It was late – 11:45 p.m. I was finally done with the tasks I had assigned myself for the night: pay the bills, do some laundry, clean up dinner dishes, organize some papers.
The house was quiet. Everyone else was in bed. I got myself ready for bed and turned off the last light. I got into bed and enjoyed the silence of my bedroom; cozy and warm.
I was really tired. I thought for certain that I would quickly drift off to sleep. But, sleep evaded me. I tossed and turned for an hour. It was almost 1:00 a.m. and still I could not fall asleep.
It just didn’t make any sense. I had finished all my work. The house was clean. Why could I not find rest?
Rest didn’t come until I finally realized that there were some things that I had definitely left undone that evening.
Earlier that night after dinner was over, I got right to work while my husband and teenage kids went to the family room to wind down. Actually, I had hardly seen them since we finished our meal. The evening passed quickly. They had put themselves to bed. At one point, I yelled from the laundry room that I would be up to kiss them goodnight. But I had just kept on going with my to-do list.
So I got out of bed and headed into my daughter’s room. I kissed her on the cheek and brushed her hair off her face. I whispered a prayer for her and then headed into my son’s room. I kissed him on the cheek and pulled the covers back up to his shoulder. I spoke a quiet prayer over him and went back to my own bed. My husband was sound asleep. I put my hand on his arm and said a prayer for him in a low voice, too. Finally, as I got comfortable in my bed, I fell asleep.
It was early when the alarm went off – 5:30 a.m. I was not ready to get up, still groggy from my short night. But, I had more tasks to accomplish.
As each member of the family got up and started their day, I considered how peaceful it had made me feel, hours before, to love on and pray for each one of them.
We all went our separate ways, off to work and school. My 18-year-old daughter was first to text me to ask me if I had come in to her room last night. I said yes and told her how I couldn’t sleep and that I was sorry that I hadn’t come in to see her before she fell asleep. She said it was no big deal, but was grateful I had. She said that I had come at just the right time to wake her from the bad dream she was having; that after I had left, she too had felt more peaceful. That bad dream was gone.
Soon, I heard from my 14-year-old son. He asked if I had said a prayer over him last night. Yes, I said. He said that he’d been having some trouble breathing earlier in the night due to his allergies. But that after I had come in to his room, his breathing was no longer a bother to him. He’d slept great the rest of the night.
Later in the afternoon, I talked to my hubby on the phone. He’d slept better after I’d prayed for him, too; and for a surprising but sweet reason. He told me that he felt more peaceful because I was finally able to rest, at peace, no longer tossing and turning.
