Sleep, Glorious Sleep

For this reason, I was a little nervous about adding four more people to our household this past week, despite the fact that I was so happy to know that I’d get to spend seven days with my dear sister and her family. Ten people for one week in our little, hundred year old terrace house meant that space was a bit tight. Our living room floor space that is available isn’t even big enough to support a double mattress, so we had be creative with our sleeping arrangements upstairs. Jessica, Nathaniel and her two kids were in our bedroom (which is, I must add, the biggest room in the house!), John and I moved into Aria and Nia’s room (the tiny back bedroom with the slanted ceiling built onto the back of the house above the kitchen) and were very snug in her single bed:), and Aria moved into Johnny and Kiera’s small bedroom, sleeping on a chair bed on the floor. And you know what? It worked out pretty good! I felt like we were in the middle of some sort of adventure. It’s the same sort of feeling I get when I have to live out of just a backpack for a week.

Sweet sleep in India (2006)

But, all that said, I had a really bad week of wakeful nights. It wasn’t my neice and nephew… I didn’t hear a peep from them during the night hours and wee smas. It was MY children. Nia was so restless and I was out of bed probably around a dozen times a night. The other kids would then proceed to wake up early so I’d go in and lie beside Johnny in his wee goldilocks bed and keep them quiet until it was reasonable to get up. The last night the family was here was the worst of all and I got about 3 1/2 hours in total… blech!

However, the amazing thing is, I was and AM able to function on far less sleep than is ideal. My goal of nine hours a night is but a dream lost somewhere in the haze of mothering young children. But I still ‘live and move and have my being’. I find that my temper can be far worse when I’m tired and I’ll lose my patience A LOT quicker. But the amazing thing is, God poured out His grace on me this past week. Sure, there were moments, as I’m sure my sister can attest, that I ‘lost it’ with the kids. But I felt God’s presence really dwelling with me, covering my weakness.

As I was at church on Sunday (after that night of only 3 1/2 hours of sleep) I had a thought come to me. Jesus knew what it was to be deprived of sleep, but in a much more severe way than I know. The night before His crucifixion, He was kept from sleep. First, He had a last meal with His disciples that went on into the evening; then, they spent time praying in the garden and His spirit was troubled. Then there was a night of accusation and violence as He was put on trial before the Sanhedrin. He went to His torture and crucifixion without the strength that sleep can bring. God was His strength to endure. I admit, I felt a bit awed and humbled. What a Man, what a God, to give so much and pour Himself out… in the midst of human weakness He subjected Himself willingly to.

So sleep… glorious sleep. I savour it; I long for it; I try to get as much of it as I can. But I know that Christ is my strength when I don’t get enough. He is more than able to help me mother my children in a loving, wise way even when I get little sleep. His grace is beyond my understanding and I love Him for it.

So, on that note, to bed. May I have a restful night of plentiful sleep; may God’s grace carry me through if I don’t!

Aria absolutely 'crashed' after our journey by areoplane from Scotland to America (Oct. 2006)

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