I love spending time with my granddaughter. She is 3 1/2 years old. There are so many fun things to do with a little girl. We love to have tea parties. We have made butterfly cakes and flower cakes. She has not mastered the technique of “gently sprinkle” yet. Some may say our cakes are “Pinterest Fails” but we think they are beautiful.
The biggest challenge lately has been nap time. I am afraid this is an area that I am going to lose today. It is amazing how many excuses a 3-year-old can give as to why she should not have to take a nap.
“I’m not tired” is one I cannot understand. How could she possibly not be tired after all she has done today. I definitely could use a nap!!
“I need you to rock me” is another excuse as if she hasn’t been rocked today. That is my favorite thing to do. A house cannot have enough rocking chairs. We have read books, played games, and listened to music. We even watched part of a movie on my phone all from the comfort of an overstuffed rocking chair.
“I need a hug”!
“Hold me”!
All of these words are precious to my heart but they do not accomplish the goal of taking a nap. I told her not to get out of her bed. As I watch her on the monitor I see her laying down on the bed with her feet on the floor. Then I see her turning around so that her head is on the floor and her feet are on the rail. She is still technically in bed but in her little mind she is winning. I love her so much but I know that a short nap will enhance her time with her parents when they get home from work. She “needs” this nap!!!
How many times does our Heavenly Father try to encourage us to rest.
Psalm 23:1-3a ESV tells us
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
The LORD gives us wisdom to know our body. There are times to work, to play, and to exercise but there must be a time to rest. We should not just rest physically but we should also rest in the LORD. We should listen to what he is telling us.
Psalm 103:2-5 ESV tells us
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The desire of my heart is:
- To rest in the LORD,
- To do what the LORD desires me to do,
- To seek Him first in all that I do,
- To learn to say no to things He has not directed me to do.
What about you?
Sometimes we too are a little like my granddaughter when it comes to rest.
Did my granddaughter rest? Did she take a nap? I don’t see any movement on the monitor but that may just mean that I didn’t see her get up and she is into something else.
I am Blessed!
I remember as a child that we would get locked out of the house. My Mother would break the window out of the back door to get us back in the house. Then we would go to the hardware store to get glass cut the right size for the replacement window. My Mother got us locked out so many times that she had her own putty knife to help with replacing the window.
I laugh at this funny memory but I did not think it was so funny when I realized my car had locked itself. I left my keys inside the car one night. I did not know the car had the feature to lock if keys were left in the car. We had not had the car very long at that time. I did not remember the door code. My husband was on a business trip and I could not get in touch with him. It took me several hours to get in my car.
open? After several tries, I called for my husband. Usually when he touches something I am having a problem with, the problem immediately goes away. Not this time. He pulled and tugged but sure enough, the door was locked. Then he did what any self-respecting husband would do – he Googled “Oven door will not open.” He found diagrams of the self-cleaning lock and how it could be bent to lock the door. After he finished with my oven door, it will never lock again!
As I read through the list, my eyes stopped on a quote from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Braum – “There’s no place like home.”
Another quote in this list came from Dr. Seuss in “The Lorax.” “Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s Not.”
Well, there was one thing I knew without a shadow of a doubt and that was how to present The Four Spiritual Laws. That afternoon in my own room I went through The Four Spiritual Laws booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I have always felt that I was the first person that I ever led to the Lord. I was baptized to publicly profess my salvation. Was I saved? Yes! There was then, and is today, no question as to whether I am saved. I know that I know.
Priceless 