August came gently, with cooler evenings and mornings to balance the hot afternoons. My longing for Autumn began to grow into an ache as a few leaves turned bright red in the tops of young trees in our yard. Vibrant and teasing of what is to come. (And unusually early!)
The busy of the school year looms ahead and I have just had the hardest time getting motivated to order the books and fill out the planners. Maybe it is because we moved in the middle of last year and I’m feeling a bit rebellious? This slow summer was such good medicine.
Everybody is starting school next week. But not us. We are traveling to visit grandparents and we “may” start when we get home. I’m just loving these long days with my kids and hours outdoors by the pool so much. I don’t want them to end!
All the crazy starts Labor Day week. Maybe I’ll just put it all off until then because I can.
Anyway, this morning I awakened at dawn and noticed a marked difference in the light steaming through our bedroom window. I parted the curtains and smiled at what I saw:
The silver mist giving the trees a soft focus, hiding the distant hills. Birds chatting happily in the morning cool as they nibbled and fussed at the feeders. The sun shining gently, filtered by earth-clouds and not hot. Not yet.
I opened the windows of my office as soon as I stepped in, relishing the breeze as I lit the peach-scented candle. A line from a song sang through my spirit, one of my favorites by Andrew Peterson…
I saw the sower in the silver mist and he was calling me home.
The song, “The Dark Before the Dawn,” spoke softly to my heart. The lyrics filled my mind with imagery. Just read them…then click on this link to listen.
To come blazing up out of the night like a bullet from a gun
Till every shadow is scattered, every dragon’s on the run
Oh, I believe, I believe that the light is gonna come
And this is the dark, this is the dark before the dawn
To come raining down out of the heavens on these war-torn fields
All creation is aching for the sons of God to be revealed
Oh, I believe, I believe that the victory is sealed
The serpent struck but it was crushed beneath His heel
Oh, I know the lightning brings the rain
Oh, I know the storm can be so frightening
But that same wind is gonna blow that storm away
Blow that storm away
I’m waiting for the changeSo I’m waiting for the King
To come galloping out of the clouds while the angel armies sing
He’s gonna gather His people in the shadow of His wings
And I’m gonna raise my voice with the song of the redeemed
‘Cause all this darkness is a small and passing thingThis is the storm, this is the storm
The storm before the calm
This is the pain, the pain before the balm
This is the cold, the cold
It’s the cold before the warm
These are the tears, the tears before the song
This is the dark
Sometimes all I see is this darkness
Well, can’t you feel the darkness
This is the dark before the dawnI’m just waiting for a change
Change
Lord, I’m waiting for the changeI had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
And I could see the fields of glory
I could hear the sower’s songI had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
And all that rain had washed me clean
All the sorrow was goneI had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
And I could finally believe
The king had loved me all alongI had a dream that I was waking
At the burning edge of dawn
I saw the sower in the silver mist
And He was calling me home
A Life of Simple Joys 