Comfort

The other night was not so fun, but in a way it was.  All the kids sleep through the night 9 times out of ten, so it is a little hard when one has a drawn out problem in the night, let alone two.  After being in a deep sleep for a while, I slowly came back to consciousness to the cries of a little baby girl.  I pulled myself out of bed and sleepily walked upstairs to her crib.  She grabbed onto me like a vice grip, so I just held her and comforted her for a while.  I thought she either had a bad dream or had a tummy ache maybe. 

After a few minutes trying to get her to go back to bed, I gave up and sleepily walked back down to my room.  I sat and rocked her for a a few more minutes, then got so tired that I decided to lay down.  Lily is the kind of baby that can't sleep anywhere but her crib, so I anticipated her crawling all over us for a while and then taking her back to her crib to try again.  Instead, she continued to take comfort in being held.  She would only let me hold her one way, directly on my chest with her head right on my heart with her knees all tucked in on top of me.  I was no longer too tired to enjoy the closeness and bonding of the moment.  What a sweet baby.  She went to sleep pretty quickly, but I just laid there for a while, grateful for what a precious little gift she is. 

Just as I started to drift back into sleep, Carter began to cry.  I asked Peter for mercy, having just been through over an hour with Lily so he went up to help Carter.  I listened as Carter continued to cry.  After a few more minutes and asking for mommy, Peter brought him down to me.  I passed a sleeping Lily off to Peter and took Carter in my arms with the same routine.  I rocked him. He was a bit harder to comfort at first, but then calmed down.  I laid back down to see if he was going to let me or not and sure enough, I got the same fussy reaction.  He only wanted to be directly on my chest with his head on my heart. 

Sometimes being a mom means giving up sleep, but it also means being needed and a being great source of comfort for your children.  I like being the greatest comfort to them.  They can be calmed simply by nurturing them with motherly love.  It is fulfilling to be that for comfort.  Sort of like I am fulfilling my purpose in life. 

This got me thinking about my parents.  Sometimes, even as an adult, I just need my mom or my dad depending on what the need is.  Then I thought about my GREATEST source of comfort, my Heavenly Father.  When I am down and feeling lost, or tired, or weary, He WANTS me to come to Him.  He will give me rest, just like I do for my children.  I just need to use this comfort.  Sometimes I forget, but I don't want to forget.  It is real and I need a lot of it.  I am grateful that God loves his children and wants them to come to him.