Lessons Recalled – Early Morning Sunshine

I woke this morning before the sun came up…to the beautiful sounds of music?

Just outside my bedroom window, I woke to the loud and repetitive chirping of a single warbling bird. So loud it sounded like he was perched on my window sill and with a microphone singing straight into my room. I looked at the clock…6:15 a.m.

Oh My Gosh! I thought roosters were the only birds that got up this early. I turned over and tried to tune him out. Over and over he repeated his song for what seemed to be a massive amount of time.

I pulled the cover over my head, and pushed my pillow up around my ears in an attempt to block him out.  I was still sleepy and had a big day ahead of me…so I did not want to be too tired.

Soon though, his trill was added upon by a second intruder whose stylings were quite different than the first, but…just as repetitive and enthusiastic.

Now it was like the first loud birdie had added a backup singer to his group and was preparing to start a new rock band right in the bedroom. Then to my frustration; an old song popped into my head, “He rocks in the tree tops all day long…Rock’n and a bop’n and a sing’n his song. Rock’n Robin! Tweet, tweet…tweet-ta-lee-dee!!!

Holy Cow! What kind of birds are these I thought, as I peered out through the blinds for a peek at the newly formed duet. No sight of them though…just the chirping.

I was still trying at this point to tune out the (annoying racket) and go back to sleep, but other birds were quickly joining the chorus now and my mind was fully aware that they were being very inconsiderate of me needing just a little more sleep.  I looked at the clock and 10 minutes had now passed.

Wide awake, my mind now was focused on the different elements of style and bird calls all chirping together and amazingly playing just outside my bedroom window. The thought that they would have to shut up soon did cross my mind but no, on and on, louder and louder, it seemed to be going.

 I looked at the clock again, 6:30 am and the light of morning was now filtering through the curtains with the announcement and beginning of a new day.

Sleep was not an option anymore as my mind actively started to consider all the different scenarios of just  what might be going on in the lives of these… who are some of the least and smallest of God’s creations. But of course, certainly NOT the quietest!

The scripture, ‘His eye his on the sparrow’ came to mind as I listened now more intently to their music, their styles, notes and rhythms all different… but together a beautiful rendition of excitement and pronouncement of a new day. AND now what I WILL always refer to as… The Early Morning Sunshine Song.

My anger was gone by now, as well as sleep. Only curiosity and the thoughts and imaginations of the bird world for me to consider. I listened again for the birds and their enthusiastic swells …as I glanced at the clock again. It was now 6:35, the sun is it up and music time was…OVER? HUH?

It seemed to end as abruptly as it had begun. Only dead silence. Now amazed, I sit up to listen more intently for even one little chirp.

Where did they all go? I push the blinds aside to have another peek out the window… the air was now filled with the warm and precious rays of sunlight and the birds seemed to be gone and have ended their song. Ok…maybe they are now all taking a nap? I know chirping like that first thing in the morning must be EXHAUSTING!

Wow, so what was that all about?

Could have been any number of birdie stuff;  1)bird prayers, 2) Mate calling, which was a scary thought to be awaken by your mate like that every morning. Shouldn’t that be grounds for 3) a bird divorce  4)What about birds planning out the day,  5) the reminder trill of a meeting first thing this morning, “MEET ON LINDA’S WINDOW SILL”,  6)nest building day,  7)fighting over territory, 8) waking up the kids for bird school?  9) The fact that the sun was now up and the music gone was consideration for me that it might be some ancient bird ritual that celebrates the rising of the sun? With my imagination I could go on and on, but you see where I was going with this now don’t you? I could not go back to sleep now if I wanted to.

 J Silly, I smiled and stretched…amused at my imaginings! I sat up on the side of the bed and I was still considering my silly scenarios when a very special memory from another morning, years gone by, suddenly recalled back to my heart.

Thinking about it…I am a little surprised at some of the similarities here on this morning as I compare the two.

Once upon another spring morning some thirty or so years ago, I had been awaken to hear the song of birds and watch the early morning sunshine rise up and bring light and life to the night.

That past experience though, had been a spiritual one for me and it had… inspired my first attempts at song writing.

Still puzzled by the similarities in these experiences, I begin to more fully recall and reflect on that past experience; and how I was awaken that morning…

Sitting there, on the side of the bed… I am now wondering if God is trying to inspire me again, the way He had so long ago when I was in need of inspiration and direction.  Reflecting on this, I considered the possibility that He was…and I decided to let the memory sweep over me.

It was one of those great and tender mercies from God. A time when He brought light and comfort into my life to remind me of the great opportunities I had been blessed with.

Comforting and reassuring me then, as a very young but tired mother, it was a time in my life when I needed to be reminded of the joy and purpose in living.

God had used the beautiful sounds and sights of nature on this morning to comfort and enlighten me. I felt loved and it was an amazing experience.

I had been awakened though that morning by a different noise; the cries of my sweet and beautiful 5th child and baby boy, Brian, who was less than a year old.  He was still just a baby but already I knew Brian’s temperament was not of a spoiled and demanding nature so I always took his cry seriously and had gone to check on him.

In fact, I had checked on him enough times that night that I was wide awake, and could see the light of morning filtering through the curtains on my last trip to his room to comfort him.

Interesting to me though… was that Brian did not appear to have anything wrong. Each time I would quiet him and return to bed, I would only be awaken again in a very few minutes by his cries. The last time I got up to check him, he was “sleeping like a baby” J before I even entered his room.

By now hours had passed and I was too awake to go back to sleep.  Just like this morning’s experience with the birds…as soon as I was awake… the sun was coming up and the singing and the cries had stopped.

On that past morning I went down into our family room where there were lots of big windows and began to watch the sun rise in a different way than I had ever experienced before. There are no words sometimes to capture or describe whose moments in life that ‘take our breath away’. It is often useless to try for when we do, the experiences are somehow diminished. Probably because they are personally sacred, and for your eyes only!

 All I can say is those moments are the ones that inspire and change our lives… so I will just describe it for you as simply, “one of my most profound lessons in life.”

The Lesson and the Reminder!!

There is nothing like being reminded that life is about challenge and overcoming it to humble you. This is the way we grow in life. How we deal with challenge is what makes us or breaks us.

“It is our attitude in the face of life’s challenges that determine our suffering or our freedom” – Tara Brach

The Challenge!

I had spent several weeks prior to this first morning experience feeling pretty hopeless as a mother.

I have always had a temper and as a young woman had not learned much about patience yet…so….temper flairs happened many times, some times daily at my house.

Now if you don’t understand that tempers can destroy lives then you won’t understand when I tell you that I prayed for patience almost daily. So losing my temper was a defeating feeling for me.

Each time my temper exploded… I would feel defeated and like a failure.

Not to mention the fact that taking care of children is exhausting, it seemed to me that my best laid plans and trys at being a calm, loving and organized mother were always…well a lot of times…failures. Anyway that is what I thought back then. Hind sight is always clearer though. J

I am sometimes now amused at young mothers who complain that they can’t run their homes with perfection and they can’t control their children in a calm and serene manner. At the same time though, I can totally sympathize with them.

Of course I can…this is how I felt too. All mothers who actually love their children and don’t want to cause serious emotional scars feel like this. Just remember It is a worthy challenge, in fact one of the best.

“It is not in the creation of a tiny little body that we become worthy of being called mother or father. Sorry, most anyone can do that… but it is in the struggles and sacrifices in the face of daily challenges as a parent that eventually help us develop the qualities that proclaim us worthy of being called Mom and Dad.” – Me

Right now this is probably one of the biggest challenges of your life if you are a parent.  Just be happy in the journey. It will not be perfect and not just because you are not perfect. Your children are continually growing and changing. What they need from you today will not be what they need next week, next month or next year.

The above was basically the lesson I came away with on the morning of my first “Early Morning Sunshine”.

I struggled with this lesson for years as a parent, and poorly at my best times.  I actually still do… because my children are now adults and need something even more foreign from me. They still need my love and patience, yes, but now they need me to let them be the adult.  If you don’t think this is a challenge then just wait….you will!

Just be happy to do it. The opportunity will end…and all too soon. You will someday wish you could just be in the process… again, with all those beautiful children at your feet while you learn about life, love and patience and a multitude of other worth attributes.

The Reminder Lesson

As I have been writing this post I have realized that God was inspiring me with a reminder lesson today. He knew the birds would do it. And He was right, they did. All He had to do was remind me…to humble me and put me in my place.

Scary to me though, that I almost dismissed it and went back to sleep. Thank you God for choosing loud birds that wouldn’t shut-up!

Recalling the lesson learned in my first early morning experience has reminded me that it is in the challenge of making changes in my life…that I will actually change/ metamorphose.  I cannot expect, nor should I even want to, just magically transform. I would miss the meat or the best portion of the change.

Just like the caterpillar enveloped in the cocoon, you cannot see my internal struggles, where the real changes are taking place. It is the internal pressures and struggles that will refine me and fit me worthy for my butterfly wings.

“If you want to be a butterfly then be prepared to first be the cocoon.” It is the only way!

The lyrics below are from my first little song, born from that first “early morning experience”.

Early Morning Sunshine

Sometimes when I’m feeling low

I wake before the dawn

Alone beside my window

I watch the rising sun

There’s something bout the early morn

That opens up my eyes

The sunlight lifts the shadow

I see a bluer sky

Chorus-

Early morning sunshine

Carry me away

Take me through the darkness

And help me find my way

Early morning sunshine

Nature seems to say

I can start all over

Today’s a brand new day.

The birds all sing at sunrise

They help the day begin

Their music opens heaven

God pours the sunshine in

As long as there is sunshine

To get me feeling high

As long as there is sunshine

I know I’m gonna try

Chorus-