How Do You Start Your Day? · Ageless Wisdom ~ Grandma Grady

How Do You Start Your Day?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how powerful our first hour of the day really is.

How did you start your day today? Have you ever thoroughly sat down and examined how you begin your day? Has it become a good habit that propels you to be the best God created you to be or is your daily routing hindering you from having the life you always dreamed?

Try out a new way of starting your day for a week or so...

Not in a pressured way. Not in a “you should be doing this” way.

Just in a gentle, noticing kind of way.

When I finally paid attention to how I was starting my mornings, I realized something sweet and simple… the tone of my entire day was being set before I even realized it. I set my day to doing things I really enjoy - I love talking to the Lord, I just never made one on one time with Him, just He and I and no interuptions. Now, I don't turn my phone on until He and I are done talking.

For a long time, I would sit first thing in the morning with my cup of coffee and scroll Facebook first thing. It felt harmless. Cozy, even. But if I’m honest, it was my biggest time waster — and sometimes it filled my heart before God had a chance to.

So I began making small changes. One at a time. No drama. No big overhaul. Just replacing habits instead of trying to fight them.

Now, I give my first hour to the Lord.

I start talking to Him the moment my feet touch the floor. While I’m brushing my teeth. While the coffee is brewing. Just quiet conversation with my Heavenly Father.

Then I sit at my little bistro table by the patio window. I look out at my backyard and watch the birds finishing up the seed in their feeder. They’ve learned my rhythm — they know once I’m done with my quiet time, I’ll be out there to refill it. 🐦

On my table I keep my Bible, my notepad, my gratitude journal, and my prayer journal. They stay there — ready for me every morning.

Sometimes a verse comes to mind and I look it up. Sometimes I’ll read a passage and linger there a while, letting it speak to my heart.

The first thing I write each day is at least five things I’m grateful for.

Even on hard days, there are always five.

Then I open my prayer journal.

I add any new names that need prayer.

I go back through previous names and mark them with my little code if my prayers were answered: (Y) Yes (N) No (D) Died. This little quirky ritual of mine reassures me that when I flip through all the prayers I have written over the years, just how many He has answered and how many miracles He has performed. When I thought there was no possible way this prayer would be answered, God DID ANSWER!! It may surprise you to know that over 90% of the prayers I have written down in my prayer book have been answered in a positive way.

It reminds me that God answers. Always. And only a very few times not the way I imagined.

After I finish writing in both journals, I listen and visualize Vishen's 6-Phase Meditation. It helps me center myself — gratitude, forgiveness, vision, compassion — aligning my heart, my spirit, and my future before the world starts tugging at me.

Only then do I head outside to feed my birds.

After that, I take my Immunocal BodyShot (got to support those glutathione levels 😉), and then I make my breakfast — my largest meal of the day.

By 7AM, I’m at my desk on the snazzy desktop my grandson built for me. It has colored lights that softly fade and glow — I smile every time I see it. It feels like he left a little bit of his creativity right there with me.

At 10AM and again at noon, I pause for 10 minutes of Tai Chi walking and three sets of 10 arm exercises. This body has carried me through a lot — I try to honor it.

Around noon I’ll have something light — usually a big lettuce leaf filled with tuna, egg salad, roast beef, or chicken, with a few olives, nuts, maybe some grapes on the side.

At 3PM, I stop to get on Zoom with my mentor. That daily connection keeps me sharp and growing.

At 4PM, I make my favorite call of the day — my nephew. Five minutes. Timer set. Every single day.

He found me right after my stroke last March. He had just turned 18 and asked for my number. I didn’t even know he existed before that. My half-sister lived in Thailand, and we hadn’t been close over the years.

Now, those five minutes are such a gift. A thread God stitched back into my life at just the right time.

At 5PM, I start dinner. I try to cook enough for leftovers so I don’t have to start from scratch every night. Tonight it’s roast beef stew with potatoes and carrots from yesterday’s crockpot — I made four portions and tucked three into the freezer. Future Grandma Grady will be grateful. 😊

And here’s what I’ve noticed…

My days feel calmer now.There’s more laughter. More steadiness. More peace.

When I give the first part of my day to God — instead of the leftovers — the joy of the Lord truly does settle into my heart.

It wasn’t a dramatic transformation. It was just a gentle reordering.

And sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Grandma Grady💛

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