Bedtime

I know that it is no secret that we struggle with bedtime. Ryker, our first born, loves to cuddle. He wants to be close and he doesn't like to sleep alone. You can guarantee that he will come in to our room at least once per night. (If it's after 5am, he wins and stays in bed with me/us.) This tends to be worse on nights that Brock is working.

We had a late night last night and an early morning today. I knew that Ryker was tired and I told him this afternoon that he needed to rest. I dozed off with him sitting next to me. He fell asleep shortly before my alarm went off at 4. When I tried to wake him, he wouldn't wake up. Ugh. I knew bed time would be interesting. So instead of fighting it, I let him stay up about 30 minutes later than normal. Bedtime went smooth and I thought, "This is going to work." HA! He was up after about 5 minutes.

He started to cry about how he wanted to snuggle with me. (This makes it even more difficult to put him to bed!) I took him back to bed twice and he just wasn't staying. This is usually the point that I begin to get angry and pretty much unreasonable. Instead, I asked him what he was scared of. I told him to lay down and he begged me to stay in his room with him. I looked at him and said "God is always here with you. You can talk to him when you are scared." Ryker looked at me and said "Mommy, I want you to sing to me. Please sing Jesus loves me." I stood in there and sang to him, Jesus loves me, Amazing Grace, It is Well with my Soul. When I was finished, I prayed over him. I prayed out loud that God would be with him and calm his fears. I prayed that God would wrap His arms around Ryker and make him feel safe.

When I said Amen, Ryker looked at me and said "Mommy, does God stay up late?" And I told him that God never sleeps. Ryker laughed and said "You mean He never gets tired?" I was able to look into the eyes of my 4 year old and say to him "Baby, God is always listening to you. He never sleeps. He never leaves you. He will always comfort you if you just ask."

Tonight I'm thanking God that Ryker had trouble falling asleep. He provided that moment for the two of us to talk and pray together. Those moments make me thankful.