Two days in a row now my daughter has asked to be put down for a nap. Her little body waddles toward me with her pink bear stuffed under her arm. At my feet, she begs to be picked up. Reaching down I gently lift her into my arms. Immediately she extends her arm in the direction of her bedroom door and repeatedly proclaims, “Be-be be-be!”<\/p>\n
“Do you want your pacifier? Are you ready to rest?” I ask her.<\/p>\n
She wiggles with excitement. And I know her answer is yes. Contently I place her down on jungle sheets.<\/p>\n
Naps and bedtime were not always easy. I remember for the first six months of her life sleeping was a fight! She would scream and scream every time we tried to lay her down. At the time I was overwhelmed thinking she would never change. She would never understand that sleep was good. That sleep made her feel better.<\/p>\n
Despite my fears, she has learned. She knows when she feels yucky and tired she needs rest.<\/p>\n
The last two days have been difficult for me. I have been feeling discouraged, emotional, and lonely. I have had thoughts like, “Oh, if I could just get a break. Get away for a few hours. Or maybe if my family lived closer the days wouldn’t feel so long. Or if my husband surprised me and bought me flowers. Then maybe I would feel better. I wouldn’t feel so discouraged, emotional, and lonely.”<\/p>\n
These thoughts are silly. Just like when my daughter was an infant and wanted to stay awake instead of sleep. Maybe for a time she would have been happy but the sleepiness would eventually overtake her. Likewise, maybe having a break, family close, or flowers would make me feel better for a moment.<\/p>\n
The reality is that what I need for my discouragement\u00a0and lonely self is God. His Word. Prayer. I feel dry because I have not been drinking these last few days. I am worn out because I haven’t been receiving\u00a0nourishment from the Source.<\/strong> The Source of all strength, wisdom, love.<\/p>\n In the way my daughter has asked me for rest I need to ask my Father God for rest, restoration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matthew 7:7-8\u00a0\u201cKeep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.<\/span><\/span> <\/em>For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who <\/em>seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”<\/em> NLT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n James 1:5\u00a0If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him<\/em> ESV<\/p>\n 1 John 4:10\u00a0In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins<\/em>. ESV<\/p>\n Psalm 42:11\u00a0Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.<\/em> NKJV<\/p>\n Psalm 109:29\u00a0But you, O God<\/span> my Lord, <\/em>deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!<\/em> ESV<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two days in a row now my daughter has asked to be put down for a nap. Her little body waddles toward me with her pink bear stuffed under her arm. At my feet, she begs to be picked up. Reaching down I gently lift her into my arms. Immediately she extends her arm in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/shutterstock_302931605.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7NWg5-aL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":672,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/godsgoggles.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}