It's no longer OK to claim that I will get started tomorrow. The plan is to get started today.
So I rolled out of a warm bed at 5:30, laced up the shoes, snapped the leash on the dog (stuffing several plastic bags in my pockets for the inevitable doggy gifts) and headed out the door. It's dark at 5:45, and the stars are still out and no one else is out at all.
As I power walked through the neighboring college campus, I got started.
I prayed - for all the elders and deacons who were absent from worship yesterday, for all the young parents who took their children to soccer rather than Sunday School, for all the elderly who are staying home until they get their flu shots. I prayed that God was blessing their morning wherever they were with the eyes to see the presence of the Lord all around them, and the hearts to give thanks in all things.
I prayed, giving thanks for the beauty of the morning, wishing I had the nerve to awaken the dawn as I walked past silent sleeping college dorm rooms, but remembering how much I had needed that sleep when I was a student. And I gave thanks for the blessings that came my way yesterday in worship - the joy of seeing so many new faces in the sanctuary, the gift of so many new faces that came in so many different colors, the gift of my husband's thumbs-up after my sermon.
It's no longer OK to claim that I will get started tomorrow. I'm starting today and counting my blessings one by one.
So I rolled out of a warm bed at 5:30, laced up the shoes, snapped the leash on the dog (stuffing several plastic bags in my pockets for the inevitable doggy gifts) and headed out the door. It's dark at 5:45, and the stars are still out and no one else is out at all.
As I power walked through the neighboring college campus, I got started.
I prayed - for all the elders and deacons who were absent from worship yesterday, for all the young parents who took their children to soccer rather than Sunday School, for all the elderly who are staying home until they get their flu shots. I prayed that God was blessing their morning wherever they were with the eyes to see the presence of the Lord all around them, and the hearts to give thanks in all things.
I prayed, giving thanks for the beauty of the morning, wishing I had the nerve to awaken the dawn as I walked past silent sleeping college dorm rooms, but remembering how much I had needed that sleep when I was a student. And I gave thanks for the blessings that came my way yesterday in worship - the joy of seeing so many new faces in the sanctuary, the gift of so many new faces that came in so many different colors, the gift of my husband's thumbs-up after my sermon.
It's no longer OK to claim that I will get started tomorrow. I'm starting today and counting my blessings one by one.
posted by Nina Reeder at 8:06 AM
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