Sunday, January 27, 2008
Out of Bed, Sleepyhead!
I made just three resolutions for 2008. #1 - clean the storage room. #2 - deal with 31 years of unscrapbooked photos. #3 - sleep. (I'm going to need massive amounts of sleep to slay #1 and #2!) Most people don't have to resolve to sleep, but it's something I struggle with almost daily. Staying in bed is hard for me.
When the kids were little and sleep was 'grab as you can', any morning sounds would see me pulling the blankets up over my head, trying to grab just ten more minutes. Soon there would be a little person standing beside me, yanking on the covers, with requests for cheerios and cartoons. I remember telling DH once that I thought I'd die of terminal tiredness.
Those days of swingsets and sandboxes in the yard, bicycles thrown down, trucks and toys left scattered on the rug, they've passed. The nights of being up with a feverish child, or bad dreams, or finishing a forgotten homework project, they're gone too. These days I go to bed around 11 pm, with a cup of tea and a cookie or two, to read a bit before turning out the light. The sound of classical music playing wakes me up most mornings, and I come down the stairs to few responsibilities - feed the four-leggeds, set out coffee, yogurt and granola bars. There's a soft, easy feel to most mornings as I light a candle and settle in for morning devotions in my favorite chair.
So mornings are great, but Sunday mornings - they're just the best! We attend church on Saturday night, so Sunday looms wide open, full of possibilities. I've learned to set my clock for eight hours of sleep on Saturday evening, as a discipline to keep me in bed a reasonable amount of time. That which calls me out of bed all during the week screams my name from the rooftops on any Sunday morning. When I wake up, I have to hit the alarm button, check to see when my 8 hours of 'roomtime' is finally up. I'm a kindred spirit with grandson Caiden, who also greets every day with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever puppy. I can't wait to escape the confines of bed and get on with the stuff of life!
Waking up to the light coming in the window, feeling that I've had enough sleep to get by, sitting up to peek out the window and seeing snow falling, adding to the blanket of white that already covers the ground - it all beckons to me, get up, get up Sleepyhead. Lying there I remember there's a box of cinnamon streusel muffins in the pantry, and I have a brand new soft pink coffee mug. There's a baby shower to go to later today, after I've worked in the storageroom sorting a bit. Tonight we'll have some comfort food kind of supper, in front of a fire, watch a bit of TV. All nestled inside our cozy home together.
Still, I pull the covers over my head, lie there awhile trying to go back to sleep, but it's to no avail. I just can't. There's just too much I'm missing out on, it can't be put off any longer by something as trivial as sleep. A 'cup that runneth over' is waiting for me today. What a blessing!
When the kids were little and sleep was 'grab as you can', any morning sounds would see me pulling the blankets up over my head, trying to grab just ten more minutes. Soon there would be a little person standing beside me, yanking on the covers, with requests for cheerios and cartoons. I remember telling DH once that I thought I'd die of terminal tiredness.
Those days of swingsets and sandboxes in the yard, bicycles thrown down, trucks and toys left scattered on the rug, they've passed. The nights of being up with a feverish child, or bad dreams, or finishing a forgotten homework project, they're gone too. These days I go to bed around 11 pm, with a cup of tea and a cookie or two, to read a bit before turning out the light. The sound of classical music playing wakes me up most mornings, and I come down the stairs to few responsibilities - feed the four-leggeds, set out coffee, yogurt and granola bars. There's a soft, easy feel to most mornings as I light a candle and settle in for morning devotions in my favorite chair.
So mornings are great, but Sunday mornings - they're just the best! We attend church on Saturday night, so Sunday looms wide open, full of possibilities. I've learned to set my clock for eight hours of sleep on Saturday evening, as a discipline to keep me in bed a reasonable amount of time. That which calls me out of bed all during the week screams my name from the rooftops on any Sunday morning. When I wake up, I have to hit the alarm button, check to see when my 8 hours of 'roomtime' is finally up. I'm a kindred spirit with grandson Caiden, who also greets every day with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever puppy. I can't wait to escape the confines of bed and get on with the stuff of life!
Waking up to the light coming in the window, feeling that I've had enough sleep to get by, sitting up to peek out the window and seeing snow falling, adding to the blanket of white that already covers the ground - it all beckons to me, get up, get up Sleepyhead. Lying there I remember there's a box of cinnamon streusel muffins in the pantry, and I have a brand new soft pink coffee mug. There's a baby shower to go to later today, after I've worked in the storageroom sorting a bit. Tonight we'll have some comfort food kind of supper, in front of a fire, watch a bit of TV. All nestled inside our cozy home together.
Still, I pull the covers over my head, lie there awhile trying to go back to sleep, but it's to no avail. I just can't. There's just too much I'm missing out on, it can't be put off any longer by something as trivial as sleep. A 'cup that runneth over' is waiting for me today. What a blessing!
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10
Labels: Glimpse of the Heart
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