For Sarah...

My mother tells me at times that I have stress related memory loss. This is annoying because USUALLY I have a mind like a steel trap. Or,I "remember the elephant", as my nephew Christian once said!

But lately I haven't been able to focus and I have been forgetting things. Why? Well, part of the reason is because I am tired, and I don't sleep. Why? Because I am a worrier. Have been since I was about seven... which BTW is about the same time I developed an ulcer. Yes..I developed an ulcer in the first grade!

Recently, my oldest child, started having trouble sleeping as well. One day she told me that she had not slept the night before and I decided to go on a search for some scripture. Which is a whole heck of a lot easier than it used to be I might add! BibleGateway.com is one of my best friends. We visit just about every day!

Anyway...after reading a LOT of scripture about "sleep" and "rest", I began to notice a common thread running through a lot of them. SO MANY TIMES the scripture tells us that in order to find rest we must cry out to God, we must give him our our sins,our anger and yes...our stress and our worries. Because I believe at it's core, worry is sin. That is, if we believe that worry is a form of unbelief.

AND THEN when we have done this...when we have called out to our father and discussed our day with him...we will find rest.

This MAY NOT be easy for some! This, like so many other things may need to begin as a HABIT before it becomes "second nature". And,as I write this, I am reminded of something....

When I was a child my dad would come and sit at the edge of my bed and we would recite this children's prayer..."Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take."

And then I would say all of my "God Blesses".

Sounds kinda morbid for a children's prayer huh? But broken down...it is a very simple prayer giving it all to God. It's says, "I'm going to sleep now Father. I am trusting you to take care of me. And..if something happens... then I am trusting you to take care of my very soul."

SO PEOPLE...LET'S DO IT!! Let's become like a child! Let's give it all to God when we go to bed at night. He's sitting right there on the edge of the bed waiting for us to pray with him.

When I was searching the scriptures that day for my oldest child...and for myself it turns out...one passage of scripture in particular really stood out to me. Actually, one PART of it stood out because I thought it SOOO beautiful in it's wording. AND THEN the rest of it began to sink in. So this is the one i shared with Kirsten...

Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him,if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;you will stand firm and without fear.You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday,and darkness will become like morning.You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid...~Job 11:13-19

And here is a couple extra for good measure...

I call out to the LORD,and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.
~Psalm 3:4-6

LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.~Psalm 16:5-11

PS...We don't have to wait until we go to bed to begin establishing this habit! ;)