New Day

Taking my coffee mug in one hand and a cigarette in the other, I quietly creak open the
screen door and step out onto the porch. The morning sun is not yet peeking around the house, but it's light illuminates the trees and homes across the street. The mug feels warm, cupped in my palm and steam rises from it's content. I set it on the porch rail and take a deep breath of the cool air that surrounds me. Everything about the air is wonderful, the way I can feel it crisply in my lungs and how it just barely tingles my face and hands.

I notice as I sit on the swing that no one else is out yet. Suddenly I feel blessed that I am solely honored to experience this glorious morning. I light the cigarette and listen to the birds. Their lively chatter and medley of songs are somehow less annoying than usual. The winged creatures seem to be singing together rather than their accustomed contest to outdo one another. A thought occurs to me... A morning like this is made for the birds. Perhaps they do not know I am here. How rare it feels to be witness of nature in harmony, yet this is exactly what I need.

At this moment I have forgotten all about the messy house behind me, with dishes left from the night before and toys strung across the living room floor. The two dogs across the street, like my children, are still asleep. Soon they will wake and begin their morning howling and barking, but at this moment all is peaceful.

It seems like days and nights have run together in a mad mixture of chaos and stress, but this morning feels like I've awakened to a new life. I am not thinking about the bills I owe, or the job I hate. All thoughts and worries about the children or work have somehow vaporized like the steam from my coffee.

As I rise from the swing to go back into the house, I try to imagine how I will take this feeling with me. I will capture it and carefully hide it in my pocket for safe keeping. I do not think I am returning to the same life I left moments ago.
Babtized in the morning air and kissed by the light of God, I am reborn. Truely a miraculous gift, it is a new day.