"I am not a morning person."

This morning I was woken up by my incredibly annoying—I mean, adorable—puppy. In all actuality, we share a single waterbed and she spends most of each night guaranteeing her spot at the exact center of the it because the bed is a tad too full of water and swells in the middle when we lay down. This morning, that meant that she decided to sit half on my pillow, a quarter on my hair, and a quarter on my forehead, and scratch herself uncontrollably. I woke up with flashes of what I can only assume is comparable to Shaken Baby Syndrome. To compound my foul mood, it’s a Saturday morning, and my plans today didn’t include seeing this end of 7:00 AM.

I am 22 and living back at home so 4 years ago I traded in my own bedroom for a college dorm and have never looked back. Currently, my “bedroom” is a bed in the wet bar/kitchenette of my parents’ basement. If I sit up tall enough in my bed, I can see my reflection in the mirrored backsplash of the countertop. My bed is close enough to that countertop that I could do triceps pushups with my hands on the counter and heels on my bed {if I was ambitious like that}.

The truth is, that mirrored backsplash has the potential to set my mood for the entire day. I have a bad habit of waking up in the morning and—before doing anything else— looking at my reflection in that mirror…bed head, swollen ‘sleep face,’ pillow wrinkles, and all. I might be a morning person in general, but my poor puffy eyelids are not. The effect that one glance can have on the rest of my day is wide reaching and usually negative. It changes how I feel, how I treat people around me, what I do with my day, and what I think I’m worth.  I allow myself to be led around by the nose all day by my feelings. Stupid, I know.

This morning was different. Before I sat up in bed, I asked God to protect my eyes and my heart. It definitely wasn’t an eloquent prayer, but He answered it. My bed head is no less tragic than usual right now but my day is not revolving around how it makes me feel. I can’t even explain how today is different because God is the difference {not me}. Glory to God in the Highest.