Naptime Prayers

So yesterday I received a little Holy kick in the pants. . .I hate those.

Sunday night I had the pleasure of going out with my girlfriends. It was one of their birthdays so we gathered at Cheesecake Factory (where else would 4 girls gather to celebrate a birthday?!) for some good food and great conversation. Because I am the last of the brood to have children, I definitely benefit from their already-gained wisdom and experience. Although Hope is doing really well, our daytime naps remain a challenge. So I asked the girls for some advice on what to do next.

I'll spare you the entire round table discussion and I'll just say I walked away knowing I was on the right track but just needed to fine tune my schedule. I was focusing so much on Hope's eating schedule that I didn't pay enough attention to whether or not she was napping at the same time every day. Turns out it varied a little too much.

I went home and talked with my husband and really got before the Lord to ask what I should do. I quickly came up with a new schedule that would work well for our home - considering Dave's and my work schedule and Hope's time at grandmas. Since I was home with her yesterday, it was the perfect time to implement it.

Let me back track for just a second to say my big challenge with our naps is that she only sleeps for 45 minutes. Three or four 45 minute naps a day makes for a very fussy baby. Although she sleeps 10-11 hours straight through the night, her lack of daytime sleep makes her less than enjoyable when Daddy gets home in the evenings.

She went down very easily for each nap. That in itself is another form of triumph for us. But even as she drifted off to dreamland with ease, I found myself begging God to "make her sleep for at least an hour, preferably two please."

8:00am Nap #1 - 45 minutes exactly. Ok Lord, it was just the first nap. Can you take care of the next one please?

Then I decided I would intercede on her behalf at that 45 minute mark. I knew I could just pray her through to an hour or more.

11:00am Nap #2 - 50 minutes. Well that's a little progress Lord but I had something more in mind.

2:00pm Nap #3 - 55 minutes. Are you kidding me Lord? Is this the way it's going to be? At this rate, it will take weeks to get where we need to be.

4:30pm Nap #4 (which I am only doing until she starts sleeping more) - 35 minutes. I give up here Lord. I guess I can't pray her to sleep.

And then it hit me. This process (and that's exactly what it is) is so much more about my willingness to persevere then it is about her sleep. So I took that as a clear kick in the pants from the Lord to just keep pressing through and trusting Him for her well being. Dave and I had no trouble contending for her life before she was born. We must still contend for every step of her growth and progress. It might seem like a little thing to want her to sleep more during the day, but it's not. It's so important to her little body. It's definitely something to contend for.

So I will not be discouraged that we only made little progress yesterday. And I believe that she will sleep longer with a few weeks of this consistency. In the meantime, I am learning to persevere in faith, for even something as seemingly little as sleep.