A funny thing happened on my way to work this morning. As I started my car and got on the road, the sun was starting to come up over the horizon...it was beautiful. In fact, this is my favorite part of going to work early during the winter months. So here's the funny thing. I went to Starbucks (because I was given a giftcard) to get a drink on the way and it was dark outside. Three minutes later when I came out it was significantly brighter.

So I have a couple theories. Maybe I noticed it was dark when I first left my apartment and I never took a moment to reevaluate in the midst of my drive...I was either ignorant or became numb to the status of the sun. Perhaps the moments I was in Starbucks was the exact time that the sun peaked over the horizon. Regardless of which theory you choose to subscribe, I still missed it.

After this tragic experience, I did what I normally do...I thought about what God might be teaching me about our relationship in that moment. So what did I learn?

I learned that sometimes I see the good things that God has prepared for me to in a day, but as the day goes on I get sidetracked and lose focus. Sometimes I just miss the opportunities because I'm not paying attention and preoccupied. I get lost in the moment and miss the next moment. It's not so much a conscious choice that I make, but it just tends to happen.

Another thing I learned from this is sometimes I get conditioned to my first evaluation. It was getting lighter with every minute as I was driving, but I didn't necessarily notice because I didn't take the time to reevaluate the situation. This can be dangerous because then when we do reevaluate, we are broadsided by the fact that things have changed, but we aren't quite sure how we got to this change. All we know is that it was sudden and lacked warning.

Something else to learn from this is that even though I missed the sunrise today, I will be able to see it tomorrow. There will be a new sunrise tomorrow morning for me to watch and ponder. God knows our condition. He knows that we don't have it all together. He's patient with us. He doesn't give up on us. Tomorrow will bring new opportunities, joys, and challenges. But this is today and it's not even half over yet...there is so much still to come!