Doggy Doo
My 6am alarm went off and roused me from my sleep. I am on thyroid medication which must be taken at least half an hour before I eat or drink anything, so I need to be very disciplined about my 6am wake up call. I do not like having to wait any longer than necessary for that first cup of coffee!
I got up to make my way from our bedroom to get my tablet from the fridge in the kitchen. I don’t usually turn a light on because I know the way so well, and I don’t like to disturb James. This morning I walked through the living room in the semi darkness and noticed something dark on the carpet. My first thought was it must have been one of Holly’s toys quickly followed by I thought I cleaned all her toys up before I went to bed last night? My third thought was to nudge it with my toe to see what it was… until the internal voice of wisdom said, Don’t be sticking your toe in that, turn the light on to see properly what it is. I loved that voice of wisdom when I turned on the light to be confronted with a sloppy pile of doggy doo.
So instead of taking my medication and going back to bed for half an hour which is normally how it works, my day began on my hands and knees cleaning up a pile of dog poop… not exactly how I had planned to start my day!
In the middle of all this James got up and took the dog outside. As he opened the sliding door into our backyard, he said “hey wow, look at the sky!” Well, I’m a bit busy right now but ok… The sunrise was beautiful, full of pink clouds and grey shadows. It was something I would normally run to get my camera for, to capture the moment. But not this morning. This morning I was on my hands and knees cleaning up dog poop.
The song “Graves into Gardens” by Elevation Worship popped into my head. You turn graves into gardens… Yes, God can and often does, turn the most awful of circumstances into something beautiful. My focus was immediately shifted from the pile of poop in front of me to the beautiful sky that was also in front of me. It’s all about perspective. I could have easily focussed on the literally crappy start to my day but instead I chose to focus on the beauty of God’s creation and the fact that His mercies are new every morning. Our day could have so easily been ruined if I had chosen to focus on the negative instead of seeing it as a minor inconvenience which really only cost me an extra half an hour of sleep.
“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
~ Lamentations 3:22-24 NLT
Every day we have the choice to start over. God has given us that choice when He says to us His mercies begin afresh each morning. He chooses to start each day afresh with us so why do we so often carry the hurts, disappointments and bitterness of yesterday into today? Why do we allow a minor inconvenience in the morning to cloud the whole day?
I cleaned up the mess and then was able to laugh about it with our friends when we went out for brunch. Fortunately for Holly, she is very cute and easy to forgive when she does something wrong! How much more so for God when He forgives us? I know I am not always endearing like my puppy when I do something wrong!
If we just ask Him, God forgives us despite ourselves and every day we can wake up with a fresh start. How good is that? And I’m so thankful that He speaks to us in every circumstance…. Even when we are on our hands and knees cleaning up poop!