Overwhelmed by My Blessings: Encouragement for Moms (Part 8)Sýnishorn

It’s a mother’s best yet fleeting dream. It’s what we ask for as a gift for our birthday or Christmas and people think we are joking. Sleep. The thought of 8 hours of blissful, uninterrupted sleep. Can you even imagine?!

I know there were times in my life when the thought of sleep was all consuming. If I could just get a little more maybe things would be better, easier. Maybe I wouldn’t be so crabby, and things wouldn’t bother me so easily. Maybe the people in my life wouldn't annoy me so much. 

I remember realizing that if I could get 4 straight hours without waking, I could survive the day. I also remember days when I thought I probably shouldn’t be driving because my senses were dead from sleep deprivation.

All the coughing, crying, upset stomachs, and waiting for that teen to get home. Maybe it’s the snoring next to us. Or being wide-eyed awake in the middle of the night with those endless thoughts and fears that are so magnified in the darkness. Family members, or fears, we rarely get enough sleep.

One of the greatest distinctions between God and humans is that He never sleeps!  He doesn’t need it. But, we do. Maybe He created us to need sleep to show that He is God, and to remind us that we are not. While we are sleeping, renewing our weary bodies, He is always there, always faithful, always in control. And maybe, if we grasp that thought and take it a little deeper, we will realize that He is just as in charge and in control of our lives, even when we are awake! 

Yes, there will be days where you are so spent there is nothing left to share. I remember. Yet, somehow, my family and I all survived. You will too. 

Someday you will actually sleep again!  Deep, restful, sleep where your senses aren’t heightened to listen for that baby cry, or that coughing child. You won’t listen for the front door to open in the wee hours of the morning, waiting for the light to be switched off when your teen finally walks through the door. It will happen. 

In the meantime--you know why it’s called the “mean time”--trust that He is in control, even when you aren’t all there mentally, emotionally and physically.  Lean into Him.  Let Him be your rest. He is able even, and maybe especially, when you are not.

Father, I am so tired.  I know You know.  I also know that the more I say it, the more tired I become. May my focus be on You instead of my feelings. May my rest be deep as I give up all control of my nights, as well as my days, to You. May I remember that You never sleep and have all my circumstances in Your loving care, even when it seems my life is out of control. Today every time my mouth wants to confess that I’m tired I choose to smile and look to You, having complete peace and rest in my spirit. Also please help me sleep well tonight!