When you wake up early in the morning and your mind is cluttered with the many things you have on your to-do list, a cup of coffee can help you get underway. With a cup of coffee in hand, the clutter begins to clear and you can bring order to your day.

Priorities are defined – Spirit, Soul, and body.

I usually begin with a word of prayer, expressing gratitude for another day and another opportunity to press toward a higher calling. A higher calling does not always lead to a higher station in life. Jesus told the twelve, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Priorities – take another sip.

What should I wear? If I were a cop or a soldier it would be easy – uniform, polished and pressed. The red shirt or the green top? How about the blue jeans or the sage slacks? Ahh, yes, the pink and purple.

Another sip.

Jot down the to-do list. Clean out the closet. Get groceries. Pick up birthday cards. Sort the laundry. Wash the car.

Another sip.

Time is moving faster and you’ve got to get moving too.

It’s funny how many decisions can fit into one ordinary cup of coffee. Some are important. Some are almost meaningless. Yet, one after another, they begin to give shape to the day.

What will I eat? Who needs a phone call? What can wait until tomorrow? What deserves my attention right now? Sometimes the hardest decision is deciding what not to do.

Another sip.

Perhaps that is one of the gifts of a morning cup of coffee. It doesn’t actually solve anything. It doesn’t make the laundry disappear or clean out the closet. It certainly doesn’t make the clock slow down.

But it gives you a moment.

A moment to breathe.

A moment to think.

A moment to remember what matters before the day begins telling you what matters.

The coffee gets a little cooler with every sip, and the list gets a little shorter. The morning light begins to fill the room. Somewhere outside, the world is already moving, but for a few minutes, you have not yet joined the rush.

Another sip.

The day is waiting.

And perhaps the best decision you can make is simply to begin it with gratitude, purpose, and a clear understanding of what deserves your attention.

Then you put the coffee cup down, get up from the table, and get moving.