Every Blessed Morn

I awoke on this day, the very last day of the year, to the sound of excited chatter abounding from the trees surrounding my yard. Cheery little birds greeted the day with song, filling the air with joy and exuberance, as they so often do. Rain or shine, they have joy in their hearts. These precious creatures don’t lose sleep due to worry, fretting, or despair, so they awake refreshed. Their loving Creator has His eye on them and meets their needs without fail. They care not whether it is the last or the first day on the calendar. Their celebration rings in not just each new year, but every daybreak. They seem to rejoice at their current blessings and embrace what the day holds. They go about their business, gathering twigs and digging up seeds, as if they’re aware that God will provide for them each new blessed morn.

As the year draws to a close, whatever blessings you recount, whatever possibilities you hope for in the new year, don’t lose sight of them or let them fall by the wayside after just a few short days or weeks. Continue to count and recount your blessings and continue to cling to possibility and hope found in each new day. Continue to rejoice and celebrate the coming of dawn. Give your concerns to God and receive the peace and joy He brings. Praise the One who provides for and blesses you and seek the One who holds your hope. And like the birds, greet each day with a song in your heart.

Matthew 6:25-26, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

No matter what day of the year it is we can honestly say, “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24)

I encourage you to say these words aloud every morning when you rise and greet the day and make a conscious decision to live like you believe them.

 We often have pairs of turtledoves, whole families of quail, groups of finches, lone blue jays, and the occasional bunnies and squirrels visiting our yard. God uses them to remind us of His faithful provisions.