In the Still of the Night

In the Still of the Night




My body was raging as I rolled over at 3:30 am this morning, yet the bladder was playing Call of Duty and urged me to obey. Slowly I rise and stumble into the bathroom only to find our small dog has the same idea.

Oliver, is happy to see I am up and what he considers in his very hyper way, “at ‘em.” I groan in reply. Dusty our oldest cat begins to cry in his most irritating way and I can see there is no stumbling back into bed.

So here I am in the wee hours of the morning taking out both our dogs. I hate this part. Normally, I pretend to sleep while hubby does this chore, but I know he has been working pretty hard and being a good wife…. Well you get the picture.

My legs don’t work so well that early, my stiff joints scream as I tentatively walk down to the edge of the drive and allow our dogs for the millionth time to sniff every morsel of earth they can find.

Sighing I stretch and wait. Moving my body slowly and lifting my arms up over my head, my stretch feels good. I open my eyes and my reward is a most lovely sky full of diamonds. The stars above my head twinkle in the dark sky. It is then I become more awake and notice my surroundings.

The early morning hours are still, so quiet that I am amazed. Last night as our neighbor cut his grass for the second time in just a few days, then another edged their lawn, and another….well you get the picture. It was a most unquiet evening the night before. Yet here I am standing in the midst of my driveway listening to the sounds of nature.

A breeze lifts the new leaves and rustles them awake, a frog croaking his morning song lifts in the air and nothing else. Quiet, beauty and stillness surround me. God in all His Glory knew I needed this. I sigh a prayer of thanksgiving and enjoy the scents and sights around me.

How often have I missed this? How often do I rush head long into the day without pausing and enjoying God’s gifts? Too often I can tell you, way too often. We get in ruts, rituals as our family calls them. We rise, repeat, rinse and start all over again. Today I am thankful God saw fit to wake me early to nature’s call and enjoy this blessing.

Our lives right now are full of worries and change, yet God blesses me in the single moments, the small things as well as the large. I can tell you when I rise tomorrow, I may not want to get out of bed, but I may just take the dogs out again and let hubby sleep in. I need more moments like this in my life.



Teresa Gale