Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

It’s a Two-Cup Morning

October 18, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer. ~Martin Luther

News on the radio startles me awake. Dennis forgot to shut off the alarm.

I don’t want to get up. My elbow hurts, and my back aches. I know that Friday’s supper dishes line the counter–along with every cup, glass, bowl, and spoon used since then. The kitchen floor is sticky, and the bathroom floor littered with leaf crumbs brushed from Gracee’s hair Saturday. There’s still water in the tub, which is lined with a folded beach towel, from Lillee’s Sunday morning bath.

I relive yesterday’s church family fun day at a cider mill about an hour from home.

**********

Engrossed in The Preacher’s Bride (and certain I can never write as well as Jody), I realize we are stopped on the side of the road. A long train of cars waits to enter the driveway. I can already feel the press of people milling about the mill, and I go into grumble and whine mode.

Fact is, once we find our group and get our armbands, we never see any of them again. At one point, I wander off to the Pie Barn alone, but there is no breathing space there, and certainly no tables or places to sit with a slice of pie. I do, however, enjoy pushing Lillee’s stroller through the corn maze and watching Gracee choose pumpkins.

*********

Anyway, Dennis comes upstairs, shuts off the radio, and begins to move about the room. He’s leaving for Charlotte, N.C. this morning, and I suspect he looks forward to the simplicity of an uncluttered hotel room.

I shift positions to put more pressure on my scapula, and he realizes I’m awake. He peppers me with instructions.

The water softener is empty. You’ll need to unplug it or get more salt to hold over under Culligan delivers.

We need cat food and kitty litter.

You need to get a furnace filter. The dimensions are on a card on the dresser.

My neck starts to hurt. I’ll need to handle whatever happens over the next few days alone, including the real possibility of having to put our kitty down and bury her.

Dennis kisses me goodbye, and I lie longer in the darkness.

I have three choices.

  • I can lie here all day.
  • I can plow into the chores.
  • I can go sit outside.

I choose door number three.

The morning is as dull as my spirit. The deer glance at me as they pick their way across the field. The other morning they pranced and danced and jumped on each other. This morning they seem as sluggish as I feel.

As I sink into my chair, I realize the air is alive with the sound of music. Is it my imagination, or do the birds sing louder because of the clouds? Their warbles and tweets surround me and even overpower the highway din.

I breathe deep of gray and gold and feel the tension start to drop away as leaves fall one by one.

I think it’s going to be a two-cup morning.

I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:6 (NASB)

It’s On, In, and Around Mondays day at Seedlings in Stone.

P.S. The sun’s out, and the sky is blue again.


Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Comments

  1. Kathleen says

    October 18, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    You chose well.

  2. kingfisher says

    October 18, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    Thank you, Sandra, for the lovely pictures and thoughts. I’m glad you were able to go outside, and to choose God=nearness, and reflect with joy. We can get so overwhelmed by the pressures of daily life. We can’t do all the things we want to, or have the time go the way we really wish it would. But oh, may we always choose to walk with God, in whatever way we can at each moment!

  3. nance nAncY nanc heyyou davisbaby says

    October 18, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    i agree with kathleen…good choice.

  4. L.L. Barkat says

    October 18, 2010 at 2:10 pm

    So glad you went outside. It heals, doesn’t it…

  5. S. Etole says

    October 18, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    a place to breath … it nourishes the soul

    [wonderful cup]

  6. katdish says

    October 18, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    Oh, you know what? I sort of had the same kind of sitting-outside-and-noticing-things-weren’t-quite-so-horrible-after-all sort of morning a couple of days ago. But some days are harder than others. Praying for a renewed spirit.

  7. Lyla Lindquist says

    October 18, 2010 at 3:05 pm

    Getting ready to brew myself a second cuppa Joe over here.

  8. mo says

    October 18, 2010 at 3:06 pm

    Great pics. Your description makes me think of every dinner party we’ve ever had and gone go bed right after, knowing that there’s a sink and counter full of dishes.

    Haha…for me, I think every morning might be a two-cup morning.

  9. HisFireFly says

    October 18, 2010 at 3:13 pm

    I was feeling the same heaviness this morning as I woke up realizing I was back home with more chores than I wish to deal with, church issues that I had beedn happier leaving behind, and more.

    But God…

    It is always His day, and I too chose to rejoice.

  10. Lorna G. Poston says

    October 18, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    When do the results come back on Miss Scruffy? Is she any better today?

    Still praying.

  11. Jody Hedlund says

    October 18, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    Beautiful post, Sandra! You are a very gifted writer! I can see that very clearly! Just wondering if you went to Uncle John’s Cider Mill? The pictures are gorgeous! And I’m glad The Preacher’s Bride kept you in good company during the ride there! 🙂

  12. michellebrad@windstream.net says

    October 18, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Yes, living this lull with you, Sandra. And your depiction of it is so real, aches and pains and sluggishness and renewal and all.

  13. Cassandra Frear says

    October 18, 2010 at 9:48 pm

    I like your two cup morning. May I join you? Tomorrow about 7:30, just as the sun is rising. It will be perfect. The birds are on the move and the sky is full of wings.

  14. Krista @ Life in Texas says

    October 18, 2010 at 9:53 pm

    I LOVE door #3. I never feel like I can choose it, because door #2 is so… everywhere-all-the-time-consuming.

    But lately I’ve been convicted that #3 will lead to a lightened load when I get to #2. And occasionally, I might even get to justify #1.

  15. Jennifer@GDWJ says

    October 19, 2010 at 12:20 am

    I can’t get over that opening quote. Why can’t that be my default response?

    And, of course, I love going outside with you once again, Sandra. You’re a beautiful person, you know it?

  16. Louise says

    October 19, 2010 at 7:06 am

    I love two cup mornings. They remind me nothing is as important as spending contemplative time soaking up the beauty all around me.

    Hugs

  17. Kathleen@so much to say, so little time says

    October 19, 2010 at 9:27 am

    I took time to sit out on the deck and read the Bible and sit quietly yesterday. First time in a long time. It was lovely. I must do this daily.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in