Our peaceful, sleep deprived home…

So as many of you might know, we had our first little bundle of joy about 2 months ago. Through all the miracles and trials, it has still been one of the most exciting times of my life. Even different than my two older daughters’ births. She is a precious little angel and we love her so much. That said, let’s talk about how lack of sleep can affect the peaceful home.

In our best, when we are operating from the best possible place, where we are on our A game, there is no such thing as lack of sleep. We would always be operating at our optimal sleep which would lead to our optimal lives (at least in theory). But when do we ever get the exact right amount of sleep? Well, once a baby comes into your life, restful sleep is at a premium. And when I am behind on my sleep, I tend to not be my best in other areas. I am obviously more sleepy, all the time. I am also more vocal about being sleepy, all of the time. I also tend to be a little more on edge, not always having the proper amount of grace for those in my life. Irritability can set in which leads me to taking this moment to conduct a public service announcement:

If you are suffering from lack of sleep for any reason, go now and apologize to your closest family and friends. Mean it and it could win some grace from them.  Go do it now before you forget…wait, what was I telling you to do?

Oh yea, lack of sleep. Now back to my story.

Point is that lack of sleep can cause all sorts of frustration, irritation and problems. But it DOES NOT have to destroy our peaceful home. When in doubt, be humble. Be patient. Be calm. And for goodness sakes, be quiet and listen before you speak. Have grace for those around you as you would ask them to have for you through this period. We have all been there and chances are, we will all visit that place again. With grace flowing, forgotten things, frustrations, irritations and other problems will have a much lower effect on us and our peaceful home.

It often comes down to this: make a choice for peace.

A friend once said to a group of us talking about our relationships with our spouses, “You can be right or you can be in love.” We are rarely going to have both if we don’t have grace for others.

Rely on HIS strength to get you through the fatigue. Rely on HIS love to fill us up when we think we can’t love others as we should. Rely on HIS patience when we are at the end of our ropes. And rely on HIS voice to speak to us when we need guidance. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13 Yes, yes I can. “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 Praise God for that!

Thanks for reading my mental wanderings. Did I also mention that lack of sleep can keep us from sticking to the point…? Wait, what was I doing again? Oh, that’s right. I was wrapping up.

Have a blessed day and know that the Lord is with you always. Ep 2:10a “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus…”

Chris