Blessings

I wanted to share some things that the Lord has been doing lately:

1. Noah has been doing MUCH better going to bed lately. I don't know what the difference has been. We haven't done anything differently, just sticking it out and praying hard. I'm so thankful the Lord seems to be answering this request! I can't explain the stress level at bedtime for that month or so. Now it's getting much better. Still a relapse every few nights, but it doesn't take nearly as long to get him obedient again. Praise the Lord!

2. The alarm clock "trick" has been a beautiful addition to our mornings. I only wish I had done it sooner! Noah has so cheerfully stayed in bed until 7am. I have been able to finish my exercising each day, and in some cases even begin a shower before Noah gets up. Of course my ideal would be to actually finish the shower before he gets up, because there's just nothing like a 3-year-old standing outstide the tub asking if you're done yet. Trust me on that one. Am I the only one out there who likes a peaceful, relaxed shower? Don't rush me. :) But really, I'm so thankful to the Lord for Noah's obedience in this area. We have also moved his bedtime earlier, to 8:30pm (I may go as early as 8 soon) so that Josh and I have a little more time together before I completely wither and fade at the end of the day. This has been a blessing too.

3. Reading The Heart Of Anger, by Lou Priolo has been eye-opening. I picked it up intending for it to help me with Noah, but in reality it is helping with myself. There's a list in there of 25 Ways Parents Provoke Their Children to Wrath (not an exhaustive list), and I personally am guilty of about 23 out of those 25. Ouch. But the Lord is using that book to help me! I've seen direct answers to prayer as a result of learning these things and trying to change them with God's help.

4. I'm thankful for my husband. Josh has grown by leaps and bounds over the (almost) 9 years we've been married. I love him more now than I did then, and I'm so thankful that marriage can deepen like that over time. It's a huge blessing!

5. I'm so thankful for the grace and patience of God! The more I read the Bible and see how sinful I really am (and repeatedly so), the more astounding the patience and lovingkindness of our Lord is. What a blessing to have a God like that!

Comments

Ruth said…
I am so glad to hear bedtimes are going better. I had been meaning to email and ask you about that. I also had thought that being overtired might have been part of the problem (because he was going to bed later becuase of these "issues" and then it could have been a snowball effect). The sleep book I follow (I know everyone has a different philosophy) says for this age that 8pm should be the latest. I just read an article in another magazine that said under the age of 5 kids really need 11 hours of sleep at night (not counting naps) if at all possible. I am hoping to get Nadia on an 8pm to 7am schedule as usually the most she gets is 10.5 hours (8pm to 6:30am). In fact she's been SOOOO tired this week that I told Paul to put her to bed at 7pm tonight.
December 2, 2010 at 1:52 PM
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