A good morning walk...

I typically walk 3 to 4 miles each morning at 6 am with my neighbor and my mom when she's off. We signal that we're heading out to meet the other person by flipping on a light, only today my friend's light wasn't on. But, instead of heading back to bed (which was so tempting after being so dreadfully tired yesterday!) I grabbed the dog and hit the sidewalk. It was wonderful! I really enjoy walking with my friend as it gives us an hour of time to just be girlfriends and not someone's mom, but it was really nice just to have time alone today. We didn't walk the normal path, nor did we walk the normal time or distance, but we did get in two miles of thinking. I've been trying to look for and recognize the many blessings that we have received each day. Our church is in the middle of a large project involving remodeling another church, so our pastor wasn't in service this week. Instead, his wife taught during the worship service. It was wonderful. She told stories and parables of the seven beggars, and though her message didn't include the phrase "we are each blessed" it really made you walk away feeling it. My walk this morning was the perfect way to rethink yesterday's blessings. She reminded us that the few puzzle pieces that we can see on the table don't always make sense, but they do to our loving God. (Again, I'm paraphrasing here. lol) I teach this to my kids in Sunday school and my girls here at home, yet it's something very hard for me to remember in my own life. It's been on my mind since then, and it's also helped me in recognizing my blessings. It didn't feel like a blessing and wasn't recognized as such when every time we were close to getting me a new car something would happen to prevent it. However, with the current state of our company it would have been really hard to keep up with a car payment this year. Most likely because it wouldn't be a true necessity my "new" car would have been traded in for something without a payment if not just sold completely. Instead, I might not have air conditioning anymore but I do have a car that runs and is owned outright! It doesn't seem like a blessing on the surface, but it's one less thing that we have to juggle, and one more thing that we can depend on. It was a blessing that I couldn't see when it was a little puzzle piece on my table, yet it is blessing me now without my even realizing it. (Well... I guess this means that I have finally realized it!) This was the kind of thing that I thought about on my walk.

It's been a good start to a good morning. I was concerned because when I say that I was desperately tired yesterday I mean it. We did manage to walk 3.5 miles in the morning, but I was literally worthless for the rest of the day. No movement, no cleaning, falling asleep at my desk and standing waiting for lunch kind of worthless. I was a little concerned when I woke up today that I'd feel the same way, but this morning's walk really recharged me. Now... to just figure out how to slip something like this in once a week or so. :)