First, when I was growing up, sleeping in ended at 8 am––max––at least it seemed like it did.
Second, I am an outside person so the more daylight for me the better. Get me outside early!
Finally, I have always been more productive in the morning probably because the sooner I finished my work the sooner I was back outside.
But the best part about the morning is the sunrise. I am fortunate enough to live only a mile and a half from where I work and when I have the chance to walk, I do. My route to work is perfectly situated. I walk east toward the Sierra Nevadas, so as the sun comes up, I watch it rise right over Mt. Lassen. To my left, north, I see the sun begin to hit Mt. Shasta (as seen in the picture, though I am not quite that close). There is a highway to my left, but it is a Northern California highway that runs east/west which means at this time of the morning one or two cars might go by every minute.
Sunrises in the Northstate are so special that many high school seniors have a Senior Sunrise event to begin their senior year. Our seniors met at dawn on the campus lawn facing Lassen and watched the eastern sky as it began to light up: from indigo blue to cantaloupe orange to cerulean blue to the brilliant sunrise. It was pretty special––at least for about a minute––until they realized they had time to go get breakfast before classes started. Then they were gone. Precious moment over.
I know mornings are a special gift from God both figuratively and literally as we can see in scripture for after a night of sorrow, “joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5); we see that God’s compassion's and mercies are “new every morning” (Lam. 3:23); and, of course, our Lord rose from the dead “very early in the morning” (Luke 24:1).
Enjoy your mornings this week.
First posted on March 11, 2015