Del Hershberger is the director of Christian Service for Mennonite Mission Network. He lives in Hesston, Kansas, with his wife, Michele.

One of the dangers of offering up a list of things that get you out of bed in the morning, is that the order can make it seem as though you’ve prioritized them according to how important they are to you. My disclaimer is that these are all things that get me out of bed, but please don’t mistake the order for what is most important.

1. Coffee and the newspaperI know it seems like such a trivial thing, but I have a love affair with dark roast coffee and my newspaper. I’m not one of those who has caffeine headaches when I don’t get my coffee, but I just love to sip a bold cup in the morning. I almost never drink coffee after 8 a.m., so people I work with almost never see me drinking coffee.These days, almost every aspect of our lives revolves around the Internet, but I can’t seem to make the break from having a real, hand-delivered, paper newspaper. The first hour of the morning is the most relaxed of the day with unhurried coffee and a methodical perusal of the paper. (I used to do the Sudoku puzzle after the comics, but since Michele, my wife, became addicted to that, it is no longer mine to do.)

2. My best friend, MicheleI have no idea how I got so lucky as to get to live with my best friend for almost 33 years now. And one of the ways I get to show my love is to get up and make sure the coffee is ready when she gets out of bed. There are other things that I do for her, too, but having her coffee ready is definitely something worth getting out of bed for.

3. The outdoorsI love the mountains and have great memories of hiking in the forests and mountains in Oregon. Now I live in Kansas, so I can’t say that the mountains get me up. I do, however, still enjoy sunrises, sunsets, gardening and, in general, puttering around outside. Even though I have experienced God’s presence in many ways throughout my life (including spacious cathedrals), the most profound and consistent places have been on forest trails, under canopies of tall trees or mountain ridges that peer down on icy-blue glaciers. I have often found myself walking on the edge of the path as if to give room to my unseen companion as we walk and talk together. I wish God were more willing to weed the garden with me, but maybe that has more to do with me than with God.

4. My work and co-workersI often love my job—and my co-workers, too. You might not think that is enough to get out of bed for, but I think, on the whole, the work I get to do is energizing and my co-workers are great people. In fact, I would say that I count them as my best friends. In my adult life, I have had three jobs: I sold school buses for about seven years; I was a pastor for seven years; and now I have been working at Mennonite Mission Network for almost 19 years.In my work, I get to encourage people to think about how they can join in God’s big project of reconciliation. Christian Service programs are an excellent way to explore what God is up to, and how we as a church can work together to be the hands and feet of Jesus as we follow him. I’m also excited to network more and more with immigrant and Racial/Ethnic churches to see how we can strengthen each other for the purpose of becoming a multicultural, Pentecost, church.

5. A future with hopeEarlier in my life, I suffered with depression. Day after day, I woke up curled up in bed, clutching my sheets, with no desire to get up. My heart aches for people who live with chronic depression, and I’m grateful that I haven’t dealt with that for quite a few years. I think it’s hard for people who haven’t dealt with severe depression to understand how hard it can be to just get out of bed, but that is my final answer to why I get out of bed – because I can.