Kim Wilbanks

Monday mornings get a bad rap.  Everyone seems to dread them. It is the day of the week when most people have to get back into their routine after a weekend of rest and relaxation.  Social media is full of memes and comments from people bemoaning the fact that it is time to get back to reality.

I have been guilty of those negative feelings myself, but this past Monday was different.  It was a Monday morning like no other and it was an amazing start to my week.  My friend Christi invited me to join her at a Speak Up Breakfast hosted by author and speaker Carol Kent. (http://www.carolkent.org/)

The event was in Orlando, about 50 miles from my house.  It started at 7:00 a.m.  so we planned to leave my house at 5:30 which meant I had to get up at 4:30.  This is not normal for me!  I’m not a morning person.  Neither am I a night owl.  I consider myself more of a middle of the day person.  But I was excited about this outing with my friend so off we went before the sun rose.

When we arrived at the venue we were greeted with beautiful piano music,  a pleasant backdrop as people arrived and greeted one another.  It was a gathering of around 50 speakers, authors and others.  I knew only one person besides my friend, a new friend I met while attending a writer’s conference in February.  I was familiar with the hostess as she once spoke at my church.

The meeting began with praise and worship led by the most amazing pianist and worship leader, Frances Drost. http://francesdrost.com/           (If there are pianos in heaven, I am sure she will be playing one and possibly giving lessons to the angels.  It was that good)!  During our meal we heard from a couple of people and then each person was able to share what they were doing in their ministry.  The session ended with us standing around the piano singing praises to God.  It was amazing.  It was a beautiful time of worship on a Monday morning in a meeting room of a resort hotel.  Speakers, writers, bloggers, poets, agents all joining voices in praise and worship of our God.  It was truly a little taste of heaven. 

I thought to myself, “this is what its all about”.

My thoughts drifted back to something I heard on television a few days earlier.  I was listening but not watching so I don’t know who made the comment nor in what context but the gentleman being interviewed told the reporter that he was very excited because it was a day to celebrate who we are.  That stuck with me and I mulled over it.  Maybe that’s what is wrong with our world today.  We as human beings are so focused on celebrating who we are, whether it is our gender, our perceived gender, our race, our sexual orientation, our ancestry, our political party, our place of origin to the extent that we totally miss out on who we should be celebrating.  We have set ourselves up as little gods when we have a very big God who loves us and who is worthy of praise and worship and celebration. 

And that is how my not so typical Monday morning began.