It’s 4 am and I’m up early and ready for the day.  It’s so nice  to be up to witness the beauty of the sunrise as the light gently over takes the darkness.   Like a blanket that is being laid aside from a night of rest, the darkness is folded away from the sky and the world struggles to come awake.

Gentle, sweet sounds  replace the silence of the night. Birds wings flutter causing branches to sway, ever so slightly. The leaves then brush against each other making an, almost, undetectable rustle as if someone is lifting their head off a pillow  ending a night of slumber.  As the light grows brighter the melody of birds all around me fills the air as they once again meet a new day with song. The cats in the yard stretch lazily, bowing their backs upward, mimicking the slow rising of  the sun and dogs bark reacting to the sounds that they are now hearing all around them.  A soft cry of a baby is heard in the distance. Hungry not only for it’s morning milk, but for the comfort of it’s mothers caress that it’s been denied of  in the night.  Doors open and close as people pick up newspapers from their yards and one by one car engines roar to life.

With eyes closed I inhale deeply, and for just a moment, I focus on the hymn being sung by a world awakening around me.

A new day has begun.

I am grateful for the sounds.

I am grateful for the light.

I am grateful for a Saviour that holds it all in balance.

……and I am grateful  that his mercies are new every morning.