Morning Gatherings and Everyday Miracles

This morning while traveling into work, the morning sky so captivated my attention that it simply took my breath away.

Winter here in Indiana means night lingers a lot longer than the day does, so I wasn’t suprised to see the sky still dark at an hour that normally would have been much lighter. But as I saw glimpses of light seeping through the darkness, I knew that daylight wasn’t too far off.

But it was the clouds that most captivated my attention.  Single clouds and clusters alike were moving in one accord as though they were of one mind. I watched them as they gathered at an invisible skyline. It was as though they stood waiting for an unseen guest.

I also watched in amazement as a flock of geese flying in a perfect V formation raced to join the clouds. It was as if heaven had called a morning meeting to give last minute instructions before everyone and everything took their perspective positions and places for the day.

And then I saw it.

In a blaze of the warmest hues of red that I’d ever seen, I watched as it began it’s climb above the earth. In no particular hurry, it slowly flooded the sky with breath taking shades of color that not even the most skilled artist could duplicate. At one point in it’s ascent, I could have sworn it paused just to make sure that all eyes were on it. Not in a selfish, self serving way, but in a way that spoke of unimaginable blesssings and promises.

As I sat taking in that majestic splendor, I felt as if anything was possible.

And when at last it sat, this awaited guest of the morning sky, and took it’s rightful place upon that throne room sky, I felt as if I was in the presence of royalty.  For in that moment nothing moved, nothing mattered. And I realized what an incredible gift I’d just been given.

At that morning gathering I was graced with seeing the miracle of a sunset that blessed me for my entire day. Like those clouds and geese, I too I had been given an unexpected blessing to start my day.

Now I know to some folks, theres nothing spectacular or exceptional about watching a sunrise or sunset for that matter. But as we move towards the New Year, let me encourage us all to purpose in our hearts to take a moment for our “sunrises” and small miracles that surround us everyday. Its so easy to let those moments go unnoticed and unacknowledged in our haste to get on with the business of living.

But within those precious moments are unimaginable gifts that can serve to bless us for a lifetime.

Use The Front Doors

The other night I had a dream.

Now usually I don’t even remember my dreams. Most of them are jumbled and tend to jump around from scene to scene, so its hard to remember exactly what they were even about.

But this dream I remember in great detail, and even in my dream state, I realized that someone was speaking to me and there was something I needed to learn.

In this dream I found myself desparately trying to get back to a certain corner where I could catch a bus that would take me home before nightfall came. But at many points in the dream, I’d find myself taking wrong turns or ending up on wrong streets that kept leading me further away from where I thought I needed to be.

It was like being in a virtual maze where there was no beginning or end in sight. I remember thinking how much I wanted that dream to end.

At one point in the dream, deciding to take a short cut through a building, I found myself inside a store that had already closed. I was approached by a guard who said , “We’ve been watching you on the monitor. You do know the store is closed right? Use the front doors.”

When I woke up from this endless dream, the guard’s words rang in my mind. ” Use the front doors.”

What could it mean?

After much reflection and thought about this dream, I realized that there were many messages in it specifically for me, but there is also a  message that we can all stand to be reminded of.

Sometimes I think we all make the mistake of thinking that we know the way that will lead us to where we want to be. We put so much pressure on our own shoulders to make our own way, that we fail to see that the right way is already within us. We don’t have to go back looking for it, we only need to use the front door.

Whereever we find ourselves in life, is where we’re probably supposed to be at that moment. Our locations in life don’t sneak up on God. He already knew we’d find ourselves there. Wherever there happens to be.

We don’t need to go back like I kept trying to do in this dream. I was convinced I needed to go back to a certain corner to catch the bus that would lead me home and out of the coming nightfall.

How often in life do we try to get back to a certain point or time in our life? Or how often do we go back to a certain way of living or thinking only to find that what we’re really looking for doesn’t lay waiting in our past?

Life is a continual journey. It doesn’t allow much for going backwards does it?  In our travels, we will make mistakes and make wrong turns. We will find ourselves in places we never would have imagined. We will have distractions and things that will detour us.

But if we learn from our wrong turns and mistakes, and allow ourselves to grow from them, then we’ll find that although they may have taken us out of our way, they were worth it.

“Use the front doors”.

The front door to your heart will always lead to the place you need to be. You don’t have to go looking for it, its right there with you.

In a world that says, do your own thing and make your own way, isn’t wonderful to know that standing at the “front doors” of our hearts is The Guardian of our lives who can truly lead and guide us on our journey through life. He watches all of us on His monitor, we are never out of His sight. And if our hearts are open to Him, it doesn’t matter where we find ourselves in life.

He’s the door that always leads us home.

The Christmas Tree

 

 

 The Christmas Tree

 

 

The other night. deciding it was officially time to begin Christmas at my house, I rescued my Christmas tree from it’s dark corner in my garage. After shaking and rattling it for non-paying tenants of spiders and creepy crawlies, I deemed it was safe to take the small tree into the house.

 

Though not very big by any stretch of the imagination, I have come to adore this small, 4-foot tree. A friend made it for me years ago, decorating it in an angel theme that I am quite proud of. And even though every year I promise myself I’m going to buy a large tree with all the trimmings, every year I put out my small tree, and each year I’m amazed at how it makes my home feel like Christmas.

 

As in previous years, the first thing I did was to plug the lights in to make sure they still worked. As the soft, white lights washed over the tree and illuminated all the ornaments and ribbon on the tree, it was as if that small tree came to life.

 

Each tiny light glistened as though it was a twinkling star charged with lighting the night. And the glow from their light found every corner of that room and filled it with a warmth that had not been there before. And perhaps it was just my imagination, but standing in the glow of that small tree, I felt as if I was standing in the presence of something a lot bigger than me.

 

And I realized in that moment that I could learn a lot from that tree.

 

You see, like that tiny tree, we too should let our light shine in such a way that we leave people better than when we first encountered them. Ours should be a glow that fills the dark places of other’s hearts and be the light that warms them through and through.

 

And like that small tree, it doesn’t take a lot to give a lot. We may not have as much as others or be a “big” person in the world’s eye, but we can give what we have so that someone else is blessed.  

 

And the good news is that we don’t have to wait until Christmas to do that or wait until someone takes us out of our rescued places like I did with my Christmas tree. We have the opportunity to bring light and love every day.

 

And in that way, the spirit of what Christmas is all about lives with us every day.

 

Merry Christmas everyone and remember during this most special Holiday Season and always

to let your light shine.