Even my dog loves a sacred pause in the a.m. [a short blog]

First things first, take the dog out to pee.

And then…coffee, a book, paper and pen, the couch, and a snuggly pup next to me each morning. The most predictable part of my day. Every day, Monday through Sunday. And you couldn’t pay me to give it up. There is a rhythm that awakens me to the hope of a new, clean slate, setting me up to look and listen. I don’t always feel it that strongly. Honestly, I'm not always that conscious of it. But that’s the beauty of living life with intentionality. Whether we feel it or not, the grace of these pauses washes over us, they shape us. Like smooth stones speckled on the shoreline, after years of being tossed about by waves, we also are fashioned with soft edges by years of morning stillness. The day in and day out of being alone, listening in quiet for what the Spirit may be saying, letting words in, and letting some out. Thoughts should simmer and flow through a grid. In a society of trending beliefs, ideas, and ever-changing “truth,” it’s imperative to critique the overwhelming amount of opinion. It is imperative to "...test everything that is said [and] hold on to what is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21).

And so, each morning, as the sun makes its way up, and throws its orange hue onto the wheat field, I protect this time to nourish my heart and mind. Alone, no distractions, I sit and pray, “Lord show me the way to go, for you you I lift up my soul.”

Every single morning.

Gray the goldendoodle has a different agenda; a morning nap after the exhaustion of getting up is the best way to start the day…