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Saturday, February 18, 2012

sleep and sanctification

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it. 1 Thess 5:23-24


I love sleep.  Who doesn't really?  Does anyone remember my main reason for not wanting an infant referral way back in the beginning??? Sleep. Seems ridiculous now that I think about it.  Wee bit selfish.  We thought we would adopt older siblings.  One adoption, move on with life.  I LOVE how He sees the BIG picture and we only get a glimpse. We got a referral for siblings, then lost it.  Then got a single referral, of.an.infant.  A 2 month old baby!

We brought Abe home, found out he had profound neurological issues and guess what.......he didn't sleep.  Like barely any for 2 years.  You know what else?  God met me there.  In the middle of the night.  When I literally thought I couldn't do it for one more minute, He was there.  He gave me exactly what I needed for that minute, and the minute after that.

The next day, exhausted, He met me again.  Allowed me to do my job: care for my kids, be present for therapy, attend kids activities, cook, clean, etc....He was there.  By His grace alone, we managed to survive on very little sleep.

Abe sleeps SO much better, though does wake up occasionally still.  We are thankful for the progress he has made. :)

We are now home with Gigi.  In so many ways, I can't imagine her not being here......and then I find her halfway up the stairs or pulling things out of cabinets and I'm reminded that it has been a LONG time since I've had a toddler.  (Eyasu came home at 3 and Abe isn't mobile)  Poor baby has basically been battling some form of illness since we got her.  She has been a champ through it all.  It has made her not want to sleep as much as normal.......so back to the sanctification process that takes place in the wee hours over here.

Last night Gigi wasn't sleeping AT ALL, screaming (new ear infections) and was just harder than normal to soothe.  I got her back down and I'm not kidding, Abe immediately started in on the monitor.  These are the moments that I try to make deals.  I beg and plead with the Lord. I say ridiculous things about "needing" sleep and sound all "entitled"...........Gigi woke back up, Abe came in our bed with Moody and I moved to the couch with the Princess.......

We did sleep off and on for a few hours before Eyasu was up and ready to roll.  And again, He met me.  He has poured grace and mercy to me in big ole heaps.  So I may have dark circles under my eyes and forget what I walked into a particular room for......but I am thankful for this adventure He called us to!



7 comments:

We Are Family said...

Gulp...... I justbsaid last night that I'd love to adopt again, but not an infant. I love my sleep.......Thank you for the reminder that God knows what I need.

Humbled

John and Tara Dunn said...

How I can relate to this! Jace has had a lot of trouble sleeping since we've been home and I can't tell you how many desperate late night prayers I've prayed:). But you are right, His grace is certainly sufficient!

Holli said...

I feel like I just started sleeping after 8 years. I begged and pleaded and to be honest didnt have as good of attitude as you! Seriously for 8 years we didn't need alarm as our oldest woke us up at 6 EVERY morning... Now all 4 kids sleep and sleep AMAZING! But we just joked this morning as we slept in as church started 30min away that maybe getting sleep is not from God!;-)
Praying you all get a little more! Us a little less on Sunday mornings ;-) and Gigi feels 100% soon!!!!

Hal and Susan Everett said...

Thinking of you all-- beautiful things the Lord has done... (just talking about your fam, not lack of sleep!) Will pray for rest! Blessings, Hal and Susan & family

darci said...

Ahh...I get his. Just home with our one year old twins.....begging for sleep...the first weeks, seeing in myself such selfishness, then realizing God wanted, could, USE this exhaustion in my life to Refine me..
He meets us there! Amen! Darci

darci said...

Oops...get THIS..:)

Stephanie said...

I love this! I love how you remind us that God meets us when we don't have enough and equips us. Would you be willing ot let us feature this post on "We Are Grafted In" (www.wearegraftedin.com)? I'd just need a brief bio and a pic to use when it is featured. I know we have lots of readers who could benefit from reading this post. :)

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"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from becoming polluted by the world." James 1:27
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