Friday, November 7, 2008

Blessed by Silence

Here I am! Reporting to you from Day 2 of the helmet adventure. I have been reading (as I find time) through the Psalms and today was Psalm 94. Let me give some background first...

The first night of Kaylee's helmet being on (Wednesday night) she woke up once an hour. I checked on her each time to make sure that everything was okay with the helmet adjustments. I could only imagine the discomfort the poor little girl was experiencing. Then for the rest of the day (Thursday) she did not nap...at all! Okay, I am exaggerating, she DID take a 20 minute nap in my arms at about 3pm when I had declared defeat. Nick and I are strong believers in the concepts of Babywise which states that you can have a peaceful baby sleeping through the night by 6-8weeks of age. We implemented BW as soon as we got home from the hospital and lo and behold our angel slept through the night at 7 weeks! Praise the Lord! Since then, she's been doing alright with it. I have not wanted to be so strict with a schedule that we couldn't do anything, and she kept up the sleeping through the night, so all was well. Then she turned 4months old. Kaylee started waking up 2, 3, and sometimes 4 times per night and her naps started becoming few and far between. So what do I do? Get discouraged and practically throw out the problem solving concepts of the book I once swore by. Thinking back I'm saying to myself "Jeanne-Marie, is this how you are going to be as a mom? Give up when it gets tough?" Ugh! So anyway, back to yesterday...

I joined about four different "support groups" online for other mom's who are going through their kids wearing helmets, along with trying to implement the concepts from Babywise. I posted my "letter of defeat" and this morning was greeted with TONS of support, encouragement and advice from lots of other Mommy's. What I was most surprised about was my miraculous renewed energy and stamina to take on the day. It is a testimony to prayer, because last night, my final cry out to the Lord was "renew me, restore me, give me patience for tomorrow."

So I come to you this morning, not with a baby girl that is suddenly sleeping or on her schedule, but a realization that God's promises are true and in my first "feelings of failure" as a mom, this is what He tells us in His word:

Unless the Lord had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, “I am slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
Psalm 94:17-19


And now I sit here typing this, because Kaylee, after crying it out for an hour, is finally asleep. Praise God for the silence, if only for a quick moment.

4 comments:

Natalie said...

Gracen was falling into the same pattern but, around 4-5 months they can also start teething. Don't worry she'll be sleeping through the night again, maybe God just doesn't want you getting too comfortable sleeping in case he has another little present coming for you ;D His timings perfect JM
What a blessing you are and such a great mommy and wife

The Wristen Family said...

Another present? What? Clarify please!!? ;0)
You are a great mommy! Thank you so much for being an encourager when I needed it. It is amazing the ways God can send you HIS words of encouragement. I really enjoyed seeing the two of you today!

Nick said...

No, no, no...Natalie was just trying to be a prophet. But it didn't work. :-) Not to worry...the only presents I'm expecting this year are for Christmas and they do not include new life. Silly Natalie...silly. :-P

debby said...

JM, I hope things have settled down a bit for you since this posting. If I know ANYTHING about you, it's that you're NOT a quitter. There will be MANY trials along the way. This is just preparing you for the future things you will be asked to handle. You are being sharpened! And you will come out the other side a stronger, better mom. Hang in there. You can do it!