By Alyssa Bormes

 

Untitled by Andreas N via Pixabay. CCO

Snooze-a-holic – that’s what I am. Usually I wake up to four alarms, then I hit snooze on all of them, until somehow they seem to be going on and off every minute. If I take my whole life into account, there must have been five or six days where I wanted to get out of bed, but I have no real evidence to support this.

One year, in college, I do remember having woken up early on my birthday. I didn’t actually get out of bed, but when my roommate got up, I scared the wits out of her by leaning out of my lofted bed and excitedly exclaiming, “It’s my birthday!” She wasn’t amused.

I like my pillows, my blankets, my bed, and sleeping. So when someone asks what my morning offering is like, there is a tinge of embarrassment knowing that I don’t have a big sunrise prayer routine.

Instead, it goes something like this. Once out of bed, there is a great deal of wincing and saying ouch – because something on me always hurts. This is often followed by bumping into something; morning for me is a lesson in humility.

But then it happens. Somewhere between taking a shower and brushing my teeth, my brain begins to sputter to life. There is a preview of the day and what I am called to do, and then, finally, my morning offering, “I will serve.”

That’s it – that’s the whole thing – “I will serve.”

Then I ponder it. What will service today look like? Who will He have me serve? Where will the whole journey take me? What will be as I imagined, and what will be a surprise – because I love surprises!

Any ideas of going back to bed have faded. The “I will serve” has undone them. There is work to be done in my little corner of the vineyard; to serve, I must get going. 

I’ve never read of a four-alarm-snooze-a-holic Saint, who led a life of heroic-ish clumsiness. But I think God still loves the efforts of His unlikely servant. “I will serve,” says it all. Now show me what to do!

About the Author:

Alyssa Bormes is an educator, author, speaker, and retreat leader. She currently teaches at the Chesterton Academy in Edina, Minnesota, writes for the Catholic Spirit, and the W.I.N.E blog, is the host of a weekly show,“Christian Witnesses in the Church,” on Radio Maria US, and is the author of The Catechism of Hockey. You can find her at alyssabormes.com.