Why It's Worth Getting Up Early

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 6:15 am, the same time as every other day of the week. That was intentional and I never hit the snooze button. Grass allergies had all but sealed my eyes shut so it took some work to get them open enough that I could see in the dark room as I slipped out from the sheets and into the bathroom, trying not to disturb my snoring better half. In my closet I found everything I'd laid out the night before, including the unwashed running bra I had to wear again because I only own two and don't do laundry frequently enough.

It felt weird donning a sun visor when it was still pitch black outside. I thought about a headlamp but knew the darkness wouldn't last long.

One tall glass of water, an antihistamine and one Luna bar later I was ready to go. No time for coffee this morning. It was a race against the heat and humidity of a spring day in Texas.

I stepped outside to feel a surprising chill on my skin. The dark of night was rapidly slipping away as I turned on my playlist and started my Runkeeper. Speed was the not the goal in my mind so I set out on a comfortable jog down the middle of my street, avoiding lawn sprinklers along the way.

At the end of my street I turned east and saw the light glowing behind the houses. Then I came to a break in the houses and gasped at the scene in front of me. Pink and purple streaks across a blue sky appeared as the sun rose. Below it stretched out our neighborhood bayou with a thick fog hanging just above the water. This scene alone made leaving the house to run at the crack of dawn worth it.

I thought about continuing to run east so that I could watch as the sky kept changing colors, but as my path turned south to cross the bayou I glanced over my right shoulder and was almost startled by the scene in the western sky. A huge full moon hung low over a dark purple and pink horizon rising above the same misty bayou stretching out towards it. I had never seen the moon look so big in the morning, usually both horizons are obscured by houses all around me.

Seriously it was amazing, there was no way I could mistake the gift I was being handed by the Creator Himself. The night before I sat in church remembering the suffering of my savior. Saturday is typically spent remembering the silence of God that day before Easter, but what I was seeing on both sides of me was not silent at all. I could perfectly well hear the Lord's enthusiasm as He passionately painted the skies on both sides of me as if to shout "Yes, it's me in all my glory. Yes, Jesus is very much alive. Yes, you have so very much to be grateful for and happy about."

It just so happened that I had created a new running playlist of up tempo Christian music. I'll share that in another post but suffice it to say, it was five and half miles of worship, prayer and adoration. I figured out that I have to run away from home along a route that is nearly impossible to cut short if I want to extend my distance. So I ran around the great big lake and thought about the road that lies in front of me, which is a going to be really challenging and exciting at the same time. All I know is that where He leads us, we will follow.