I (Shelly) spent a lot of time lying awake last night. My baby, who is normally a great sleeper, started crying around 2:30am. She promptly put her little self right back to sleep but her cry had jolted me wide awake and I found myself lying in bed having the following conversation with the Lord...

Me: "Lord, please help me go back to sleep." 5 minutes go by. "Lord, please." 30 minutes go by. "Lord, PLEASE!!!" I have to get back to sleep. I will be exhausted tomorrow. My husband is in Uganda for crying out loud and I have two young children and a baby to take care of alone. Furthermore, I have all kinds of stuff to do tomorrow... I have to take my 4 year old to gymnastics, I have to drive afternoon carpool for Madeline, I even need to give Davis a couple of breathing treatments because he sounds congested. With all of these overwhelming tasks on my plate Lord, could you please, please help me out here??"

Lord: "Shelly, let me ask you a few questions...  First, are you comfortable right now?"
Me: "I guess so. I wish I wasn't awake at 3:15am but I am laying on a $5000 tempurpedic mattress and covered by some cozy sheets and blankets."

Lord: "You said you have a lot to do tomorrow. How much of it did I ordain? Did I specifically call you to sign your 4 year old up for a gymnastics class?

Me: "Well, no I don't think you specifically spoke to me about gymnastics but shouldn't my children be involved in various activities? They need them for athletic and social development purposes. Everyone I know has their children in activities.

Lord: "Does tomorrow's very important to-do list include digging through the garbage in order to find something to sell so your children can eat?" Do you need to spend a good chunk of your day fetching clean water for the family?


Me: "Of course I won't go digging through the garbage tomorrow... if there's nothing in the fridge we want to eat, we'll just hop in the old Volvo and buy some more food at the store. Fetching water? From where, the filtered water disposal on my sink?

Lord: "Tell me about these breathing treatments you might have to give to Davis. Is this something serious? Something he might die from? Do you  have everything you need to take care of him?"

Me: "We do own a nebulizer and have a cabinet stocked with medicine but it's all such a hassle. As I mentioned, I'm very busy right now and giving Davis breathing treatments takes another 10 minutes or so out of my day every few hours. It's annoying."

Lord: "Shelly, I love you enough to tell you the truth. You need to get over yourself. You need to remember why you are alone this week and who your husband is serving. You need to think about the children in Mukisa who are "sleeping" on filthy foam pads, not mattresses. Think about the many women around the world who have real "to do" lists for tomorrow and no means by which to do them. Think about how blessed you are to have instant access to medical treatment for Davis... you are so very spoiled that a sick child is just an inconvenience."

Me: "Thank you Lord for the perspective. May I never, ever lose it... and may I always use the many blessings at my disposal to serve those less fortunate than me."