INSPIRASUNS

I’m a light sleeper, I have been for as long as I can remember. Ya, it’s kind of a curse I guess because I tend to wake up at the slightest sound. Don’t get me wrong there are times when I’m out, and ya I’ve heard from my family, I can saw logs with the best of them, that’s for another blog though 🙂 . I find that if I can fall asleep quickly then I’m usually pretty good for sleeping, but if I let my mind wander and have difficulty falling asleep, that’s when I tend to not get into that deep sleep our body needs.

Well, last night was one of those nights when I was having difficulty falling asleep and I heard every noise. I heard the fountain out in our lake, (until it shut off at its appointed time), I heard the various birds outside, the creeks in our house, the ice maker filling in the freezer, etc. Finally, I broke down and grabbed the little set of earplugs I have in my nightstand to see if that might help.

If you’ve ever sported earplugs, I don’t mean earbuds, I mean earplugs for keeping the sound out, you know that you can hear yourself kind of inside. Here’s what I mean, last night after putting in my earplugs I took some deep breaths, in and out, in and out. I forced myself to slow down my breathing, and when I did this I could literally hear myself take those breaths. The sounds I was hearing were gone, or at least really muffled and I was just focusing on my breathing.

Now, if I could just stop my mind from running through all the things it was doing. You know what happens on Sunday nights, your thinking about work, meetings, and to-do lists, and, I was even thinking about the Eagles I wrote about on Saturday, (check out this little blog for that story). Again, I took some deep breaths and listened to those breaths. With that set of breaths I heard it, yep, I heard clearly, “I’m here, talk to me”. Ya, that was Father stepping in. So, with that, I began to say the Lord’s Prayer. I said this several times, and in between those times, I took in those deep breaths. The next thing I knew, I glanced at the clock just about five minutes before it was to go off. Well, that sure worked didn’t it 🙂 .

I wish I could explain the peace I felt last night when I could hear my breaths and began to say the Lord’s Prayer. I really could feel God with me and the comfort that brought. My mind stopped racing and the focus was no longer on all the things that were going to happen tomorrow, (now today), but the focus was on God and my closeness with him. He alone helped relax my mind and my body so it could get the rest it needed.

I don’t know if you are a light sleeper like me, if so I highly recommend a set of earplugs near your bed 🙂 . More importantly, I highly recommend leaning in to Father when you feel unsettled, when your mind won’t shut off, or when you need his strength to help you through. Actually, I highly recommend settling in with him during those times when you’re happy, excited, and feeling relaxed too. Continue to build that relationship with Him and know that he is here for us always, we simply need to call on him. Oh, and we need to listen for him to answer, listen for that, “I’m here, talk to me”.

Have a great day my friends, time to get the week started 🙂 .

Isaiah 26:3-4
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.