metanoias come in the morn

if you read closely, you will discover the key to unlock the mystery of the blog title...

August 13, 2011 A.D.
I have always known myself to be not a morning person.  We have this wonderful home video of the Christmas of my second year in life and of course, Christina, my older sister and one of my greatest life models, is up with the birds and absolutely electric with Christmas morning magic.  the kind only the little ones sprinkle on the world that perfect Birthday of birthdays.  my parents were, as they every year proved to be, thrilled to make their blessed children happy and soak up the joy that is renewed in the secret child places in every adult heart on Christmas.  

my niece, sophia, aka homemade Christmas magic 

as the video goes, and my dad narrates with his foggy 6 in the morning voice, i come ever-so-bleary-eyed into view.  my parents immediately turn to me and begin to welcome me with that musical greeting “Merry Christmas”, and beckon me into the world of green and red discarded bows and flying candy cane wrapping paper, to do my own damage to the pile of treasures.  what i actually do is spot the rocking chair sitting right in front of the tree, my one unwrapped gift, and i intuitively know that it is mine.  i walk over to it and as i do you get a wonderful view of my night gown caught in my diaper in the back, for further proof that i had just rolled out of bed, and i park it.  and my dad just goes with it and starts asking me how i like my gift and i answer by silently rocking out, still not fully sure if i have just stumbled into another lovely dream.  and i find this very prophetic of my future morning life.  

in latter Christmas videos, i do finally get the hang of the whole waking up before the sun rises because i cannot contain the Christmas spirit spirit (for trishey) any longer and screaming with joy in the cracked, raspy voices of not-long-enough-rested vocal chords.  

but, for the most part, the mornings and i have passed through life as two ships in the night.  i couldn’t understand what the big deal was with mornings because first of all, that is when you wake up. and who likes that?  one of my favorite mom memories is waking up on a school morning (something i only tolerated because i got hot chocolate and microwave pancakes out of the deal) going out to the kitchen, my mom saying “good morning, sweet girl” and giving me a hug. then i would stretch it out on the kitchen counter fancying myself a cat, and have breakfast in sweet undisturbed silence. because mama knew her girl and knew talking was a futile and possibly dangerous endeavor. she had enough practice with my dad and mornings to know how to handle us bears. and handle it she did.  she is a sunshiny morning person, but she doesn’t hurt the eyes. she is joyful without being obnoxious and i will never forget her singing in the morning and how i never understood how she did it, but was so glad she did.  

the morning song-bird throwing an evening kiss in the cayman waters

so where does my metanoia come in, you may wonder.  well metanoia in Greek (yeah, what’s up, i know one word in Greek--well maybe 2...impressive. tell me about it.) means conversion, a real change of heart, a turning around and going in a completely new direction.  it is generally accompanied in the Bible by a big time convert to Christ.  i.e. St. Paul, one day he is murdering Christians and proud of it, the next he is the most zealous evangelist known to the world. that was soooome metanoia, y’all.  

the point being, i have had a metanoia.  a morning metanoia.  as i aged i could have readily conceded that mornings have the potential to be nice in their own right.  but i never cared to find out.  puh-lease, girlfriend.  i love the night life.  i like to boogie.  i’m into sunsets. 

but really, who is not into this?

i like to sleep in and lollygag in bed forever.  and when i was forced to enter the mornings earlier than i liked, i was not impressed.  and thus and so forth i rambled on until this summer.  

i fell in love with the morning.  and i owe it all to that providential house sitting job that afforded more moments of being totally drenched in God’s Love than i could have imagined possible.  i was forced to get up relatively early every morning.  and i learned that i love the morning. i love how the morning light made everything look younger on my verdant street. i love how the shadows were all new and different because the sun was not where it usually was when i saw them.  i love how it was cool(er than the hundred plus temperatures texas was enduring) and quiet but pulsating with the potential of a new day in the form of a morning jogger or a car rolling out, windows down, breathing that sweet new air.  and then, i started loving my morning routine.  walk sky, get paper, make breakfast, make coffee, read kelle’s blog, get some chores done, Mass; and whatever else the day brought on, i had my sunny, sparkly, emeraldy, peaceful morning to refresh my soul.  

pre-metanoia morning bask.  we were in italy.  and that is the roof of a Church.  as you can see, it is green AND yellow.  it could not be stopped.

and recently, i have discovered the secret to making my own iced coffee, completing the summer morning experience even more.  i cannot tell you the pleasure pouring the milk into the long tall drink of ice and coffee affords me.  watching the mysterious conversion that occurs when milk and coffee meet. there is the creation of a new hue of hazelnutty brown. and there is swirling. oh, yes. an abundance of swirling.  and i get to enjoy the mesmerizing swirls so much more when i drink iced coffee because the glass is completely see through.  

swirl obsessed

now, don’t get me wrong, i’m still not little miss sunshine in the morning.  my fam will readily attest to that.  i will never usurp my mother’s throne of morning joy.  but, i no longer linger around the outskirts of day until the sun has reached his highest point in the heavens to join in.  now i embrace the morning, and her song is no longer incomprehensible to me. sometimes i even hum along.  

good morning, life.

so that, my friends, is my heart change towards the magical wee hours of the day when simple pleasures simply please me in a way that i never thought they would.  thank God for the unexpected.  and thank God the title of my life book is little did she know...  the littler i know, the more undiscovered beauty there is just waiting for me to dive into. eyes closed. no peeking. and it is all so good.  

chapter 23: little did she know, she was a morning girl waiting to bloom.  

happy mornings, a happy saturday and happy metanoias to you all.

through, in and with Christ,
e