***

Let me hear of your unfailing love
each morning.

Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.

Psalm 143:8

***

O God, You are my God,
Early will I seek You,
My soul thirsts for You
in a dry and thirsty land 
where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1

***

For as long as I can remember I have had a morning obstacle.

Actually more than one obstacle with a  common denominator packaged in

a space of time called morning.

I am not prone to walking up naturally during the first glimmer of

daylight without aid of an alarm.

I marvel at those who can’t sleep after 5 am.

Yet there is something about rising to greet the dawn which is crazy

priceless.

Not only has early morning been a  struggle but I have hardly ever succeeded at making exercise

and devotional time occupy the same time span.

I am prone to extremes and one not both would win out.

It didn’t matter if devotions or exercise  landed in the time slot,

I would spend the rest of the day trying to chase the other one down.

Often I never caught up.

I look back at my 20’s and 30’s and although my pant size was much smaller,

my soul was lean as well.

For the last 6 weeks, I have been training with a friend to walk a half-marathon on

the 4th of July.

This challenge has meant walking can’t be hit or miss.

It has also entailed rising unbearably early in the morning to get long walks finished before

life calls or it is too hot.

Each week, it has gotten easier.

Each morning, I am tired.

This is just a plain fact.

Each morning, I am better for sitting up and pulling off the covers.

My most frequent route is very popular by other walkers, runners and cyclists.

The other morning, I rose very early and for most of my walk, I was alone.

Or so I thought.

I saw hummingbirds.

I chuckled as I watched two birds dive bomb a squirrel.

I gasped as I nearly tripped over a chicken who was doing its morning pecking

too close to the sidewalk.

Maybe I was too close to them 🙂

It is rare to be shrouded in  silence as the city seemed to be sleeping in.

The only sound arising from sunrise, my breathing and steps.

Do you remember how Eric Liddell  described running?

When he ran, he felt God’s glory.

I feel the same.

The morning has become a sanctuary of God’s glory.

I lace my shoes.

I walk.

I shower.

I eat.

I sit in a chair and eat my spiritual food.

With each passing day, I am less concerned about the right, perfect, best time to

be with God.

I just need time in His sanctuary.

I am learning to exchange Helen’s deeply entrenched rules for

God’s grace.

I am beholding God’s glory in

a chair,

a sidewalk,

a pew,

a porch,

a fire pit,

a forest,

a laugh,

a sky of  blue

or grey

and

anyway He chooses to reveal.

***

So I have looked for You
in the sanctuary,
to see your power and your glory.

Psalm 63:2

***

I wonder if I have mistakenly tried

to offer myself as a living sacrifice by what

I deemed acceptable.

Always imagining a giant hand ascending  earthward to check a box

marked pass or fail.

I think God just says,

Child, come.

To which I say,

Lord,

I am here.

I offer myself to you.

Thank you for the  

sanctuary of your presence 

unhindered by walls or sidewalks.

Your glory simply is.
***
Because Your loving-kindness is 
better than life.
My lips shall praise You,

Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.

Psalm 63: 3,4