(#10) I'm thankful for morning walks

A few years ago a beloved elder of the church invited me to start walking with him in the mornings. You may know him; he is, appropriately, named Walker Davis. Walker and I would walk for miles at a time, getting up at the crack of dawn in order to finish in time to get ready for work. I really enjoyed our time together. Of course, he still walks in the mornings and I still live in the same place but getting up at dawn is... not... my thing. But one thing it taught me was the value of spending the first part of the day in meditation. We usually talked a good bit, but not constantly.  There were always lulls in the conversation which we took advantage of to think. Or to just imagine how good breakfast was going to taste. 

This morning I walked a few miles, listening to Ecclesiastes for the first half and praying for the second half. It always amazes me how much doing something like that can impact my attitude for the next several hours. It is such a blessing to be able to orient myself toward the Creator before anything else has the chance to distract my attention. Jesus was known to do the same thing (c.f. Mark 1). I'm thankful he provided such a great example. It is a simple technique but it makes a world of difference.

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