early.

There is just something about early mornings that get me.
Move me.
Challenge me.
Refresh me.
Change me.

The challenge is always - ALWAYS - the constant fight with my snooze button. I literally have to set three different alarms, all five minutes apart with an increasingly more obnoxious ringtone each time. I have tried all the tricks of the trade...putting my alarm across the room so I have to actually get out of bed to turn it off, rewards for if I do actually make it out of bed on time, going to bed at an extremely early hour. But no matter what, the battle rages on.

Most mornings I don't make it. I roll over, hide the phone under my pillow, turn off the alarm completely, block out the world and the rising sun around me. I lose the battle and happily slumber on until I finally decide to make the commitment of letting my feet touch the ground.

But there are those mornings - so few and far in-between - that by sheer forcing of my will (and, you know, God's grace) that I don't roll over at the sound of my first alarm. (Okay, okay - usually I don't even hear my first alarm. Or the second. So let's make that the third alarm. Yes, I don't roll over at the sound of my third alarm.) A few deep breathes, mental reminders that it will be worth it and I literally drag myself out of bed.

And. it. is. always. worth. it.

There is just something about early mornings that get me. Waking up with the sun, sharing in the silence that unfolds in those hours before the world begins to stir. All my senses are heightened - everything seems deeper and fresher and newer.

These mornings are so grace-filled for me. They lack all the hustle and bustle of a normal race-against-the-clock morning and are saturated with a thankfulness and stillness that stays with me the whole day. A sweet holiness that grounds me. A quiet sacredness that fills me.

I am not naturally a morning person. In fact, there is nothing natural about it for a girl who loves sleep as much as I do. But this supernatural quality is why I find them so rejuvenating. Inspiring.

So I will continue to fight for them, these grace mornings of mine. Because it is in this sacred silence - the silence of the heart - where He speaks.