Monday Mornings

The clock read 4:00 a.m. when my eyes popped open. Immediately I began going through a mental list of all the things that I needed to do today. There was the article to submit for the newspaper. There was prayer and sermon preparation for a holiday shortened week since Thursday is Thanksgiving. There was the hope that somehow I could squeeze a work out in at the gym. There were phone calls to make and phone calls to be returned. There was also the lingering desire to write something, anything if I could just find a little time. There are the six different books I am reading at the same time that I would like to complete. I have some appointments in the middle of the morning. There is the out of town basketball game for our oldest son Taylor late this afternoon. There are meetings to prepare for and people who need visiting. So much to do and I had not even rolled out of bed yet.
Wearily I drug myself out of bed trying to recover from another busy Sunday. After getting dressed I sat numbly in my chair watching some news headlines from the weekend and events of the upcoming week. I finally got motivated enough to get in my truck and drive to the office while shivering from the cold blustery north winds sending chills to my bones.
Here I sit at my desk and my fingers slowly at first strike the key board of my computer. Mondays are not always fun. Usually most of us have too much activity crammed into too little time and when Monday mornings roll around we know the rat race starts all over again. Many people view Monday mornings as the end. It is the end of the weekend, the end of time off and the end of freedom.
I choose to look at this Monday morning as a beginning. It is the beginning of another work week and the beginning of a holiday week. Today I will have the opportunity to meet with my Creator in significant and meaningful ways. Today I will get the chance to talk with someone or read something that might change my life forever. Today is Monday and I get live. I will have privilege of eating meals with people I love and cherish. I will have to chance to speak a word for Christ at some point in the day, I will get to intercede for my flock, to believe God for miracles that have long been anticipated, and to make the devil mad every chance I get.
Yes, today is Monday and as I write this the sun has not even begun to hint to its rise but I am thrilled with the prospects of living. My mind is awaking from sluggishness. My passion is increasing for charging into the rest of this day like a knight mounted on a stallion. My faith is stalwart as I think today could be the day when I see God answer prayers and give birth to miracles. It is Monday but I am grateful that God has given me this day as a gift. How I choose to live this day will be my gift back to him.
There are many today who will awaken in hospitals or rehab centers. There are others who will linger in the bed for a long time trying to hide from the pain and despair of their circumstances. There are some who start their Monday staring at job losses and financial crisis. There are some in this world who will awake today starving and wondering where they might find anything to eat. Other wake up trying to shake the oppressive cloak of depression while others try to find the key to unlocking the emotional prisons they have lived in for weeks, months, and even years.
I am a blessed man and as I start this Monday morning I will do so with optimism and the assurance that I start this day walking side by side with my Heavenly Father who knows all, can move any mountain, handle anything that comes my way, and who rules in sovereignty over the whole universe and my Monday morning.
I invite you to embrace Monday mornings as fresh beginning to journey with God. Regardless of what we might face, in spite of the challenges, and looking forward to the bountiful blessings, let this Monday morning be a source of giving thanks. We get to live. We get to relate to beautiful and wonderful people. We get to walk and talk with God. We get to behold His faithfulness. Maybe our paths will cross today and you will say something to brighten and cheer my day. Hallelujah! It is Monday morning and everything is going our way. My of my what a wonderful day is this Monday morning.