My 7 year old wanted her best friend to spend the night. Saturday at 5 p.m., our guest arrived. They played, they ate, played and ate some more. They begged to stay up later than normal, then watched a video. At 10 p.m. I declared it was time for bed. I read a story, but they didn't listen. We said our prayers and I kissed them goodnight, leaving them in a fit of giggles.
I was hoping they would settle down and drift off to sleep, but alas it was not so. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking. Each of them had stayed overnight with family members, but this was the first time for a friend sleepover. On 20 minute intervals they came in my room to ask what they should do to go to sleep, to ask for another snack, to ask for water, to tell me they were scared, to get a hug, and to ask again how to go to sleep. My advice was go to bed, close your eyes and stop talking, but they kept getting up and kept talking.
At midnight, I went in their room and told them I was going to sit in the floor until they fell asleep. My only rule was that they couldn't talk. Within 5 minutes they were both asleep.
Proverbs 1:33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.
We would have gotten a few more hours of sleep if only they had listened to my advice. But then again, I don't always listen carefully to God's advice. When I have unfamiliar situations, I ask God what to do. But I'm not sure that I listen. Instead I continue with questions like: how should I act, how should I react, what should I say, what should I not say, when will it be over, why am I in this situation, am I doing the right thing, am I doing the wrong thing, will I be writing a blog about it, etc.
I think I'll tuck this lesson away and pull it out the next time things are not familiar.
No comments:
Post a Comment