Thoughts In the Night

By: Joanne Viola

It’s funny the places our thoughts may go as they wander during the middle of the night.

It had been a rough day with sleeplessness for our youngest eighteen month old granddaughter. Having not had a nap, we thought, surely, she will sleep earlier, longer, and better that night. She proved us wrong and round about 4AM, I knew her mom needed a break as she had to go to work in the morning.

Getting up from bed, I whispered through the crack in the door, “Do you want me to take her?”

This was how I found myself on the couch in the family room with a toddler on top of me. Gentle rocking, stroking of the head, and many, many rounds of “Jesus Loves Me” and her body relaxed, her arms went limp, and sleep came.

Pulling the nearby blanket up and over the two of us, I too, hoped to sleep. But my mind had other things in mind …

• “I wonder how many other women are up with toddlers tonight?”
• “I forgot how sweet the sound of a sleeping baby breathing can be.”
• “It’s the best feeling in the world to hold a little one and know they found peace in your embrace.”

My little one would never know, nor remember, who held her that one night as sleep eluded her. She did not wake up in the morning and tell me “Thank you!”, “You did a wonderful job rocking me!”, or “You sing beautifully!”

But she did open her eyes in the morning and groggily look up at me and smile. She put her head back down and lay there for a few minutes in the comfort and sunlight, knowing she was safe and loved.

It’s a night I will remember as it brought two powerful thoughts:

1.  ^“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might …” (Ecclesiastes 9:10a, NKJV). There is a joy which comes in doing that one thing the best you can. Whether anyone knows or not. Whether we receive recognition or not. It may only matter to the one, the one present, so be all in and do your best.
2. “There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you …” (Deuteronomy 33:26-27, NLT). God is ever present with us in every situation and He alone will be our refuge. 

We need only to come to Him,
settle down in His Presence, and let Him fill our tired souls with His peace. 

Image by Waltteri Paulaharju from Pixabay