Lauren Sparks

Children

Coughing

Seizures

Sinus headache

Thunderstorms

Rats in the attic

Runny nose

Barking dog

What do all these things have in common? They have all conspired against me THIS WEEK to keep me from sleeping.  I’m feeling rather zombie-like.  But sleeplessness is nothing new to us.  The t-shirt in the picture above is from Dravet.org.  Sleep interruptions are very common in children with Dravet syndrome.  So we cope.  We rest when we can.  Chuck and I lean into each other.  But some days exhaustion leads to short tempers and foul moods.  Some days the burden seems heavy.  But we have a promise from God in Matthew 11:28.  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  Yes, that is a promise.  But we have to come to Him.  We have to stop trying to shoulder our issues on our own.  We have to take whatever is sapping our energy and demolishing our peace and drag it to the Lord in prayer.  And then resist every urge to pick it back up.  Trust.  It’s not easy to have faith in what we don’t see, and oftentimes we have to drag our burdens back to Him over and over again; but that’s the only way to cash in on God’s promise of rest.  It may sound impossible to let it go, but it can’t be more impossible than trying to lift it on your own.  My prayer for you is that you will find the time to sit with my Savior and find this rest.  And if I can pray along with you, please let me know.  I would be honored.  Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to take a nap.

Originally published on April 3, 2013

Allie brought this home from class after the 100th day of school.  We got a good laugh out of it.  It’s funny because it’s true.  Now, I can’t imagine that I will stop harping on her room altogether.  I care too much about organization and Allie’s room leaves too much to be desired.  But I wish she would have had a different response to question #1.  If asked what I say to her most often, I want Allie’s answer to be “I love you.”  Or “Jesus loves you.”  Not a command.  So I guess I’ve got some thinking to do about what I need to change.  What can I do differently so that my love and God’s love shines through everything I say and do?  Do you need to challenge yourself with the same question?

Originally published on March 28, 2013