On my knees....

Angie's little-angel stage where she falls asleep when you put her to bed, has passed. She's been in the bunk bed for months, but it wasn't until recently that she decided she needs to get out of bed if she's not dead asleep. I used to lie her down, tell her to stay in bed and she would. Now I've resorted to lying by her until she falls asleep. Usually I don't lie down because I'll fall asleep too- so I've resorted to kneeling next to her bed. At naptime she falls asleep within 5 to 10 minutes, but at bedtime it takes at least a half an hour. And it seems like if I try to bail out of there before she's totally out.....she'll come out and find me within 2 minutes. No amount of spankings, threatenings, or taking away of toys or blankies seems to change anything. And it feels like it just takes more effort to fight with her, than to just sit there till she's asleep. As a result, I've spent A LOT of time on my knees lately. I'm surprised I hadn't thought of it sooner, that this is the perfect time for me to pray. Especailly since I have gotten so bad at remembering to do so. But now I kneel by her bed EVERY NIGHT. So I've been taking the time to pray as I wait for her to zonk. And I was SOOO surprised at how MUCH I was able to pray about when given this HUGE window of time to do so. Usually my prayers are short. I have so many other things to do, or I'm just too tired. But when I'm kneeling next to my daughter's bed.....trying to stay awake anyway, I was amazed at how things just kept coming to me. Things to be grateful for. Things to ask for. People to pray for. And before I knew it, SHE was out and I was still going.

As much as I've dreaded this event each evening- especially considering that my growing stomach seems to cut off the circulation to my feet MUCH QUICKER with each passing day.....I must say that I am grateful for what this has done in my life. What kind of power would there be in my life if I would pray like that EVERY DAY?! To just keep talking like time wasn't a thing to worry about. I'd forgotten how much prayer is a BLESSING.....as well as a time to ask for blessings. And even though this new routine throws a kink in my schedule that I often do not enjoy. So much time just sitting there in the dark. Time I could be folding laundry, or cleaning up dinner, or (HEAVEN FORBID!) doing what I wanna do. At least it is no longer time wasted. I'm on my knees anyway. I might as well use that time to be grateful, and prayerful.