I try to begin my days, as often as possible, just a little before sunrise and be in communion with the Lord as the light dawns. It is awesome to sit quietly in the darkness and experience the utter quietness -- and then, at what seems to be in response to a down-beat by an unseen conductor, a bird begins to sing and greet the dawn as one by one other birds join in a magnificent concert.

I bathe myself in the reality that everything is new in the light of the dawn. It is a new day, mercies are new and I am about to step into a time that has never been before and will never be again. I watch the birds as they appear in our yard. The other day one bird settled down on a wire and began his song -- suddenly be began to fly upwards a little and then settle back again on the wire he repeated this over and over again. "why, he's dancing," I thought. I'm sure he saw yesterday's dawn but he was reacting as if he had never seen it before. Actually he hadn't seen THIS one before.

Would that I could always remember that each day IS a new day and treat it with gentleness, receiving every new thing the Lord has brought into the earth with it. The trees are taller, roots have put forth shoots and some shoots have developed into fruit. Many birds are singing new songs for eggs have hatched and, for the first time, some baby birds are adding their voices to the morning sounds. Everything is not as it was yesterday nor is it as it will be tomorrow.

It is so with me. My body is older by 24 hours, my spirit is enlarged by however much I received from the Holy Spirit and I have matured to whatever extent I responded to His instructions.

"Increase my faith, Lord, to receive all the newness today brings for me. May I take full advantage of it ALL that tomorrow my spirit may be expanded to receive more of what is to come." JM