So, James is teething, which means late nights and early mornings for both of us.
Last night was another one of 'those nights'. He went to bed at a decent time, but was up by 4:30 this morning. After Tim gave him some medicine and a sippy cup, his crying and screaming didn't seem to be stopping at anytime soon, so I told Tim that we needed to just drown him out for a while and let him exhaust himself back to sleep.
After a half hour of that, it was obvious that he was NOT going back to bed. Tim was working first shift today, so I knew that he for sure needed his sleep, so I got up to cradle James.
The second I picked him up, his screaming and crying *magically* stopped. Amazing!
I rocked him for a while, then tried to coax him back to sleep, but then cradled him in my bed so that he could still be in my arms. It worked wonders! The only problem now was my coughing. I think I may be getting a bad cough/bronchitis thing going on, so I had to gradually work my arms out of underneath his little body, without waking him up. It took a couple of minutes to do so, but I eventually made it clear for take off!
I left to take some medicine and drink a glass of water, then headed back to the bedroom only to find James and Daddy, both sleeping peacefully. I wasn't about to disturb them, so I folded up a blanket and laid down on James' floor in his nursery and tried to fall back asleep next to his space heater. Not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement in this world. The heater kept me warm, but the floor kept me awake.
Tim woke to his alarm and got ready for work. He asked me if I was going to put James back in his bed. I said something along the lines of "Ahh. . . .be my guest" - (meaning NO WAY!)
So, Tim gently placed him back in his bed, waking him just enough for James to look up at Tim and go back to sleep, and boy, was I was relieved!! I thought 'Yeah. . .this means I can get more sleep!'.
So, as I drug my limp, sleepless body back to my bed, I found my once fluffy pillow, now drenched with slobber. I could only laugh at that point.
I have given up my sleep, my bed, my electric blanket, my comfort and now my pillow for this little boy. I would do it again in a heartbeat though.
It's amazing to think of all the many ways that we, as parents, make those 'small sacrifices' for our children. I was thinking about that today, as I woke up (at 9:45 none the less, James let me sleep in!) . . . the sacrifices that Mary and Joseph had to make for Baby Jesus. Joseph had to sacrifice his reputation, as his family and friends probably thought he was marrying a promiscuous young girl who was now carrying a baby, possibly someone else's baby. Mary, had to sacrifice a lot too. She sacrificed not only her social life but her young perfect figure and her wedding. She did not get the wedding she had dreamt about as a little girl. She, instead, had to quickly get married and then have a baby. What a life! Then, of course, we have Jesus' sacrifices. The most obvious one being the Ultimate Sacrifice, Himself.
His own life.
But, as I was laying there on the floor in James' room, I thought, "Wow. Jesus was born in a stall. A feeding trough. Not the most comfortable place for a King to be laid in, after birth.
Mary and Joseph had only what they brought with them, as they traveled. No heater. No electric blanket. No
SLEEP! So, there's my thought for today. I hope that someday, my children will notice these small sacrifices and one day do the same for their own children.
Proverbs 31:28
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her
