The Sleep Stealers

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord! 

Years ago, before children, a mortgage, and big monthly bills, my husband and I spent a summer hiking the Colorado Trail.  We started just outside of Denver and hiked every day for six weeks until we hit Durango, some 425 miles away.  The heat, sweat, stink, blisters, and freeze dried food took some getting used to, but after a week or so, I fell in love with the whole experience.  I loved being in God’s wilderness and the refreshing simplicity of life on the trail.

Boy could I sleep on the trail.  I napped every day at lunch and would usually fall asleep right after dinner, even before the sun set.  Early one morning we were startled awake by the staccato chattering of a nearby chipmunk.  I rolled over and interrupted my husband’s groaning complaints with a well-rested smile, saying “Boy, that little fella sure has a lot to say!”  We burst out laughing.  Time to make the coffee.   

I wish my first response now was like that young gal’s on the trail.  Today, I’m much more irritated when something or someone steals my sleep.  Right now, that something happens to be a peacock who lives next door.  Who knew that peacocks wailed like a newborn all night long?  I slammed windows shut and turned on the fans, but nothing drowned out that screeching bird.  By three am, I was plotting its death.  

By 5:30, sleep was a fleeting hope, so I got up and angrily started the day.  Stomping around the house, I saw a copy of Corrie Ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place.  During the Holocaust, Corrie’s family was caught housing Jewish people behind a wall in their house. They were imprisoned in concentration camps where everyone except Corrie died.  In her book, she attributes faith in God and her consistent search to find the good in every situation as the keys to her survival.  Wow!  What an amazing example Corrie sets for all of us… especially the sleep deprived peacock haters.

There will always be joy killers and sleep stealers in our lives.  Most of them we have little to no control over.  What we can control, however, is our first response.  What if our first response to any situation was to say “Thank you God”?  To give Him thanks for being close, loving, helping, guiding, renewing, restoring, and saving? We can give God thanks for who He is in the midst of anything, anytime, anywhere.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement