Before the Day Begins

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:21-22  (NIV)

I can feel him breathing next to me, in the dark and comfort of the bed he made from redwood rails and wrought-iron trellises.  It is not the deep-sleep breath of slumber, and I know that he, like me, is already awake.  It is early and the day is ready to hold us in arms of hustle and bustle.  It is early and I push my back deeper into the mattress trying to capture some few last moments of rest.  I can feel him breathing next to me, and I know that he knows.  We are awake.  Again.  Before the alarm.

Too soon we will hear the rooster crow.  Too soon we will throw off the dreams and sighs of the night and face forward to a new day.  Too soon we will fill our cups with steaming coffee, fragrant coffee.  His will be black; I take mine with cream, thank you.  Too soon he will put the uniform on, the zippered, velcroed uniform with his name and the flag and the pins and the badges.  Too soon he will be official again, and will walk with the measured step and straight back.  Too soon I will feel his goodbye kiss on my lips.  Fleeting warmth, already a memory.

I can feel him breathing next to me.  I reach over and press my body into his.  Hip to hip, knee to knee, spooning; I store up the feel of him next to me like a miser.  I know that he is awake; we melt into each other in the early before dawn.  Before the alarm.  Before the day begins.

Linking with 5-Minute Friday

It's only five minutes with a prompt.  What you start with is what you get because there's no time to change your mind.  Lisa Jo Baker has been hosting this link-up for a lot longer than I've been blogging.  This week she is passing the baton to Kate Motaung.  The prompt is "Begin".

In the Morning

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait expectantly.

Psalm 5:3

It's a little harder than it used to be - this getting up early thing.  But I would still consider myself to be a morning person - an annoyingly-morning person to some.  Nowadays it's my husband's fault.  He has to be at work by 4:30.  Yes - AM.  Well, actually, he has a saying:  if you're not 15 minutes early, you're late.  So he actually gets to work by 4:15, which means our alarm  goes off at 3:30.  Yes - AM.  I guess that's early in anyone's book.

I kind of like it.  Years ago, I got up early because I was a swimmer and practice was before school and after school.  My dad made a deal with me.  He would get me to practice by six if I made sure to get him up by 5:15.  So I did.  And he did.  Now we're both annoyingly morning people.

My problem is that once I open my eyes, I am truly wide awake.  Not groggy, not sleepy, not befuddled or confused.  Awake.  And usually talking.  I guess I've gotten on people's nerves once or twice - too much energy too early... Once upon awhile ago in our marriage, my husband did not get up well - what I would consider well, anyway.  It probably looked rather comical to the fly on the wall - me, up-and-at-'em - him, head bowed over the kitchen table, eyes still closed, barely able to speak a coherent word until he'd had a cup or two of coffee...  Me, dying to tell him everything about the day ahead, news about the day before, whatever was flitting through my mind - him, still in a sleepy fog of incomprehension.

He's not like that now.  He is up, shaved, dressed, and ready to go out the door by 4:00, for PT at 4:30.  We even get up early on the weekends, or on days we don't have work schedules calling to us.  We like our morning time.  We value that space in the day that allows us to catch up with each other - to enjoy each other - to start our day facing the world together.  

I like the morning hours.  I like when my daughter comes to the office early and we share conversation and time.  It's valuable, this time.  It's kind of like moments stolen from the busy-ness of the world - moments we can focus on each other, on relationship, on communication.  I like to read my bible in the early morning time.  I have peace.  I have quiet.  I can consider and question, research and meditate (thank you, God, for the internet and google...)  I like to write in the early morning hours.  Starting my day with focus - on whatever topic - fitting puzzle pieces together - clarifying - concentrating - challenging. I like the luster of early morning.  The tinge of color from the sky that reflects onto everything the light touches - illuminating subtle details lost in the glare of day.

Morning feels like a promise; it is an awakening of the soul - to new opportunity, to familiarity, to adventure, to relationship.  To all of the possibilities that a new day can bring.  No wonder, then, that morning plays such an important role in this psalm.  Early morning feels like a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of joy.  I think God likes early mornings, too.

Heavenly Father, Maker of Day and Night, thank you for early-morning hours.  Thank you for time-out-of-schedule, time for relationship - relationship with each other and with you.