Morning by Morning

Each morning one of my first motions is to reach for eye-glasses. My near-sighted eyes cannot see detail even as close as 12 inches away without them.

The next second motion is usually to sit up and look outside - whether I think about it and remember what I see or not.

I tend to get claustrophobic in closed-in spaces. Even simple darkness presses in with suffocating weight if there is no sound to help give me a sense of life and space.

So the two windows in my bedroom (shared with Elsa) are very special to me. They are usually cracked open for fresh air and that bit of "sound" on all but the windiest summer days and coldest winter nights. And morning by morning I look out the window nearest my bed. 

What do I see?? You'd be surprised how much variety is within reach of this second-story nest. The prairie offers clear views for 20 or 30 miles under wide, ever-varied sky-scapes, and up close are some favorite trees and flower garden guarded by the grape arbor.

Maybe a few photos snapped across of year of mornings will help - even if they are low quality from phone or tablet.

The year 2016 began with a thin layer of snow under heavy skies beyond our Christmas star.

Spring is always amazing - waking to our crab-apple tree in full bloom.

Smooth and brilliant green grass, blue skies, and the perennial flower garden coming to life fill out the fresh view.

Mid-summer is drab in comparison with heat-stressed grass shaded by the lovely cottonwood tree towering above my window.

In Autumn, the corn fields begin to glow as they near harvest .

The leaves give way to regal tree-silhouettes, and delicate frosts cloud my first view.

And then I wake again to a distinct glow in the room despite heavy clouds: a clear clue (even before reaching for glasses) that the world has turned white.

As I start with this routine morning after morning - even when I don't feel like it because my body hasn't rested - a song or two begin to come to mind.

One by Sara Groves that I first heard in my teens:

Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God's hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me.

I can't remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can't remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I've heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end  

All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful, He's always been faithful
He's always been faithful to me.

And an older song I grew up with and will never out-grow: 

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, They compassions they fail not; As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. 

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! 

by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923