Inspiration for my writing today comes from my dear friend, Michelle.  She is an amazing woman, who is such a precious friend.  Being in Michelle’s presence is like witnessing a sunrise itself.  There’s a warmth and a peace together with a deep sense of joy.  She is the one who introduced me to the idea of a second sunrise.

Have you ever experienced those days where you wished you could go back and start over?  To begin again?  Perhaps it’s a day where everything seems to be going awry.  We wake up late.  We need something extremely important for our day only to find at the moment we need it, it was forgotten at home with no time to retrieve it.  Perhaps it has been one demand after another (at work or at home) that throws our task list for the day right out the window.  Whatever that circumstance is, we just really need a restart.

The Second Sunrise

The second sunrise is giving yourself the opportunity to start the day over.  Instead of waiting for tomorrow to come, instead of counting the rest of this day lost, it is a chance to begin again.  When Michelle first taught me about this her instruction was at 2:00pm each day, give yourself a second sunrise.  This will be the time that signals a restart to the day.  Redo what you would do in the morning.  Evaluate your day and make necessary adjustments.  Then begin again.

For me I have lived out the heart of this idea.  I do not stop every day exactly at 2:00pm.  Some days I don’t even think about a second sunrise.   Then there are days where I’m four sunrises in by 10:00am.  When I do find myself overwhelmed by the day, that is when I look for a second sunrise.

I stop moving.  I close my eyes.  I ask God to settle my thoughts.  I breath in deeply.  I picture a sunrise.  The glorious rays of light.  Their warmth upon my skin.  The kiss of the sun upon the horizon as it goes off to it’s place in the sky.  The closeness I feel in that serenity to the God I love so greatly.  I breath it all in.  I ask God to bless me with an extra measure of His love and presence.  I ask Him to take my anxiety and stress.

Then it is time to open my eyes and redirect my day.  I am in awe of how helpful it is to have that opportunity to refocus on the path that God has for my day.

What a blessing the second sunrise has been for me.  I am so glad that Michelle shared it with me.  Isn’t it amazing what we can do together.  Perhaps today is a good day to give a second sunrise a try.

Here you go:

Dearest Lord,  Thank you so much for all the opportunities you give us to soak up Your love.  Thank you for giving us the opportunity to come to You to reset our days.  Thank you for taking the weight of our anxiety off of our shoulders.  As it says in Psalm 18:28 “The Lord my God turns darkness into light”.  Thank you for bringing light to the darkest of our days.  May we delight in You and walk in Your ways.  When we get off the path, please guide us back to it with Your love and Your light.  In Jesus name, Amen