A.E. (antes de escribir – that is “before writing”) – I have no time to edit this right now as I scramble to get my thoughts down before the kids are ready for breakfast and me for my coffee….I will come back and do the editing later…so all you copy editors at there I apologize!
I have gotten a mere 10 hours of sleep….maybe slightly more in the past 2 nights. I know I can hear one of my friends exclaiming, “What, I have to get 9 hours a NIGHT to function.” Well, while I do like to sleep, I have long ago learned that sleep doesn’t always come and instead of fighting it I just go with it these days.
Two nights ago the lack of sleep was due to the Spirit keeping me in prayer most of the night…and thanks to the prayers of a dear friend yesterday – I never even fully felt the effects of the lack of sleep. No, all I felt was pure joy that God would use me in the life of my friends and even strangers to pray for them…how can I feel resentful of that?
The next morning while on Facebook, I found this posting from a new kindred spirit:
Open your heart without opening your mouth. So much more gets in that way. Once a day pray with this same peaceful spirit – with an open heart and a quiet mouth and mind. It’s astonishing how much you will hear and learn. When you’re constantly telling God what you want or need, you drown out the whisper of His perfect Wisdom. -Ronda Rae Franklin
I could not agree more with miss Ronda Rae…when you actually shut your mouth and start listening, and if you are in a quiet place without the constant feed of music/tv/children/life – you hear this quiet still voice that you just know is not your own. And as I continue to “clean house” (the subject of an up and coming post, but first I have to do it for myself before I can write about it!)…I am hearing this still small voice more and more. I actually am understanding and experiencing the command to pray continually, without ceasing, as I find myself just in constant conversation with the Lord. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is Gods will for you in Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Last night, the lack of sleep was due to my DLS2 (that is “dear little son 2nd born”). He entered my room sometime in the night telling me he wanted to sleep with me. I had no resolve nor energy to put him back in his own bed, as his sweet angelic voice talked while crawling into bed with me. How is a mama supposed to say no to something like that? While I think we both fell quickly back to sleep at that point, I later awoke and found myself just staring at his perfect little face and once again the need to pray. Thankfully, as it was still quite early, I was able to fall back asleep for a while…but as morning came and the sleepiness wore off…my heart is once again so full of joy that I just needed to share it with someone – anyone!
For I have tasted of the Lord deeply these last few days and have seen just how good He is…I am completely ruined for the ordinary, having no desire for anything this world has to offer but only those gifts that the Lord wants to give me (but I do have to learn to receive those gifts…a WIP there). The Lord and His word truly are sweeter than honey, or ice cream which is my true fancy. His word is more fulfilling than the best steak and potato dinner this side of the Mississippi – or even on the other side. His answers and His gifts he wants and has to give us are better than ANYTHING we could ever begin to dream up or imagine…and His comfort truly does overflow from Christ.
Won’t you too take a moment, whether you know Christ or not, and put this verse to the test? In the spirit of kids, I just dare you to do so!
Agh, discovered where DLS1 got the word “weary” from…We are working on learning the Catechism from the book Big Truth for Little kids and the 1st verse we are learning is Isaiah 40:28, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or WEARY, and his understanding no one can fathom.” Yeah, all our hard work is paying off a little at least!