1st Sunday Devotional – The Gift of an Ordinary Day

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present. ~Bill Keane

Have you ever felt that each Sunday when you get up and have the privilege of going to church before having time with family or just resting time is a blessed gift? Maybe you feel that way every morning when you get up and start your day.

If you follow me here or on my Facebook page, you know that I take my dogs on an early morning walk every day. Frankie and Marley love it and so do I. I like being out in the field when the sky is showing promise of the sun coming to light up our world. I like hearing the birds singing or the night bugs finishing up their chirring. I like seeing the cows and calves and watching Frankie and Marley sniff out unseen trails in the grass.

At times various other animals actually cross our paths. That gets Frankie excited. He likes to give chase when he sees a deer. Sometimes he’ll go after rabbits. Other times he just watches them hop away as though he knows he can’t catch them. He can’t catch the deer either, but they must be more fun to chase. Marley leaves the chasing up to Frankie since he’s getting older. I leave the chasing up to Frankie too unless it’s Frankie I need to chase down to keep him from heading to the pond which means a bath has to happen when we get back to the house or to the neighbors’ houses.

But each morning, whatever we see, is a gift just as this early morning sky was a few days ago.  Just as a blackberry fresh off a bush tastes extra sweet with a touch of morning dew. Often we see the same sights, hear the same sounds or similar ones each day while we’re walking. Then there are times when we spot something different. The day I heard the sandhill crane flock passing overhead was one of those days. A wild turkey flying up out of the grass to escape Frankie is always a surprise. A mockingbird singing in its tree isn’t too uncommon but always a gift. So many good things to see. A hawk flying up out of a tree to circle overhead. Buzzards riding the wind currents high above. Crows fussing as they flap across the field. Always something to see and hear. Ordinary early morning gifts.

I write a Sunday Morning Coming Down post every Sunday on my Facebook author page, and I’m always a little surprised when someone tells me they go “walking” with the dogs and me. I like having that virtual company. Some who leave comments on my posts miss being in the country to walk or they have physical reasons they can’t go meandering out in fields anymore. Some tell me their weather wherever they are and I love that. It’s a fun connection between my readers and me. Of course, some just want to hear about what mischief Frankie is up to!

I started posting my Sunday Morning walks while Oscar was my walking companion. He didn’t get into mischief the way Frankie does. Marley is more like Oscar in that he wants to keep me in sight even if some trail in the other directions smells tantalizing. You can guess which way Frankie goes! But he generally always comes back and finds me.

Just for fun here’s a Sunday morning with Oscar from August 2014. At the time I was dog sitting for my neighbor too.

08-03-2014

Sunday morning coming down. The rain came in the night and washed the air clean but left it thick with mist as the sun begins to light up the morning. Spiderwebs, usually almost invisible, are traced in drops of dew and sparkling like jeweled bits of art among the Queen Anne’s lace in the hayfield. For one long moment, Oscar stares down a rabbit at the edge of the yard and then makes a mighty rush at it as the rabbit hops for cover. The little visiting Pomeranian with us pays no attention. She’s a fluffy ball of black fur, that Oscar is not so sure is really a dog. But outside he can ignore her while he sniffs for evidence of other invaders like the rabbit. A crow caws in the distance. A few other birds tweet but the morning is very quiet. No mockingbird songs. The baby birds must be hatched with no time for singing, only feeding. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

~~

I post more detailed Sunday walks now since FB no longer limits how many words you can put in a single post the way they did back in 2014. I had to be stingy with my words then. Now sometimes I’m too wordy, but most of my fellow “walkers” on FB don’t seem to mind.

So since today was a gift I enjoyed greeting in the morning and seeing fade into night now, I decided to dwell on the treasure of an ordinary, normal day.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. ~Mary Jean Iron

Hope your “present” is a welcome gift with beautiful wrappings and wonderful happenings that you rejoice in opening moment by moment even on ordinary days.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night. …Psalm 92:1-2 (NKJ)

What do you treasure on your ordinary days?