Our seven year old boy is just that...seven young years of boy energy and adventure all wrapped up in one strong body including a strong spirit! The energy that he burns each day should be bottled and marketed as a stimulant. Calories melting away like that would get rid of those last few pounds we'd all like to lose. Roosky is an inspiration to the family to keep going and keep up the pace!
Our biggest adventure with with this well-hearted, spunky, ball of energy boy is to teach him to self-control and moderation. When is enough enough? "Don't over-do-it" is a commonly repeated phrase in our house.
No matter what the sun dial reads, this boy goes 100%. Bedtime is 99% of the time a struggle to get him to settle down. After the bedtime family routine of singing songs and praying together, Roosky goes to his room with a timer set for 'quiet time' before he hits the covers. Hoping that this gives him a chance to wind-down, that timer will ring and he's off to bed. Bounce, toss, turn, legs up, legs down, snort, sneeze (he has allergies) needless to say, he is not still or quiet. "Be still."
Last one to bed and first one to rise, Roosky makes his way over to my bed where I already have little MJ sleeping after a rough night of coughing from a mild cold he has. Mom's tired. Those 15 minute intervals of sleep just don't cut it. Made me flash back to newborn care days. Back to reality- Roosky climbs in bed trying his sweet little heart to be quiet....sneeze, snort, toss, turn, adjust the pillow...."Be still" this mama pleads in a whisper with a pinch of authority attached.
No use, I was awake and just lay praying for the day as the morning started. I prayed for the little one to feel better, and then I was praying about our adoption process and papers that were to arrive today via e-mail. Getting more and more anxious about what I was going to say to the gal in charge once my papers didn't arrive today (as I'm in high doubt). My mind slipped away from my prayer state and all the sudden I was practicing the conversation as I would confront the office gal and what she would say back, then what I was going to say, and basically ending in a plea that I want this paper to get movin'. Heart rate increases, feet start wigglin', stress crunches up my neck....
I felt God smiling at me and saying, "Be still!" And here I am, just like Roosky, tossing and turning and squirming and wriggling under my own anxieties, while all the while God is at rest, in this peaceful state beside me, looking a me saying in a whisper of authority and knowledge, "Be still."
Psalm 46:10 says "Be Still and know that I am God." And in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) version it reads this way, "Cease striving and know that I am God." with the footnote of "let go", and "relax." "Cease striving"...I like that. "Cease" = stop it! and "striving" = overworking to reach a goal. God's got this! Why squirm about it? He's not worried-He is at perfect peace with it all.
Our biggest adventure with with this well-hearted, spunky, ball of energy boy is to teach him to self-control and moderation. When is enough enough? "Don't over-do-it" is a commonly repeated phrase in our house.
No matter what the sun dial reads, this boy goes 100%. Bedtime is 99% of the time a struggle to get him to settle down. After the bedtime family routine of singing songs and praying together, Roosky goes to his room with a timer set for 'quiet time' before he hits the covers. Hoping that this gives him a chance to wind-down, that timer will ring and he's off to bed. Bounce, toss, turn, legs up, legs down, snort, sneeze (he has allergies) needless to say, he is not still or quiet. "Be still."
Last one to bed and first one to rise, Roosky makes his way over to my bed where I already have little MJ sleeping after a rough night of coughing from a mild cold he has. Mom's tired. Those 15 minute intervals of sleep just don't cut it. Made me flash back to newborn care days. Back to reality- Roosky climbs in bed trying his sweet little heart to be quiet....sneeze, snort, toss, turn, adjust the pillow...."Be still" this mama pleads in a whisper with a pinch of authority attached.
No use, I was awake and just lay praying for the day as the morning started. I prayed for the little one to feel better, and then I was praying about our adoption process and papers that were to arrive today via e-mail. Getting more and more anxious about what I was going to say to the gal in charge once my papers didn't arrive today (as I'm in high doubt). My mind slipped away from my prayer state and all the sudden I was practicing the conversation as I would confront the office gal and what she would say back, then what I was going to say, and basically ending in a plea that I want this paper to get movin'. Heart rate increases, feet start wigglin', stress crunches up my neck....
I felt God smiling at me and saying, "Be still!" And here I am, just like Roosky, tossing and turning and squirming and wriggling under my own anxieties, while all the while God is at rest, in this peaceful state beside me, looking a me saying in a whisper of authority and knowledge, "Be still."
Isaiah 66:13
"As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;"
Patience and self-control, moderation, waiting; Whether it's my 7 year old boy full of potential energy to release this new day, or it's mom waiting on papers to process, or it's you waiting on which direction to take in life, what to do about work, frazzling in future plans......(you name it)..."being still" and not tossing and turning under covers is hard to do. Keeping our spiritual self-control and placing our trust where it needs to be is hard too. Let us do a spiritual self-check: When is enough "enough"? When I have taken on too much on myself and my own works and not given enough over to the Lord? There is a balance to be found, there is a lesson of moderation. "Don't over-do it!" Just "Be still."
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