Journey to Dawn

I woke up at 6 am for my morning prayer walk. I blinked at my surroundings in sleepy confusion until I remembered where I was: central Florida's Lake Yale for the Florida Christian Writers Conference. Oh, yeah.

As I crept out of my room in the pitch dark trying not to awaken my roommate, I noticed the faintest lightening of the sky at the eastern horizon over the massive lake. After my first lap around the campground, the sky was gathering momentum in preparation for sunrise. It was still dark, but hints of light began appearing. One lone mockingbird braved its medley of morning in the crisp air.

On my second lap, more light appeared over the lake, this time with streaks of pale pink and tinges of silver. A cooing pigeon joined the mockingbird in an offbeat duet.

By my third lap, layers of multi-hued crimson emblazoned the horizon in the final stages before the sun's debut. More color - more promise. Tag-playing squirrels scurried up a tree. The world was awakening to a new day.

Then finally, nearly a full hour after the journey to dawn began, the sun burst through the low-slung clouds in a blaze of glory, casting shimmering jewels on the waters. A whole symphony of birds celebrated daybreak, punctuated by the rhythm of woodpeckers and chirping of little bush-beasties. What a difference the presence of the sun made - transforming the world from stagnant darkness into teeming life!

It had been a long phase of preparation, but each stage held its own unique beauty and meaning.

It occurred to me that the writer's journey is very much like the journey to dawn. At first we're striking out in the dark, feeling as though we're barely making a glimmer. But as our skills grow and we mature as writers, our momentum builds until God's appointed time when our debut finally arrives. At last we burst through the clouds of obscurity to touch a heart and make a difference in someone's life.

We, too, endure a long phase of preparation as writers, but we must remember that like the journey to dawn, each stage is important and necessary to the end result.

One day soon, our sun will rise.