Night time mercies

We've had many long hard days here.  The girls are still battling ear infections, and Kevin has caught something just icky.  Until yesterday, the only nice days for playing outside for weeks were the days of coughing and wheezing, so we've all got cabin fever.  I've been sleeping day or night - whenever I  can, and the schedules are, well, the schedules are fairly non-existent.

Yesterday we got to go outside.  We had a big snack and it took an hour to get outside clothes on (don't ask) but we made it and stayed long (delaying lunch, but, like I said, we'd had a big snack).  The sunshine and fresh air did us all good. Then Savannah went down for a nap, I sat down to eat my lunch (finally) and just about the time Kevin went off to the doctor, my body required a nap. Sydney got some electronic game time - bonus for her.  :)

Why does this matter?  Well, my nap was interrupted a few times to help with the "gaming" and it only served to make me more tired,  so when Kevin came home (with Subway) he sent me up to bed saying, "I'm not gonna have the strength to tuck them in, but I can do dinner now.  Go be functional."  

I love that man.  

When I woke up at 7:15pm (I was planning to put Syd to bed at 7...) I thought for sure it would be chaos.  The girls' rooms were a mess, I was still groggy, and I had no idea if they were full, playing well together, asleep on the couch, etc. Of course, Kevin was taking care of them so they were fine, but I still thought we had the makings of a really hard night.

When I put them to bed, Savannah got some play time in her room (she'd had such a long nap) and I had to have a stern talk with Sydney about her lack of obedience in the past few days (read: many).  We discussed why she is to obey and why I know she can hear me now (she's on day 7 of the meds for her ears and I no longer think they are too plugged).  Then she got upset that I wouldn't read the Bible story she picked.  But her heart was at stake.  We read the story of Jonah.  I wanted her to understand disobedience as a big deal - the kind that demands a storm and a fish.  And why is it a big deal?  Because it shows the true nature of our hearts.  So we read the story and then talked about Jonah and what he (should have) learned.  After a brief discussion about Savannah's disobedience, we talked about what I might have wanted her to learn by reading that story.  I think it was productive, and here is why:  

This is her prayer from last night:  "Dear Jesus, thank you for playing outside today.  And please give me a new heart to listen and obey.  I need that.  And please, please, come into Savannah's heart and live there.  And give me more freckles.  I just love those freckles.  Amen."

Praise God for His Word, living and active, able to transform even the heart of a 5-year-old!

And yes, Savannah's tuck-in was just as sweet.  The highlight?  A kiss on the check, a curled up squeeze into my chest and the words, "I ready mom."  

Night time mercies.  Thank you Jesus.  Amen.