Middle of the Night Moments

It is 11:51pm. My Heroic Husband and I have been trying to get our active little boy to bed for nearly two hours. This is going to be a long night.

Am I complaining though? Absolutely not. These middle of the night moments are becoming some of my favorite times with little BC.

I admit - the first few nights were rough. We were jolted awake by BC's very manly, ear-piercing, non-newborn-like cry every 45 minutes. We walked, bounced, fed, sung...all night long. During those sleepless nights, HH and I reminded each other that our little newborn was confused and just getting used to life outside the womb.

Since I was in college, I have dedicated the first hour or two of my mornings to the Lord for my personal Bible Study time. However, once BC is awake for the day, I have found it is impossible to set that time apart. It seems as if every time I sit down to read my Bible, BC wakes up from his morning nap.

A few days ago, I told my Marvelous Mother my problem. She responded, "When I had babies, and could not find time for Bible Study, I told God that the first thing I would read was His Word. Thus, if it was one of 'those' days where there was no down time at all, and I did not get to my Bible Study, I did not get to read anything like fun books, email, magazines, etc. either."

Ooohhh... That struck home for me. I was not finding time for my Bible Study, but I was caught up on Facebook. I was all over Instagram. My baby pin board on Pinterest was exploding. But my Bible was still closed. I decided to tell the same thing to God - His Word would come first.

I have found that the best time for Bible Study is during the middle of the night. BC "usually" wakes up about every 2-3 hours for food. While BC nurses - which is a sweet time for me to bond with boy - I read God's Word.

This year, I am going through the Bible using the Austin Stone's REAP reading plan. REAP stands for Read, Examine, Apply, Pray.

Last week I was reading in Exodus.Exodus 36:3b-5

Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the construction of the work the LORD commanded to be done.”

My Thoughts
How many people could the church reach with the gospel if we brought so much morning after morning that the leaders have to say "stop giving"?

I have also been reading through John.

John 16:20-22
"I assure you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy."

My Thoughts
They way Jesus describes His burial and ascension - as a woman having a baby - is perfect! I love it - and right now, I can totally relate.

I just started Psalms this week.

Psalms 3:3
But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.

My Thoughts
I see this verse differently now. "The One who lifts up my head." This reminds me of little BC - and his head. Although he is strong, and can almost hold his head up by himself, he still loses control of it sometimes. We have to manually lift it up. When he is trying to creep and gets frustrated, we have to lift his head and encourage him - just as God lifts us up.

I have been writing this blog throughout the night - and yes, I did my Bible Study first. It is now 7:30am. BC has just drifted back to sleep after a feeding. HH is peacefully sleeping by my side. The sun rose a little while ago - a beautiful pink glow filled the sky. Yes, I am tired, but spending these moments holding my precious son, filling my heart with God's Word, and praying to my Heavenly Father is exactly what I need. As Mary treasured her middle of the night moments when Christ was born (Luke 2:19), I too choose to treasure these moments. No matter how exhausted I get or how loud BC becomes, these precious moments will soon be gone. Lord, help me to  cherish every single minute of my middle of the night moments.