An Invitation to Wonder: Bedtime

“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” – Psalm 42:8

Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog. If you’ve been here recently you know I’ve been writing about “wonder”, specifically the 7 natural wonders of the world, and lessons we can gather from them. It’s been a fascinating-whimsical journey which I thought would be fun for the Summer.

In the next week or two I will be nearing the end of the series finishing it off at the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, but before then I wanted to acknowledge the everyday kind of wonders: small wonders that might seem subtle, but touch our hearts just as if we were looking out over the Grand Canyon, or up at the swirling Northern Lights, or the roaring Victoria Falls.

So today I am reflecting on the wonders of bedtime. This idea came from my kind friend Anjuli who I follow on instagram, she has been giving prompts for mothers each week, challenging us to stay awake to the love of God in motherhood. This week’s prompt is staying awake to God’s love at bedtime!

There are such sweet wonders to find at bedtime as a mom. Here are just a few I have experienced:

Watching Oliver find the moon in the sky. He still gets excited over this. Seeing his childlike wonder awakens my soul too.

Bath time before bedtime. No matter how much I might not be in the mood to give him a bath, when I do there is the reward of wrapping him all cozy in his towel and scooping him up. He is so cute, clean, and cuddly!

The wonder of rest; on the days when I have come to my limit, bedtime means a little break and the hope of a fresh start the next day. Thank God His mercies are new every morning.

I know bedtime is often such a challenge, whether they can’t sleep, refuse to go to bed, keep getting out of bed, or are sick and wake up throughout the night.

But there are hidden moments of wonder that can be found in those moments too.

When they peek their head around the corner of the door with a mischievous smile.

Or you find they brought their little step stool quietly in the kitchen to get into the pantry.

Or you hear them making up songs to lull themselves to sleep.

Or the giddiness and silliness that comes right before they crash.

Or the rhythm of the rocking chair as I hold him close and he falls asleep.

If you are a mom, I would love for you to join me this week in staying awake to God’s love during our bedtime routines.

What are some of your favorite bedtime memories or “wonders” that you have found?

Hope and Love in Christ,

Melissa 

“But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.” – Psalm 3:3-5

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And also, just for fun here is a poem I used to read when I was young from the book A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson that my Grandma gave me. I would read this book at night when I couldn’t sleep. This particular poem is about the wonder of bedtime during summer from the perspective of a child.

Bed in Summer

By Robert Louis Stevenson

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?