I gotta have my orange juice.

I ran across Gideon Strauss’s list of things he loves this week. You can read an earlier post of mine and an editorial of his for some background. I’ve been reflecting on Ecclesiastes, too, and its fundamental perspective that God gives his people a deep and lasting joy in our toil. This is a big part of what Strauss is getting at — training our eyes to see with joy and gratitude.

Joy is a fruit of the spirit, but it is also a habit or discipline we can cultivate, grow in, fight for.

So, in a season where every sunrise comes too soon, and feels so much like the last one, here are some things that I love about right now:

• Morning coffee with Lisa
• A date at home with Lisa, ending with front-porch-sitting in the gloaming
• A smiling baby with rather chubby cheeks
• Three pairs of little hands that are always happy to hug me or to casually hold mine whenever we are walking somewhere
• Lisa’s cooking
• Reading out loud to the three older kids and suddenly realizing that an hour has gone by
• A daily commute filled with James Jordan and Peter Leithart
• The Lord’s supper