A Real Good Life by Sazan and Stevie HendrixSample

There’s something that’s delivered to you, especially for you, right into your hands, every day. It’s there when you first feel your mind rise from the lacy edges of your dreams and you remember. This is my room. This is my bed. This is me. At that first moment of waking, you receive it, one of the great mysteries of our existence.

It’s a new beginning. Fresh and delivered to your door, bright and sweet, every morning. It’s one of the meanings of the word morning, a clear start, a do-over, a clean page.

But there’s something else that can show up in the morning, wanting to stomp muddy footprints across that fresh page. It’s the clanging alarm that goes off after too little sleep. It’s startling awake to the remembrance that you forgot to send that important email yesterday. Some of us wake up a little more sunny than others, and some of us have to wrestle our way to the surface.

And sometimes it’s the voices in the morning that prove the most difficult. It’s the inner voice that tells you nothing can change. It’s the message that because yesterday was a mess, today will be too. It’s the sneering echo that scoffs when you look for the good.

When we talk about living the good life, we have to start with good mornings. . . . For me, the morning is a time to reflect. What I mean by that is that I start my morning by reflecting the good I want to see during the day. I think about how I want to live in this day. And I want to mirror the truth that God is for me, and that he has good things in store. . . .

When you’re building your beautiful, good life, mornings are your friend.

Prayer

Father, thank you for giving me a fresh start each morning, and please help me live this day in a way that glorifies you. Amen.