggles, your job, your money?  If you are a follower of Christ, I encourage you to follow His example. Mark 1:35 says of Jesus,"And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed." - Mark 1:35Before you run your mile or run for your latte, run to God. If the Son of God needed to start His day with His father, so do we. How have you struggled or had victories in putting God first in your day? I’d love to hear.