Morning Coffee:Gourmet thoughts for your day.

SUNRISE

It's early. Coffee is brewing. Our mountain's hem is glowing in faint silver. The sun will rise soon.

When’s the last time you watched the sun rise? Yesterday? Been awhile? Watching this one with me?

Maybe I should clarify, because I may be asking a different question than you think. I’m not asking when you last saw a risen sun—which is also a beautiful thing. I’m asking, “When was the last time you watched the sun’s rising?"

To witness that fiery ball rupture the horizon and gradually climb into full view you have to stop and focus. Although the earth is spinning at terrific speed, the sun’s rising is almost imperceptible. In fact, without careful observance, little appears to be happening. One second the first bright edge bursts from below the horizon, the next it’s fully launched into the sky’s blue. Silently, steadily, quickly the whole thing transpires with our without our notice.

Other life events can slip by without our notice. Aging, for example. One day we want to be sixteen, then, in no time, we wonder how we got to sixty!

Our children’s growing up is like our own—here and then gone. They break in like bright rays on a steady horizon. Newborns spark a twinkle in a Dad’s eye and spread a warm glow across Mom’s face. Then, before we know it, they’ve launched out on their own...into the blue.

We miss the sun’s rising because we’re too tired, too busy, and too preoccupied. We miss our children’s growing up for the same reasons.

While it’s unfortunate to miss a morning sunrise, it’s a tragedy to miss our children’s childhood. The sun will rise again tomorrow, but their childhood is once.

Today, notice your children. Hold them. Talk to them. Read them a story, or even better, tell them one. Instead of watching T.V., throw the ball. Turn off the phone and tune into their day. Tell them how wonderful they are.

Stop! Look into their eyes. Read their posture. Search their hearts. Sit at their bedside and watch them sleep, listen to them breathe, pray over them. Cherish them.

Many of life’s most beautiful and most precious things pass silently by us unless we resolve not to miss them. No matter their age or distance pause today and enjoy your children. Go ahead. Do what’s brewing in your heart. It’s still early.