3:36 am. Every morning give or take about 12 minutes.
I can hear her little feet shuffling on the hallway carpet before I see her in the darkness at the end of my bed.
I know exactly what she needs.
Us.
I half-lift her and she half-climbs up and over my feet to nestle in between my husband and me. She falls back asleep almost immediately. Regular breathing and her cool-to-the-touch little arm flung over my own face in the dark.
I don’t know why she wakes up. It might be the strange sleep cycles of a three-year-old or merely the fact that she’s thrown off her quilt at the coldest point of the night. Sometimes she has a bad dream. But whatever the reason, right before 4 in the morning, she’s up, down the hall and in our bed before I can even wake up completely.
So regardless of the reason, when she appears at the end of the bed, I welcome her. I cherish the time because I know soon she’ll be as tall as my seven-year-old (when she sometimes finds her way into our bed) with legs and arms too long to fit comfortably between us.
When I put Naomi to bed at night, after I turn on her music and nightlight, and her teeth have been brushed and her bare feet are cozy in her blankets, I tell her that I’m at the end of the hall. She knows I can hear her from there. She can call out and I will come to her. She can get out of bed if she needs to and find me there in my own bed. She knows that she is close to the ones who will always protect her.
Even so, most nights, she gets up early in the morning and comes down the hall.
She’s come to us for comfort.
For warmth.
For dispelling fear.
Or simply out of habit.
She knows that she’s welcome even if she just doesn’t want to be alone. It’s so basic.
Just like I can always come to Christ. When I start out alone but don’t want to end there, when a bad dream becomes real life, when I am scared, I can come to Him.
He hears my feet pad down the hall, and welcomes me before I even get there. He smiles and cherishes the time I’ve spent walking and searching for Him.
Even if I come out because I simply don’t want to be alone, or because my sleep cycles are off, He opens His arms to me.
He’s there.
And even when I don’t, knowing He’s down the hall gives me rest.
It’s pretty interesting how we hear their little feet. I wonder sometimes how did I hear that since we have carpet!
I can connect with the reference you have so eloquently made to our Heavenly Father. Really nice!
smooches,
Larie
It’s easy to relate to the Fathers love when you compare it to the love you have for your kids. It’s not as easy to view His love as so much more perfect than ours. Praise God for a perfect love that is wrapped around me at any given moment.
Sarah, thank you for that beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father.
Sarah – I *love* your writing…
My son does the same thing
He’s almost three! I’m so happy that he can come to us for comfort like that. I’m still working on being comfortable going to Him when I need a little comfort. Getting there though. Lovely post Sarah!
Even at night, we have opportunity to love. As in last night, mine woke up when her daddy tried to transfer her to her own bed, and we were all up for an hour at three in the morning. Oy. Why did He create us to need sleep? Perhaps so He could show us that He is there for us when we need *Someone* to make us safe.
This spoke to me on several different levels this morning… beautifully written, sweet Sarah.
wow. makes it entirely different when you look at it through the child’s eyes. thanks for this one.
Yeah…this is marvelous.
I love this. God has given you a wonderful gift of writing.
Such a sweet post. I love this!
Funny how getting kicked in the face, rolled over and all-together wooled to death can still make a mother’s heart smile. Thanks for encouraging the rest of us to cherish the small times.
Thanks so much for the tender thoughts this morning. It took me right back to the place when my son use to do that some 21 years ago. What an amazing reminder of how our heavenly Father always has listening ears and open waiting arms.
This is beautiful, Sarah. Thank you for the much needed perspective this morning.
My girls still do that every now and then. Sometimes the reason is, “I’m scared” or “I had a bad dream”. Then other times it is just “I want to snuggle with you”. I’m so thankful that our Heavenly Father always lets us “snuggle up” to Him too. =)
We have 3 girls (8, 7, 3). They each do that on occasion. Sometimes one or the other will do it every night for a couple weeks. Then we’ll go weeks without any middle-of-the-night visits. We’d love to get a king-sized bed one of these days for nights when 2 or 3 of them all want extra snuggles.
Matthias comes in every night too. And we love the snuggle. Then we go get David and then we all snuggle in on the weekends. Love it.
Miss those snuggles. My girls are grown and out of the house. But I do remember those times. You have such a neat way to bring the things of life around to our Lord. Your titles always catch my eye. And as I read, I just know there will be a great message there that I can glean from even though I don’t have the kids anymore. I like that He is down the hall – and He never sleeps. He is there always watching, always waiting, always available.
Sigh… Yes, I remember those times.
Thank you for bringing back that memory.
i really like this post!
This brought me to tears. Bless you for loving your children like Jesus loves and for making them feel safe with you.
I thank God for this.
WOW!!! My little boy and girl do the same thing. So do I for that matter! God is a great parent too!
I love,love, love this! It spoke so deeply to my heart. I so need my heavenly Father right now. Thank you for the reminder.
Sarah,
I am new to your blog — found it on (in)courage. I love your raw honesty and fresh writing. I will be back to visit more Thanks!
Michelle
Thanks for the reminder that they will soon be too big to jump in bed with us. We should treasure the time.
I miss those sweet times with the kids now that they are grown. But I cherish every moment with my sweet grand baby and am thankful for this special season of grand parenting.
I’ve got to book mark this. My 12 and 11 year olds still show up, one or the other, sometimes both. Part of me loves it, another part wishes it would stop so my husband and I could have a whole night undisturbed, and still another part knows that it will end some day…and then I will miss it. I really liked your whole perspective on it. Thanks for putting it like that.
my two eldest still do this from time to time (10 and 8)…my youngest much more often (5). I cherish the way his body smells, his small head tucked under my chin, hair tickling my nose. He often will throw one arm over my body and tangle his fingers in my hair. He is getting close to the point he stops fitting under my chin now…and I watch him grow with a bit of sadness…my last baby …both my husband and I will awake when we hear the feet in the hallway…he stops at the door and peeks in. Often I have to tell him to come in. He climbs up next to me and snuggles in. Somedays I find him in bed with one of his older brothers…I rejoice that we have a household where my youngest can find saftey at night not just with mom and dadd – but with his two older brothers two…