Weekly Photo Challenge: Good Morning!

Bible

Before I even roll out of bed in the mornings, I have made it my practice to breathe a short prayer of thanksgiving for each new day.   Often just that simple prayer is just the beginning, and it gets me thinking of what the day will hold as I ask the Lord to give me the grace to accomplish what He would want.  “Thy will be done”.

I have long been a coffee lover, and I used to have a coffee pot with a timer on it so that my coffee would be ready for me when I woke up. (Does that make me an addict?!)

A good cup of coffee in hand,  I settle in on the couch (after opening the blinds to let the sun in), I spend time reading my Bible and counting my blessings.  Having an empty nest means that my mornings are for the most part, quiet.  It wasn’t that way for 30 years, and I’m learning to appreciate the opportunity to rest in these moments with my Heavenly Father.

Since being gifted a journal to list my blessings, I made it an annual practice to begin a new journal every year and count One Thousand Blessings (prompted by the book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp).

(You can see my post about it here:  One Thousand Gifts

Because we are in the middle of IMMERSED in our church, I spend time reading it every day.  IMMERSED is a seven week church-wide emphasis that includes Bible Study lessons for every age group and sermons each week pertaining to the week’s focus.

I’ve been reading the 40-day devotional that goes with it and you can see my last post about it here: https://wateringcanblog.com/2013/10/02/hope

For a former night person you would think this would be a challenge, but I’ve been waking up earlier and have enjoyed the mornings more than I have in the past.  I miss those early morning cuddles with kids, but not the crazy–rush out the door–school days!  To be honest, I’m still struggling with tears.  This process of letting go is not easy for me. I’m not walking around depressed, but I do have my bouts of tears as I’m packing away remnants they have left behind.

Experts tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day–well, spiritually speaking, I would say that this time of reading, prayer and focusing on God is the most important part of my day.

You might also enjoy:

https://wateringcanblog.com/2013/06/21/this-day/

https://wateringcanblog.com/2013/06/10/lessons-from-a-paint-can/

https://wateringcanblog.com/2013/09/26/the-key-to-letting-go/