Have you ever been woken from sleep by a voice that wasn't there?

This morning at 4:30 sharp I woke to a voice calling me: "Thank God for endings."

I jolted up and looked around the room. No one.

I lay in bed, wondering what it meant. Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. So I began to answer that call. For the next half hour I listed - one by one - the endings I've experienced in the last few years. Doors closing that I had hoped would open. The answer "no" when I wanted a "yes." Saying goodbye. Sunsets. Roads less traveled that I didn't bother to travel because I didn't have the time or energy or wisdom to explore them. Doors I shut on myself and others. Grave stones and grace stones. 

The half hour turned into an hour and a half of drowsily thanking God for endings.

If you hear a voice in the night, consider it a challenge. 

It may be a gift in disguise.