It’s dark in the bathroom and the floor is cold. My mind moves slowly as I stand there blinking my way into the day. Staring at my feet with intensity, I will them to either move toward a shower or just head straight for the coffee.

In that brief moment, light falls through the window soft, across the rug, the tiles, my feet. Just as quickly, it fades out again and I’m in the dark. I turn my head to the left and peek outside to see where the brief light came from.

The sky is still dark with the gray of morning but the heaviness lifts for a moment. Then a cloud passes over the moon.

And so it’s December and the gifts can pass by like light from the moon peeking through clouds in the night. Too fast, too fleeting. Let’s slow a little together and unwrap the gifts that are hard to hold.

For those of you who have been around a while, you may remember we used to unwrap these daily gifts every Tuesday around here. Then in November of 2010, I had to stop for a while. Last year, I brought it back just for the month of December and this year, we’re doing it again.

I hope you’ll join in on Tuesdays during the season of Advent as we celebrate on purpose the lovely, the messy, and the unexpected gifts of our daily rhythm. For tomorrow, I hope you’ll choose one gift of your ordinary day and find the miracle secret it holds. Write it out, breathe it in, capture its image, see it new. And then come here to tell us all about it by linking up.

If you are new to this community, here is all the information you’ll need to prepare your post. I hope to see you tomorrow.