He Makes It Brand New.

I'm not a morning person.  Although once I'm up, I'm up--I'm fine with my normal routine of rolling over and hitting snooze nine times before I roll out of bed.  I recently took a good look at my schedule and realized that it was engineered in such a way that never really allowed me to take care of my basic needs--and one thing is for certain--when you aren't good to yourself, you end up compromising your ability to help others.

So this night owl decided to trade in her snooze for sneakers, and I've been going to the gym every morning for 5ish am. Yeah. Let me tell you, that started out as quite the experience.  But surprisingly, I started to really enjoy it!  Once again, a whole new perspective on the world--I could be in the gym and out of the gym before the first rays of sun ever broke the horizon!  So once again, I've become a creature of routine, setting my alarm at the exact minute that I want to get up so that I will have precisely the right amount of time to get up, dress, shower, stretch, and make the 1:30 minute trek to the gym so that I can be done by the proper time and back home to continue the day. Handled.

But yesterday I forgot to set the alarm.
Oh dear.

Get this mental picture--shoes flying, a toothbrush bobbing precariously out of my mouth as I hop around on one foot trying to stretch, and use my other hand to find a ponytail holder for the ponytail I'm late making. Mad dash for the car--oh wait--must go back in for the headphones--mad dash for the car--dang! need the keys with the gym tab--mad dash for the car, and finally we're here.  Must get to treadmill. Must adjust machine speed to account for my tardiness. Must listen to Party Mix to compensate for adjusted speed. I'm tired, and the workout hasn't even begun.  Because the routine had been jilted, my mind began to race about all of the other things that were going on that day that ALL needed my full attention.  As I raced home to prepare for the rest of the day, all seemed chaotic at best until I got to the end of the street and saw this:

I pulled over in my cul-de-sac and took some very deep breaths--and sat there for awhile as I marveled over the absolute astonishing beauty of nature--and God's reminder to us that every day has the potential to be a new, bright, colorful day.

If I hadn't been late-if I hadn't stepped out the routine of my day the way that I planned it, I would have missed what God had planned for me to see. We get so wrapped up in what we think is best for us that we forget to stop and hear and see what God is telling us is best for us. And sometimes, what's best is a simple breath and a simple submission to the fact that we don't have all the answers for ourselves--but that's ok.  It reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures that I learned as a child:

"Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." - Philippians 4:6-7