I've never been a morning person. Ever.
Literally for as long as I can remember I've been a lover of the night... the quiet, the stars, the sacredness and mystery of being cloaked in darkness. There's something so intimate about it that has always drawn me, seduced me with possibility. It's the place my greatest dreams have been birthed, my most fervent prayers prayed, my most beautiful poetry written, my most sacred conversations had with both man and God.
It is, however, a double-edged sword.
You see, being a lover of the night unquestionably means one thing: I am not so much a lover of the morning.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly embrace the same sacred, mysterious elements that come with the breaking of dawn, new mercies, endless possibilities. It isn't that I don't love the morning. I simply don't dance with the dawn in the same manner I do evening. If night is a graceful slow dance, morning is more a blurry-eyed stumble or tripping over my own feet in a desperate attempt to somehow return to consciousness.
But lately, all that seems to be changing...
Morning after morning just before dawn, the sky a gentle grey barely coming to light... I find myself ever so gently roused. Tiny kicking feet, little arms and elbows stretching, sometimes what feels like a roll to reposition, and this lover of night finds myself instantly smitten, seduced by the dawn.
There is no sweeter waking.
A beautiful little life stirs in my womb, and I'm transformed. Often I reach for Josh and pull him towards me pressing his hand to my belly, and we lie there in the quiet, eyes closed, both beaming with awe and adoration.
I have to admit that I never thought anything would trump my obsession of waking in a new and foreign land, the day stretched out with such limitless adventure and unknown possibility it causes my pulse to race. But this, this sacred awakening... nothing will ever compare to this.
Adventure. Possibility. Alluring mystery. Anticipation. My heart bursting with adoration and new appreciation for the plight of a loving Father. No adventure the world over compares.
The only thing I look forward to more are the soon coming, gentle mornings of cooing and giggles and kicking feet in a bassinet rather than my belly ;-)
What is it you most look forward to waking to each morning??