The Early Morning

I was talking to my daughter on the phone while I was on my early morning walk.
We were catching up.
I was hearing about my precious granddaughter.
I heard a little voice.

I turned to see a little boy, the son of one of my neighbors.
He was wearing his super hero pajamas.
He was already riding his scooter on the driveway.
The little voice I heard greeted me and said, Hi.

I interrupted my daughter mid sentence.
Just a minute, I said to her as I stopped to talk to him.
Are you having fun? I asked.
A little boy on a scooter in his pajamas before 7:00 in the morning knew how to have fun.

The birds woke me up, he said sweetly.
I was sure my daughter was smiling as she heard this conversation.
The birds woke you up? I repeated, making sure I heard him correctly.
They were loud, he said with emphasis.

I remember the days when my children were pre-school age.
I remember the days of early mornings.
I remember the days when they played in their pajamas all morning.
I never heard them say, the birds woke me up.

Young children are early risers.
I always attributed it to their internal body clock.
I always thought that when they saw the sun, it was time to wake up and play.
I never entertained the thought that the birds woke them up.

She got up with the chickens, my mother told my aunt one day.
I must have gotten up early that day.
Getting up with the chickens was an expression I was used to hearing.
I thought it was a marvelous way to describe an early riser.

The sweet little boy demonstrated the truth of that expression.
He was up early, not because of the chickens but because of the birds.
The birds singing and chirping woke him up.
Since he was up, riding his scooter in his pajamas made total sense.

There have been mornings when I would like to use the leaf blower.
Our walnut tree is already dropping some leaves and walnuts on our driveway.
I looked at my phone to check the time.
It was a little after 7:00 in the morning; I refrained from using the leaf blower.

Did you ever notice that no one uses a lawn mower early in the morning?
Refraining from cutting your grass in the morning is simply being courteous to neighbors.
We have the right to do those things at our own house.
Sometimes doing what we can do is not something we should do.

If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse. (Proverbs 27:14)

We like to ease into our day.
We like the morning to great us softly.
We cautiously open our blinds or shades so that the sun does not shine too brightly in our eyes.
Those who enjoy a cup of coffee often have a cup before they do anything else.

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. (Mark 1:35)

Did the birds wake Jesus up?
Did a loud noise startle Him from His sleep?
What caused Jesus to get up while it was still dark and leave the house?
Jesus had a purpose.

Jesus went to a secluded place to pray.
Jesus got up early so that He could talk to His heavenly Father.
Jesus needed to lay His requests before His Father.
Jesus, fully God and fully man, needed to pray.

And we struggle with early mornings.
And we struggle with prayer.
And we struggle with anything that wakes us before we are ready.
We put the pillow over our head to drown out the early morning prompting.

Jesus woke early to pray.
Why do we think we can get through our day without prayer?
Why do we think that the spiritual nudge is not real?
Why do we think that we can get through our days on our own?

I want to be like the little boy down the street in his superhero pajamas.
I want the birds to wake me.
I want to notice the spiritual nudge to get up early and pray.
I want to listen and act rather than turn over and go back to sleep.

Are the birds waking you in the morning?
Is the spiritual nudge to get up early, pray, and spend time in God’s Word being heeded?
Are you paying attention?
Can you lay down your self sufficiency and admit your need to talk to your Heavenly Father?

Listen for the birds in the early morning.
Throw off the covers and greet the day.
Watch the sun come up and thank your Heavenly Father.
Greet the day with joy and anticipation.