I am grateful for the awareness that has awakened within once again.

• I am noticing the sound of my shoes on gravel, the crunch rhythm keeping me company.
• I hear the morning song of a cardinal high in the grove of trees.
• I resist the urge to step on the sheet of ice along the curb that has an air pocket beneath it and is just begging me to crack it.
• The author reading the biography I am currently listening to mentions “filmstrips” as she describes elementary school, and it takes me back to the days when filmstrips were a thing and always a welcome break from division worksheets.
• The brick street sparkles with frost under the streetlight and makes my walking slightly precarious until I make it to the sidewalk at the end of the crosswalk.
• I feel the sweat beginning to form across my back even in the 30 degree morning, and it tells me I am doing good, keep going.
• If it weren’t so early in the morning, I would knock on the doors of the ones who are doing “before dawn” laundry and tell them thank you for the dryer sheet smells that make my walk very pleasant.

I am grateful for the beginning of my days now and the promise of Lamentations on this day that I have felt consumed by thoughts and tasks. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” 3:22-23 NIV

I am grateful to look forward to a new day tomorrow.