We’ve lived in our house for over 12 years. We moved here, into our somewhat spacious home, from a tiny one bedroom apartment in Boston. When I moved in, I immediately started buying pieces to cover my walls. And, over the years, a strange phenomenon has taken place, the very pieces I picked, each with a story behind them, became such fixtures in my daily view that they almost became invisible. They became so familiar, I started to see right through them. I bought this piece at a local Atlanta antique mall/flea market, and I bought it with an exact home in mind. See, I am a lot of things, but a perfect, complex and lengthy pray-er is not one of them. But, as I’ve grown, I’ve learned that I can say little breath prayers throughout the day, at certain times in my routine, and those prayers bring me before the throne and sustain me as much as the lengthy ones I’ve attempted. My morning prayer has been for quite some time, this line from the old hymn- “In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.” When I found this print, I knew exactly where it needed to go in my bathroom where I’d see it when I woke up every morning. And, I’ve looked at it day in and day out for years.
As the days and weeks and months of this pandemic drag on, I feel increasingly more anxious and uncertain about the future. I also find myself forgetting to breath and pray. And, these reminders all around me that I’ve seen over and over again everyday for years, have started to become so familiar that I no longer see them anymore.
Thankfully, even when I am anxious, uncertain, fearful and faithless, God is always faithful. And, oftentimes He shakes us out of our complacency and self-sufficiency, and allows us to look at the familiar and see it with fresh eyes.
Tomorrow and the next and the next might be uncertain, scary and unknown, but there is one constant, in the morning, when I rise, Jesus is still there.
Extraordinary Treasure, Ordinary Girl 