Sleepless in Branson

This morning (at 4:30) when Coralyn woke up and hadn't quite made it to the bathroom in time, she came into our room for help.  In the process, Kellah woke up as well.  I couldn't very well go over to Kellah, standing up in her pack and play watching as Coralyn moved her pillow and Nana (stuffed monkey) to our room, and lay her back down, telling her to go back to sleep.  That just seemed mean.  Seeing as how big sister was going to be joining us in bed anyway, I figured Kellah might as well join the co-sleeping fun too.  So we all climbed into our big king size bed and tryed to settle in and go back to sleep.  Seems so simple, but oh so difficult to actually happen! 

Reality is it is now 5:30 and I am typing on the computer in the resort's main lobby.  I tried to get Kellah to understand that she needed to lay still and go back to sleep, that she should just enjoy being snuggled up to Mommy, take advantage of the opportunity to nurse, and fall asleep all cuddled up against me.  She had no intentions of doing any such thing!  Rather, she wanted to crawl and play and squirm and move around every which way possible.  And so, I had to give up my mental picture of the ideal co-sleeping arrangement where the children lay in the curve of your body and you smell their clean hair and feel their soft skin against yours.  Somehow, Kellah's legs on top of my face one second and then her head digging into my neck the next and then her squawking and trying to convince Coralyn it was more fun to play than sleep didn't quite fit my idea of what should be happening at 5 in the morning. 

I wanted to post a picture of one of those Bed Sharing/Co-Sleeping Dream and Reality comparisons I have seen on facebook, but the computer here at the resort isn't letting me copy and paste a picture, so you will just have to look it up yourself.  If you have ever had a child sleep in your bed with you, you don't need a visual anyway, you completely understand what I am saying!

Back to my story... I finally took Kellah back to her pack and play, gently laid her down with her blanket and Bear-Blanket, kissed her forehead and went back into our room.  Within 3 minutes, she was fast asleep.  I, however, was not.  My mind was up and running, so I decided my body might as well follow suit.  Without distribing the newly resting Kellah, I grabbed my glasses, shoes, and bag with Bible and journal stuff, and tiptoed out of our condo and made my way to the main lobby where I am now sitting and sharing this story with you.  I know you were losing sleep just thinking about what I was going to blog about next! :)  Well, now you can be at ease and rest easy...

As I was laying there in bed, Kellah crawling and squirming all over me, I thought of God.  No wonder He never sleeps or slumbers, He constantly has people coming to Him with their problems and concerns, their wants and needs.  As soon as He deals with one request, He has 45,689 left to take care of, not to mention making sure all the animals in the entire world have food to survive, controlling the weather on an international level, and then there's the whole keeping the planets in orbit and stars in place part of His job.  Yeah, He doesn't have time to sleep even if He wanted to.  But, the thing is, He doesn't grow weary or tired either.  I know I would!  Heck, I know I do -- I am so ready to climb into bed and lay my head on my pillow each night, usually long before it's actually time to do so!

But not God.  Nope. 

My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

~Psalm 121:2-4

In fact, He INVITES us to come to Him with our burdens, to lay them at His feet so He can take care of them instead of us worrying about whatever it is we are so stressed about and losing sleep over.  He calls to us, waving us in, WANTING us to come and sit on His lap, to spend time with Him, no matter the hour.  He LONGS for us to curl up beside Him and just rest in His presence.  He wants us to dwell with Him, to abide in Him, to make Him our home.  And no matter how squirmy or loud we are, no matter how many times we kick Him in the face or gouge His eyes with our fingers on accident or snore in His ear, God really, truly, genuinely ENJOYS those moments.  Not because they're actually pleasant, but simply because we are WITH Him.  Which is exactly where we belong.

Numerous times in John 15 alone, Jesus tells His disciples they must "abide" or "remain" in Him.

Remain in me, as I also remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers;

such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

^{I'm not a Bible scholar by any means, but I do remember learning at Moody Bible Institute in several of my Bible classes that if soemthing is repeated, it's important.  Well, Jesus says the word "remain" 10 times in the matter of a few verses.  I'm pretty sure, our ears should perk up and we probably need to pay close attention to what He is saying.  It's like parents when they get exasperated with their children, "How many times do I have to tell you?!" or "Weren't you listening?!  I only told you 500 times..."  Same as teachers and their students.  God must feel the same way as we ignore Him or don't pay attention or hear Him but don't actually remember a single word He said.  And yet, He doesn't send us to time out or throw His hands up in the air and walk away, having given up all hope that we will ever listen!  Instead, He just keeps calling us back to Him, inviting us into His presence, longing for us to CHOOSE to dwell there, to sit and rest, to enjoy our time with Him, to want that more than anything else!}

^{That's what David prayed in Psalm 27:}

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.

Long before Jesus ever told His disciples to remain in Him, David knew the best place for Him to be was in God's presence.  It's what he yearned and longed for.  It's what he desired above all else.  He wrote again in Psalm 89 of the same concept, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere..."  Granted, this perspective may not have always come easy for David, but it was his mantra, the way he sought to live his life on a daily basis.  That's what I want to do too!  I think of my life verses from Psalm 62:

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God^[c];
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

^{Finally, I close with a verse I thought of yesterday during my devotions.} 

 ^{"BE STILL and know that I am God."}

^{That's all I wanted this morning as Kellah did everything except sleep next to me.  I just wanted her to be still.  Was that too much to ask?  Apparently so!  May God not say the same of me!  Rather, may I learn to sit and rest in His presence.  May I learn to do what I read in Psalm 16 earlier this week:}

Keep me safe, my God,
    for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.