Midnight Prayers

I owe you posts about Evan's 7th birthday (his party will be this Saturday) and Ben turning 6 months old (on January 30th). Emmett celebrated his 38th birthday, too.

I can't access any pictures right now - something happened with our server at home that I do not understand. Take it from me that my kids are as cute as ever. I'll show you photographic evidence eventually.

I've been feeling really down the past few days. I'm coming down with some kind of cold or flu, I think, and it makes me tired and weepy. I look around and I see all the things that I'm not doing well - haven't shopped for groceries, haven't been reading books with the kids, haven't been stimulating Ben enough or figured out his feeding schedule, haven't been getting up early for quiet time, etc... I'm discouraged.

So tonight, when I woke up at midnight and couldn't sleep, I came down to the living room to read my Bible and pray. I'm reading through a devotional called Streams in the Desert, and - when I take the time to read it - it speaks to my heart.

In a recent reading, the author wrote about how an oak tree grows: "Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service. When God wants an oak tree, He plants it where the storms will shake it and the rains will beat down upon it. It is in the midnight battle with the elements that the oak develops its rugged fiber and becomes the king of the forest.'"

Shortly after I read that, a friend pointed me to Isaiah 61. In Isaiah 61:3, Isaiah says that he (prophetically: Jesus) has been sent "... to provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

That's what I'm praying in the middle of the night - that He would replace my spirit of despair with a garment of praise. And that in my life and in my family's life, we would display HIS splendor. I'm trusting that these times of illness and busy-ness and dreariness are just part of the rain of life, and that He is shaping me.

Rub, Pound, Squeeze, Scratch

Lately, I have been appreciating how some small pieces of childhood go with us into adulthood, and then get passed down to our children.

For example, when Emmett was little, he loved getting backrubs at bedtime. In order to speed up the process, his parents invented "Rub, Pound, Squeeze, Scratch." That way, they could do a super-quick backrub or a longer one, depending on how much time they had.

Evan and Corrie are mostly good at going to sleep ... now. But there was a long time when putting Corrie to bed was a huge chore. We were like an episode of Supernanny every night. Put her in bed, she comes out. Pick her up, no talking, put her back in bed. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. We tried everything to get her to go to bed! Lights, no lights. Music, no music. Locking her in. It was frustrating.

Eventually, we tried "Rub, Pound, Squeeze, Scratch." I don't think it was the turning point in getting Corrie to embrace bedtime, but it did help.

Evan likes it, too. Now Emmett reads the kids a story and prays with them. I do Ben's bedtime, then visit the big kids for "Rub, Pound, Squeeze, Scratch" and a snuggle. When Ben gets older, I'm sure he'll get in on the backrub action, too.

I don't want to forget this bedtime routine. Who knows? Maybe our grandchildren will fall asleep to "Rub, Pound, Squeeze, Scratch" one day. :)