How waking up early together became a rhythm for our souls' health and what it taught us.
The night is still in full effect, and the streets are quiet. It’s 4:15AM.
My phone alarm jolts me awake.
I feel like I just fell asleep. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed up as late. Oh well.
I savor the moment with my head still on the pillow. Gravity feels 2x more intense trying to lift it off.
You’d think repetition would make it easier to wake up. It doesn’t.
Rallying all the will power I have, I crawl out of bed in the dark. I can’t sleep in.
I’m the host.
I stumble to the door, head to the kitchen, where the coffee pot is already chortling and popping.
Thank God for coffee. And programmable coffee makers.
At 4:29AM, I open the front gate to see a small crowd of young people waiting in the dark. We greet, hug, and step inside together. By the time I close the door behind me, the living room, kitchen, and hallway have people setting down their belongings and getting comfortable.
Besides a few shuffles, whispers, and pen clicks, it's quiet.
I get my own cup of coffee, extra milk till it’s tan colored. I take a sip, and the morning gets a bit easier.
The warm light of the house feels magical. And the fact that its still dark out and the world still sleeps around us makes it all start to get exciting. Its unusual, its goofy, its a sacred tradition.
It’s Early Mornings.
For me, Early Mornings is capitalized. It’s a thing; an event.
The sequence of waking up dark and early, prepping the coffee, and opening the door to friends was on repeat for a long time. And somehow it still is. It became a bit of an obsession… not just for me, but for all of us. We encountered something that before felt impossible.
What started as an idea—wake up and do something together that would otherwise be way too hard—became one of the most sustaining habits of my life.
And I couldn’t have done it alone.
There’s a unique kind of electricity in the air when it’s still dark out and people are gathering for no other reason than to be with God, to sit quietly with scripture, or to reflect on their lives in the presence of friends.
Over the past 8 years, in kitchens and living rooms, rooftops, over Zoom calls, in Mexico, Colorado, Canada, Europe, and beyond, I’ve seen something remarkable: it’s easier to do hard things when you’re not doing them alone.
Think about crossfit, running clubs, or even a 12-step addiction recovery program…they all have community as the catalyst, to help them all meet real needs.
That first morning, back in 2017, I invited a couple friends to wake up early and join me at my house. I brewed the coffee, opened the door, and we sat in the quiet, each with our Bible and journal. It was simple, but as we all processed it afterwards over breakfast, it was so helpful to do it together.
From there, it kept going. What was once an occasional glance at scripture and a neglected journal became an unstoppable rhythm. It was helpful for me and for those who came! We went from a few friends to dozens, eventually needing to upgrade houses just to fit everyone.
During COVID, we began using Zoom, and friends from around the world joined. At one point, 21 Early Morning calls were happening per week, across time zones. I was only hosting 4 of them!
The only way I’ve been able to keep this rhythm alive for eight years is that I haven’t been doing it alone. It has been one of the highlights of recent life and I have been able to spend so much time in reflection, scripture, and conversation with friends.
At Soul Care, we’ve noticed something: most of us don’t need to be convinced of what’s important. We already know.
We already know the things that will keep you healthy, grounded, present, and resilient. We could teach it and preach it like breakfast cereal.
Ways to care for the soul, these practices... quiet time, solitude, journaling, reflection, deep relationships, prayer — are nothing new. They are ancient.
The problem isn’t lack of knowledge.
It's that a lot of things are competing for our time, attention, cares, worries. Especially as a leader, when the demands start to pile up, the first things threatened to disappear are the rhythms that sustain your life with God and your soul health.
That's a problem.
We need help to keep the first priority as the first priority, so our leadership can come from overflow.
That’s why Soul Care exists. We help people build sustainable rhythms around the care of the soul. We help leaders play long game, sustainable, bear good fruit. Live a life that those they serve could want to emulate.
And, we do it within the context of relationship—through coaching, spiritual direction, retreats, cohorts, and through our LeadWell community. Community isn’t just a nice addition to a healthy soul. It is part of God's design of how we flourish and become who we are called to be.
As hard as they are (they have never gotten easier to wake up for), I have never gotten tired of hosting Early Mornings.
My only job is to make coffee and open the door. As hard as it is, I can show up however I’m feeling, and I don’t have pressure to have it all together.
There are no sermons to prepare, no group devotional guides, just a warmly lit house and a guarantee of unlimited coffee and tea. I can do that.
This rhythm of Early Mornings taught us something deeper than how to wake up early. It’s shown us that life with God is not a solo mission—it’s a team sport.
Your soul was never meant to be cared for in isolation.
We need community that helps us keep our priorities where they belong, even when it’s hard.
Because when life is exhausting, when faith feels thin, when our soul care practices get crowded out, we have to find new ways to prioritize the things that actually keep us going: our life with God and the well-being of our souls.
So as you consider the ways you rest, step back, reflect, worship, or reconnect with God—consider this:
Where can you invite others to join in?
Who can you do this with when it just feels too hard to do alone?
As Soul Care, we believe this kind of life should be supported year-round, not just at the occasional retreat or crisis moment. That’s why we’ve created LeadWell—a year-round subscription designed to keep soul health in focus, even when everything else competes for your attention.
With Leadwell, you’ll experience:
Monthly Community retreats
Quarterly meetings with a Soul Care Guide
Weekly leadership focused invitations to slow down and check in with your soul
It’s a tried and true framework you don’t have to create from scratch.
Learn more about Leadwell here.
Author: Josh Caliguire
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