One of my children has always had sleeping issues. He has always been a really, really early riser. It is imperative that as a general rule we get him to be early. When he gets overly tired he has always come apart at the seams. Poor kid. It took my husband and I awhile to figure out the problem and how best to deal with it.
A few days ago, our son turned 8. He deals a little better with sleep deprivation now days then he did when he was 2 (praises to the good Lord!). However, now days when I have to put him to bed later or his overly tired from his day, we have learned that everything looks dismal to him. He is down on himself, the world and life in general. At first when I noticed this, I would try to sit with him, chatting and praying. With experience we learned to just tuck him in and tell him that Jesus and his parents love him and that is all that matters. That followed by an all out sprint out of the room! What was always amazing to me was that all was well in morning.
At first, I thought of it as some sort of miracle. Sleep and his parents fervent prayers to a God who hears us, had made it all better. This past week, we had a couple late nights in a row (not terribly late but 8:30 or so) and I was reminded of a scripture as I telling him I loved him and sprinting for the hallway.
- The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
- his mercies never come to an end;
- they are new every morning;
- great is your faithfulness.
Each morning, God is faithful. My little sunbeam gets up with the sun and all is well. He sometimes even laughs about the things he was worried over the night before. There is hope yet again…a new day.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
