The dishwasher has finished its low rumble, and your phone is lying face down on the nightstand. Three boxes on the list stayed empty, and a few messages are still waiting to be answered. They will keep until morning, and so will the rest of the noise.
"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep." — Psalm 127:2 (KJV)
Tonight's prayer Father, You hung the sun, and You will lift it over the hills tomorrow whether I set an alarm or not. So I'm letting go of the early start I've been rehearsing. The unanswered messages can sit in their dark little screen. The list can keep its empty boxes. You were up before the first bird at the beginning of the world, and You will be up before me again. Tuck me in the way You tuck in the hills. Let my shoulders drop and my dreams be kind. Thank You for this day, for the hands that held mine in it, and for a pillow already warm. Amen.
Blessing for your rest May the Lord who rises before you keep watch over your sleep tonight. May every sleeper under your roof wake rested, with a clear sky outside the window.