Which are you—morning lark or morning snark? Are you singing at sunrise with a skip in your step or do you drag your derriere out of dreamland in drudgery? Unfortunately, I’m the snarky, draggy type and I wish to goodness I could be more lark-like. More of a shiny and alert and in-my-Bible-singing-the-Psalms kinda girl. I’m actually super optimistic and joyous most of the time—but first thing in the morning? Give me a wide berth. Or a wide cup of coffee.
Know who else would love for me to be a morning lark? My husband. Because he is an actual morning lark—as soon as his bare feet hit the hardwood, it’s like a switch flicks and he’s perfectly wide-awake and ready for a full-on conversation. You could ask him to calculate an equation or give insight into Psalm 119 and he’d be all over it. You can imagine how minimal the conversation is with this snark.
I didn’t realize this, but “snark” is the amalgamation of “snide” and “remark”, which makes sense. As a wordy girl—writer, author, and all that—my words can occasionally be my weapon of choice. I’m not proud of it, and I’ll often blame my English heritage on the caustic sarcasm (!) but at the end of the day, my words are definitely NOT always edifying. I’m not a physically violent individual (I know, that’s an absolute shocker) and so I discovered at a young age that words can wound. A snip here, a crack there—not in a shout-y, in-your-face way. Mainly snarky. Possibly slightly malicious. Probably in the early morning.
Of course, I know the snark-ism is wrong, and I desperately try to bring words of encouragement and hope and healing as much of the time as possible. Just keeping it real in case you had me teetering on the perfection pedestal! Ha! Oh, I could give you a l-o-n-g list of my shortcomings, and I’m sure you could add a few of your own and we could have a jolly time comparing notes. But I would rather point to One who is gracious and forgiving and loving toward all my/our snarky ways. The One who actually created mornings in the first place—for many glorious reasons, one being this:
“Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them on the morning altar…” Psalm 19:13-14 (The Message)
Isn’t that the beauty of each new morning? That we get to wipe sleep from our eyes and start fresh? I love that. Oh that I would start the day with wise and wonderful words! His mercies are new every single morning and we get to breathe and live and love with abandon. So why is hard for some of us to get our happy on first thing? I don’t remember ever being an enthusiastic early riser, and I’m not placing blame here but I don’t think my pastor-father waking me up throughout my teen years with a rendition of the hymn “Soldiers of Christ Arise!” ever really helped. I’m grateful that he brought tea (you’re the best, Dad!), but really? My snarky teen self is rolling her eyes. I am so not a fan of that hymn.
However, there is definitely something to be said about starting the day with a verse of two from the Bible:
I adore this verse and the idea of starting my day entrenched in God’s Word, journaling my thoughts like a good writer-ly type, while humming some Bethel music in the early morning light. But can I be honest with you? I’m SO a work in progress with that lovely image. Truth be told, I’m a bit weird in that I like to journal and study my Bible, but not until I’ve done all the things. Work out, breakfast, shower, tidied the kitchen and made the bed. It’s ridiculous but it’s me. THEN I can fully focus with minimal distraction. God is a God of grace, and He is awfully good to me. I’ve learned to give myself grace here, too.
CONFESSION: I used to attempt to “do my devotional” first thing, and it was like a box to check, an item on my to-do list, and to be frank, I wasn’t really in the right (wakeful) headspace. So these days I stumble downstairs, make coffee, and then in my semi-awake state I read the verses I’ll be looking at later, before checking e-mail, skimming social media, breakfast, yada-yada. I’m a “marinator” and so hopefully the verses sit with me and steep into my heart so that it’s a productive, precious time when I actually get to sit down later on with my pen and Bible and whatever study I’m doing (I’m a big She Reads Truth fan). That’s the plan, at least.
This is not for everyone, and for the larks out there, I’m so jealous that you can open your eyes and start the day off with some meaningful God time—it’s a beautiful thing. Maybe one day I’ll join you, but in the meantime I want to encourage the non-larks among us to find your time. At lunch, before bed, whenever—time in The Bible is precious and never ever wasted, and even us snarks can start the morning with a few verses to bathe our souls. And soften our words…
More lark, less snark—here’s to beautiful mornings!
P.S. I just remembered, I am always the FIRST one awake on Christmas morning! Yay, I’m a Christmas lark 🙂
Linking up with some fabulous encouragers! Check them out:
Laura, sorry to admit I tend to be a lark, but whoa! Major snark alert o this gal! Was just reading Gretchen Fleming’s post about always trying to be nice, and it’s whiplash effect. Yeah, I’ll admit it: sometimes behind that sweet smile, shining eyes, and “nice” words, snark is ready to attack. God’s Word gives me ammo to replace snark thoughts and words, and reminds me of God’s opinion os snarkisms. Thanks for the affirmation and encouragement that I’m not alone.
Hi there Alice— I think it’s wonderful that you’re a lark! That’s also lovely for those around you in the morning ? And I guess we’re all guilty of snarkiness on some level, but I love what you say about God’s Word giving us ammo to replace it. You are certainly not alone! Thanks so much for sharing… blessings to you!
Hi Laura! Fellow wanna-be-Lark here! (Seriously, though, it’s 6:21am and no coffee yet.) I love your words. I’m gonna let them marinate as I try to transition my late nights into early mornings. Thank you for your honesty and conviction! =)
Lovely to meet another wanna-be lark! Thanks so much for your encouragement… glad I could cheer you on in your morning endeavours 🙂 Coffee will help, I’m fairly positive. Blessings to you!
Nice, to know! I would have thought with your sunny personality you would have been a morning person. I love mornings! I’m the most pleasant before 11:00am but catch me after 8:30pm, I’m less pleasant! God makes us all different, I think there’s beauty in that too.
Haha! Oh Kim, you would not call me “sunny” first thing! It takes me a while to warm up, for sure. I was pretty certian you would be lark-ish, and you’re absolutely right, it’s really special that God made us each so unique, quirks and all! Have a super week-end, my friend! ?
Laura, you are describing my husband and me. Mornings he is up early, and he has learned to let me sleep until my wake up time. I want to watch the sun set, not the sun rise. Of course my son takes after his dad. Hops out of bed laughing and running and jumping in my room to ask what I am making for dinner, before he’s out the door and full bore ahead. My daughter is like me. Slow waker. She used to say, “If you wake me quickly it kinda ruins my day and I take a long time to wake up.
I noticed that you live in Kelowna, BC. Small world. I have been there quite a few times. Even houseboated a few times on Lake Okanagan. Used to live in Washington state and drove up there for vacations.
Thanks for stopping by, Theresa! Too funny how you and your husband are so like me and mine… I suppose opposites really do attract! It keeps life interesting, that’s for sure 🙂 How fun that you’ve been to Kelowna… we absolutely love living here! Spend much of our time at the lake. Blessings to you!
I would definitely be a mix between the two. I have my days where I’m a snark and days where the lark come out. It’s all based on my sleep the night before (and how many times my toddler woke me up).
Great post!
Thanks so much, Julie— I totally get that the snarkiness/larkiness can be measured by how many times you are called out of bed during the night. Sadly, I don’t even have that excuse! Appreciate your encouragement—hope you get a really good sleep tonight 🙂
Oh how we are similar! I long so much to be a happy, morning riser! I loved The Message version of Psalm 19: 13-14 and I’m so so so thankful that we get a fresh slate every morning. Thank you for sharing! I appreciate your candidness. The story you shared about your father singing a hymn to you in the morning made me belly laugh. 🙂
Hi there Kelly— thanks so much for your lovely, encouragement! It’s good to know I’m not the only one challenged in the morning cheeriness department ? I seriously have issues to this day with “Soldiers of Christ Arise!”… but my dad was actually pretty brave each morning to enter into the bedrooms of his teenaged daughters armed only with tea and a hymn! Blessings to you!
I laughed through all your comments on sarcasm & snark-iness! I am a lark ONLY after having my coffee. And this is only true since becoming a parent. I love how you remind us that no matter how chipper (or not) we are in the morning, God’s word is still a great way to soften our minds, hearts & words as we begin our day with others! Well said!!
Hi there Amanda—thanks for stopping by! So glad you appreciated the post… funny how that cup of coffee makes such a difference, hey? ? But yes, God’s Word is ALWAYS good… Blessings to you!
Here’s my favourite paragraph that had my chuckling and almost snorting throughout!
Isn’t that the beauty of each new morning? That we get to wipe sleep from our eyes and start fresh? I love that. Oh that I would start the day with wise and wonderful words! His mercies are new every single morning and we get to breathe and live and love with abandon. So why is hard for some of us to get our happy on first thing? I don’t remember ever being an enthusiastic early riser, and I’m not placing blame here but I don’t think my pastor-father waking me up throughout my teen years with a rendition of the hymn “Soldiers of Christ Arise!” ever really helped. I’m grateful that he brought tea (you’re the best, Dad!), but really? My snarky teen self is rolling her eyes. I am so not a fan of that hymn.
I wake up slowly too so I set the clock, if I absolutely have to, for a half hour slow rise time. Since I’m retired, we are night owls so we wake up anywhere between 7 and 10. However, I must confess, when I open my eyes, I say Hello or good morning to God and I thank Him for His new mercies that He has for me today. But, I’m laying in bed as i say that.
Anyway, great post. Love your style, truly engaging!
Have a blessed day, Laura from Kelowna!
Blessings, Cindy from Chilliwack!
Hey there Cindy from Chilliwack! Yeah, my poor dad thought he was being encouraging and all, but seriously…. ? I like the idea of rising nice and slowly like that— maybe there’s hope that I’ll be a lark in my retirement years! Thanks for your encouragement— it’s so appreciated! Blessings to you!