This morning is already in full swing after only 20 minutes. Waking up (semi-reluctantly at first - and then wanting to see how God would start things off, getting up, making my bed - at 3:10 am! - so I had no reason to climb back under the covers!) and heading toward my laptop, I got diverted (“distracted by many things”) to pick something up, throw it away, swap laundry loads over from the washer to the dryer, send two emails for things that popped into my head once I was a

I have always been …annoyed at the sound of an alarm. The harsh sound of an alarm clock jolting me out of a peaceful or dream state to the dark and sudden awareness of being awakened for school, work, or some other reason for cutting sleep time short. I recalled this morning that when I was maybe 8 years old, my parents (my mom, most likely) got me a second-hand cream colored alarm clock radio for my bedroom so I could wake up to the soft sound of music instead of a blaring a

Waking up this morning I am so peaceful! The song is Psalm 23’s refrain as I start thanking God and trying to wake the rest of the way up… but this time, there’s no urgency, no “I have to…”, just a peaceful drifting in and out of sleep as thoughts from yesterday return to mind. Today is Sunday and the physical Prayer Dock at the Hanover Reservoir is reserved for the three-strand cord of God, Pastor Chris and Nicole. The rest of us are invited to create our own where we are th

This morning’s song was such a blanket of warmth in itself, it pulled me up out from under the fabric ones draped over me and my bed… “ By Your spirit I will rise from the ashes of defeat, The resurrected King is resurrecting me. In Your name I come alive to declare Your victory, The resurrected King is resurrecting me”. The pressure at the back of my head will not keep me in bed. A picture is forming in my mind as I get up to get my laptop, reminding me of a teaching I heard

I woke up this morning, rolling over to a more comfortable position, starting to drift off to sleep again, when my “inner cheerleader” bolted awake to part of a song: “Yes, LORD! Yes, LORD! Yes! Yes! LORD! Yes, LORD! Yes, LORD! Yes! Yes! LORD! Yes, LORD! Yes, LORD! Yes, Yes LORD! AMEN!” I flipped off the covers and sang it softly (not knowing what time it was, and not wanting to disturb my husband) answering God’s greeting with a smile on my face and joy bubbling up for the s

I woke up this morning without a song, without a to-do list (at least right away), just a peaceful awareness that I was awake and I was going to hear something wonderful to start this new day. No sooner than the words crossed my mind, “What do You want to show me today Lord?” I had the thought, “Poke the scar. This is only a test”. At first, this may seem like a random and disconnected thought, but it’s not to me. Not right now. As I became aware of this morning’s song, it fi

Yesterday after Prayer Dock, Nicole and I were talking and it sparked the recollection of a term I hadn’t heard in years. During our conversation, Nicole referred back to the pre-flight airline warning to make sure you “apply your own oxygen mask first before helping someone else” in reference to making sure we are in a good place with something before we help someone else. We were saying that sometimes, we can actually help others while we are still healing from a situation

I woke up this morning just before 4 am with parts of the song “Run to the Father” by Cody Carnes wrapping me in a soft layer of assurance of God’s nearness. As I slid out from under the covers to pray the words came into clearer focus: “I run to the Father, I fall into grace. I'm done with the hiding, No reason to wait. My heart needs a surgeon, My soul needs a friend, So I'll run to the Father Again and again And again and again” I can’t help but smile as these words pass t

For the past few years now, I have awakened most mornings at “O dark 30” with a different song in my heart, aware that Zephaniah 3:17 is a real thing: “The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with joy/gladness, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” And whether the song of the day is something I heard the day before, residual glow from the Sunday service, or wherever the song came from and what promp

This morning I woke up suddenly and started with my morning prayer before realizing it was only 1:30 am. I am learning that when I get the opportunity to be awake at odd hours, it’s generally an invitation to prayer, confession, and realigning with God’s presence. As I thought about different people I wanted to pray for, I remembered that I hadn’t answered a text message yesterday from my pastor asking how I was doing. “Fine” or “good” – or worse, “good under the circumstance