My alarm sounds again. Annoyed, I drag myself from the heavenly quicksand that is my bed and ready myself for the day. It is 5:30 a.m. and already hot and steamy, typical September weather in Central Texas. Attempting to self-motivate, I remind myself of how quickly a body rises and grows like yeast bread while sitting behind a computer for too long, then begin my brisk, 3-mile walk in the darkness.
You can see a lot on the pre-dawn streets of a small town. A doe and her twin fawns freeze at the sight of me, beautiful, ethereal statues in the early morning mist, before they leap across the road to snack on garden treasures in a manicured lawn. I hear the hiss of a sprinkler system and dodge the rapid-fire streams of water coming across the curb’s edge before tossing a rogue soccer ball into the closest yard. The smell of freshly-cut grass and gardenias greet me as I reach mile number two.
Slowly, traffic begins to increase as neighborhoods come to life. Mrs. Jackson waves as she rolls her green, industrial trash can to the road. I wave at the school bus drivers, who are just embarking on their journey to greet and transport students for the day. I walk past the sleep-swollen faces of a couple of middle-school students, who amble zombie-like towards campus for early morning athletics practice. Headphones dangling, they mumble an answer to my cheery “good morning” with something that could almost be described as a smile. As I near the end of my walk, Lauren Daigle’s lyrics greet the sunrise with me, a beautiful display of light and color breaking through the darkness:
Where are You now
When darkness seems to win?
Where are You now
When the world is crumbling?
Oh I, I-I-I, I hear You say
I hear You say
Look up child, ayy
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