Gleam

It is a gray day.  The temperature is unusually mild for January, but the sun is hiding so the weather feels dreary.  Despite waking up with a heart of thankfulness, gray weather can cause gray to seep into the heart.  Sometimes when that gray goes unchecked, it can darken and deepen. 
I found myself starting to fall into that funk this afternoon.  Nothing was wrong in the day - it just felt blah, dreary, down, damp, colorless.  Feeling mopey I wandered into the kitchen.  I pulled out a lighter and set it to a candle called Vanilla Oak.  In a brief moment, the candle had cast a dim glow and a warm scent through the kitchen.  I felt a slight lift to my spirit. 

After folding laundry, I put towels in the bathroom cupboard, and while in there flicked on the snowflake nightlight.  Another dim light shone through a dark room.  My spirit lifted a little more. 

While walking back down the hallway, I found Ezekiel sitting in the doorway of my bedroom, lifting his hands to me.  I picked him up and tickled his chin.  He giggled.  I tickled his belly.  Deeper laughter.  I nuzzled and kissed his sweet baby cheeks and neck and he roared with a full belly laugh.  The laughter bubbled from his belly straight to my heart, lifting it more, causing me to thank the Lord for this sweet boy He surprised us with.
I was reminded of the devotional I read this morning.  In it was a paragraph that had stood out to me this morning, little did I know I would come back to it later in the day:

While you worship Me in the midst of darkness, I enable you to see the first gleam of dawn on the path before you. Continue walking worshipfully with Me - a walk of faith.  As you persevere along this path, the dim light will gradually shine brighter and brighter till the full light of day. 
(Jesus Today by Sarah Young, p. 56)

One of the accompanying verses was Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

which shines brighter and brighter until full day."

The light of dawn begins with a sunrise, a few rays gleaming to pierce the night sky before a blinding sun takes charge.  

A dim light can pierce a gray heart and lead to a fully lifted spirit when we let His light shine in us.  

Thank you, Lord, for showing me the first gleams when I turn my heart toward You, that I may continue to worship and see Your light shine brightly.