Prayables - Proverbs 3:24 - Scripture

Reflection: Dreamland

Tossing, turning, and not being able to fall asleep can be a regular occurrence for many. It's not always easy to rest your head and find the peaceful sleep you want and you need. Worry or excitement can create a cineplex of stories in your head that keeps you awake when it's long past the snoozing hour.

That's where the wisdom of Proverbs 3:24 comes in. Consider it an intermission in your busy and stressfull life. The Lord gives you the promise of a sweet sleep, undisturbed by man-made problems that bother you. Make prayer the last thoughts when you get into bed, and enter the holy dreamland of the One who brings sweet sleep.

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
—Proverbs 3:24

Blog: Bedtime Tango

My daughter doesn't like to go to bed. Well, no, let me revise my previous statement. My daughter loves to go to BED, but hates to go to SLEEP.

Laying her down has become a testy tango. I lay her down, she pretends to go to sleep, opens her door, pushes out the bottom of the baby gate, army crawls under it, and begins to create disasters.

Baby monitors do nothing. She's become so adept at this espionage that she barely makes a peep. There's no way to tell if she's tossing and turning or planning the apocalypse.

We've tried everything. Naps and no naps. Keeping her up later. Laying down with her. Standing outside the door. Yelling. One, stomach churning time, I tried to spank her. She yelped once and laughed; I locked myself in the bathroom and cried. We've bargained and pleaded. Tried every barrier to the door we could think of. Warm milk. Full stomach. We tried everything.

Did I mention that she's a monkey? She pulls out the drawers on her heavy, antique dresser and uses the drawers as a staircase to the top, where she proceeds to yell out, "STUCK! STUCK!"

The results of these midnight mishaps have been very cranky parents, a crabby two year old, and a whole lot of cleaning that I don't have time to do. I'm at my wits' end, and it's starting to show. The bags under my eyes are prominent. I put on two different shoes to run to the store and didn't realize it. I went to pour a cup of coffee, and poured it on the counter instead. I didn't even realize it until the boiling hot coffee hit my bare foot. Did I acknowledge the fact that I'd been coating the counter with java? No. Instead, I marveled at how much I needed a pedicure.

The worst was the other night. I heard her scrambling near the door, so I headed up the stairs in hopes of stopping her before she released locusts on us or opened up a vortex to another world. I was too late. She had not opened a vortex, per se, but she had pushed the gate down with such force that it had knocked a hole in the wall in the hallway. She stared at me as my face turned purple, largely in disbelief and frustration. I told her to wait one minute, and as she echoed the one minute call down the hall to my turned back, I muttered a string of obscenities under my breath.

So I'm exhausted. I'm stressed. I'm frustrated. On top of my weekend workload, I now had to patch a hole in a wall. Never mind that I have no idea how to patch a hole in a wall, I just don't have the time or energy. I had my little one very young- 21- and learned quickly that they weren't lying when they said being a mother was the toughest job I'd ever take on. Especially as a single mother. While other women in their mid-twenties are sipping posh cocktails in little black dresses at swanky clubs, I gulp coffee to keep my eyes open in my well-worn bathrobe. While they gyrate to catchy pop music with men in too-tight shirts, I dance to the Baby Bop Hop in my slippers. Was it what I had in mind when I set out, wide-eyed and naïve, into the world? Absolutely not ...but there is a bright side.

- Lauren Nelson

Joke: Love, Grandma

Dear Grandson,
The other day I went up to a local Christian bookstore and saw a "honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker. I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting, so I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, I'm glad I did! What an uplifting experience that followed!

I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good He is and I didn't notice that the light had changed. It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed!

I found that LOTS of people love Jesus! Why, while I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, "For the love of GOD! GO! GO! Jesus Christ, GO!" What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking! I just leaned out of my window and started waving and smiling at all these loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love! There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a "sunny beach"... I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. Then I asked my teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant, he said that it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.

Well, I've never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign back.

A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, I waved to all my sisters and brothers grinning, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and I felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared, so I slowed the car down, leaned out of the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away.

Love, Grandma