May 30, 2011
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A Gift In the Night
You know how it is…
You are sleeping soundly and suddenly you become aware that there is a little person standing by your bed.
You have no idea how long they have been calling “Mommy” but you realize that they are asking if they can crawl into bed with you.
Since we have a “no being in bed with Mom and Dad” rule at our house, I say “No, Nikki. You need to go back to bed.”
And then I ask “Do you need to use the bathroom?” (Since that is often what makes her wake up.)
She says “Yes” and heads towards the bathroom.
But then she says “Can you fix my sheets?”
Oh, ok. So this isn’t going to be one of those times where I can just stay in my cozy bed and she tucks herself back in.
Her “sheets” have to be just right…and she doesn’t want to do it herself.
I know that if I tell her “No, just go back to bed” she will throw a mid-night temper tantrum and it is a battle I am not up for right now.
I sleepily roll out of bed and go to her room. I fix her sheets and when she comes back into the room, I am waiting with her big, pink blanket and I cover her up and snuggle her back into bed. I lean down to kiss her forehead and whisper “Ok, Nikki. Sleep good.”
And then she’s got one.more.request. The one that, in the middle of the night, usually just pisses me off. In my mind, I’m already back under the covers…its just a few seconds away.
But her voice comes through the darkness “Mommy? Can you please get me a drink?”
Sure. Whatever.
I’ve got nothing better to be doing at this time of the night than answering your beck and call.
In case you were wondering, I am not necessarily the most cheerful person when woken up in the middle of a deep sleep.
If you are…then kudos to you. And may I say, you’re just weird!
But in a good way.
In my head, I am SO annoyed. I am thinking things like “*%#@&” I just want to get back to bed.
But as I turn and walk towards the kitchen, her sippy cup in my hand, I hear a voice in my head. Not audible, but it may as well be.
He whispers “Do it for ME.”
I feel myself relax. I feel the annoyance leave. I almost smile to myself.
Thank you, Lord, for that reminder.
“Do it for ME.”
He speaks into my heart, “I have done SO much for you. Can you not put aside your petty selfishness for a minute and picture my body on the cross, my arms spread wide in love for you, the blackest of sinners, and be a servant to “one of these little ones?”
Because isn’t that what it is all about? This life we are living. To serve and love Because He did SO much for us.
But so often I forget that.
In the semi-darkness of the kitchen, the verse comes to my mind “Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto Me.”
Could a three year old, demanding at mid-night little girl be one of the “least of these?” I think so.
I am doing it for Him!!
I have the unsurpassable privilege, on a DAILY basis, to be His hands and feet to those around me. To share His love and to serve in a tangible way.
It is a Gift!
But how often do I look at it like that? How often do I totally pass by the gift of servanthood and just feel annoyance?
God gave me the gift of a soft reminder in the darkness of a Tuesday night.
And I want to remember that.
Every.single.day.
Comments (19)
Every single person needs this reminder… at least I do. Almost a year ago I decided to work on myself and committed to change… It’s been one dang hard year! I look back and see progress that I’d never have made if I was just ho-humming along, but in the heat of every day it often feels like I’m sliding backwards and it’s discouraging. I like reading your posts because they always inspire me in the right direction. My mother-in-law recently gave me that book “one thousand gifts” so I’ve been reading bits and pieces of it – this post reminded me of the book… and gave me fresh perspective for the rest of my week.
Great post Audrey!!
Great post. I just want to know how you had any kind of coherent thought process going on in the middle of the night. I am impressed.
Excellent post Audry! We aren’t doing it for them, or for ourselves, we are doing if for Him. Being faithful servant. Something I need daily reminding of myself. And why is it that I can lay down myself for my children more readily than I can for my own husband? Now that’s were I need some work.
Oh and the whole “can I have a drink of water” in the middle of the night… yeah, that one kills me too
Have you seen this video clip? This post reminded my of it~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0. It’s The Invisible Woman by Nicole Johnson
I am just like you!! LOL. Just wasn’t as talented to articulate it like you did. (and very well too). Great thoughts.
what a blessing. and I mean that so sincerely. mainly because I know VERY WELL that @#$%& response!! I just love His still, small voice. I will be thinking, “Do it for Me” all week. so glad you posted this!
oh and I love your honesty.
Ahh yes, I think we can all relate, if we are honest. And so good to have that reminder
Love this post, Audrey. Because I need this reminder every.single.day. I really don’t like how having children has brought out my terrible selfishness…. I didn’t know I had it in me. Bless you for writing this.
Love this too, Audrey. I usually am not the happiest when woken up in the middle of the night, either. This puts it all into perspective. I pray the next time one of my children wakes me up, I remember who I’m really serving!
So timely for me. I had this scenario with Elijah last night. I had just gotten Oliver to sleep in his crib in my room, instead of with me in my bed and Elijah came walking in wanting me to fix his shirt so he could go back to sleep. (Fix his shirt?? it was crooked and who can sleep like that??) After it was over, I thought, I should have been way nicer about that, I was just so annoyed he was going to wake up Oliver that I wasn’t very nice about fixing his shirt. I hope I can have a better attitude next time.
How timely! I was just talking to my kids about this subject this very morning!
Great little reminder.
“Can I have a drink?” in the middle of the night….it’s the WORST!!!
This is such a wonderful perspective! Thank you!
I love this thought and so needed to hear it! I’m gonna scribble this down and hang it up so I see it and remember WHY I do those things! For him!
@smilesbymiles - Just so you know, this was probably the first time that this kind of thing has happened to me in the middle of the night. It surprised me and that is why it felt like such a gift. God speaking to me in the middle of the night, even through my sleepy fog.
oh this is beautiful, and such a wonderful reminder for me. At 4-5 am in the morning when I hear Richards alarm go and I know lunch needs to be packed. I want to pull the covers high. Knowing I am allowed to go back when he goes out to work (trying to beat the heat) always changes me attitude.
It is so easy to do our duties when the selfishness is pushed aside with gratitude and doing it for Him makes so much sense. It makes it all very important!!
Thanks for this post!! I needed to hear this, too!
I get impatient even its the middle of the day!
I probably needed this more than any other person who has written a comment so far. From the bottom of my heart, I say, “Thanks, Audrey!” I am really more grouchy during the day when each child has asked me for a drink about 4 times & the questions are endless. Every once in a while that verse about helping the little ones will come to my mind at a great moment. It’s the beginning of summer & with all 4 at home, it tends to seem like a LOT of needs. I really want to have more of a servant heart, rather than being so ridiculously selfish. Also, I think you need to be thankful that Nicole wakes up during the night to go potty. None of mine wake up to go, so I’m often washing sheets. It’s very random, so it’s tough to know what to do about it.
i want to remember this every.single.day.too. because having children has revealed the selfishness in my heart like nothing else. besides maybe marriage that is
doing what is needing to be done at the moment, isn’t something that i can do long or well from the motivation of desperately wanting to be a good mom. especially when i am tired. like at night. doing it FOR HIM changes the why for my what.
you have a way of making this such a comfortable place to hang out…thanks for your honesty and insight once again.
Very Good post Aug ! I’m one of those weird ones. I don’t mind too much getting up in the middle of the night and tucking someone back into bed or letting them crawl into bed with me for awhile. They do grow out of that too
. Or sometimes its just crawling into the very crowded toddler bed for awhile until they get sleepy again.
I do think of the verse often as doing it for Christ. I think its also an important verse to pass on the older siblings who don’t feel like doing something for the toddlers. Just do it for Christ or for me. In the end its for someone else and they will be rewarded.