.:: sunrise praise ::.
(port a, tx - summer 2004)
The song you hear playing when this page loads is titled "Psalms 145" by Shane & Shane. It's what I was listening to when this photo was snapped. It was the beginning of one of the most spiritual experiences that I've had in a LONG time. I awoke at about 6:30 this one Sunday morning at the family's beach house in Port A, and...quite oddly for me...was WIDE awake. I felt a pulling...something drawing me to the ocean that morning. That sweet small voice deep inside my heart resonated with the invitation "Come spend time with me...watch the sun rise...this will be your 'church' this morning". So...I mean...what COULD I do? Who could resist that kind of personal invitation? I packed up my back pack with my Bible, notebook, camera, water, "Waking the Dead" by John Elderige (the book I was reading at that time) and a towel, and headed down to the water's edge. I had no idea what time it was...until I arrived at the sandy shores and realized that the sun was JUST beginning its morning ascent to its place of honor. "WOW God...just...wow!" were the only words I could softly utter as I stood there in amazement at the peak of the sand dunes...with a surreal view of the sun cresting on the horizon casting it's warm pinkish glow upon the water as it crashed upon the shore. My heart smiled: He woke me up...tugged at my heart...and lead me to a place of worship where He and I could spend a few hours alone together before the crazy busy day began it's daily wear-and-tear routine. It was one of the most refreshing and deeply filling "heart-care" experiences I've had...ever...come to think of it. It was that morning that I read the part of "Waking the Dead" where John talks about living from our heart not as if it were a shallow stream...constantly running it dry...which is how we most often attempt to live, but to cherish it and live from it as if it were a vastly deep reservoir...such as the ocean...for it is only out of the abundance of grace that God supplies that we can ever truly learn to love. And it is only when we learn how to truly love that we can accurately walk the path that God laid for us to follow even before our conception. How apposite...simply going back there in my mind forces a sigh heaved deeply from inside to escape...a smile to creep upon my face...and that same sense of utter peace and tranquility that I experienced that morning to return once again. My prayer is that you find that place...and go there oft...where the same God that raises the sun each morning from it's nightly slumber...the same God that holds all matter in the universe together...and yes, even the same God that saw fit to rest on the 7th day...is waiting patiently to meet with you - to fill your heart fully to the point of overflowing with His tender grace and mercy - and Who is eager to show you the true definition of love.