Day 3: SLEEP.

*This is part of a series called 31 days to Focus. To view previous posts click here. *






I don't know when I will get it through my thick head that there will always be more to do. 

I will never--ever--get it all done.

But still, no matter how exhausted I am when the kids finally go down, and I look around and see endless tasks and think of all the hobbies I could delve into, I become like a robot whose programming is stuck on the setting "just one more thing... just one more thing... just one more thing..."

And then for some reason I'm shocked when it's 12:43 a.m. and I know I'm in for another painfully short 5ish hours of sleep before it starts all over.

My contacts stick to my dried-out, overly tired, red and throbbing eyeballs and the blurring film over the lenses testifies that it is way past time to take them out and rest.

SLEEP.

Sleep is absolutely critical for correct focus.

And I am not at all a morning person but I truly do feel much better when I force myself to bed early so I can get up earlier.

This type of info runs through my brain as encouragement to get to bed earlier and use the later early morning hours(that is, after a full night of sleep) to be productive. My personal goal at this particular point in my life is to be in bed by 11 p.m. and up by 6:30 a.m. I know this will have to change many times for various reasons... but for me, right now, this is both realistic and much healthier than what I have been doing.

These scriptures, they encourage me too:

Because it is my Beloved God who calls me His beloved and sleep is a gift He longs to give.

"It is in vain that you rise early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives his beloved sleep."
~Psalm 127:2

It is in the safety of His arms, His presence, being wrapped up in who He is that I find peaceful sleep. Peace is what He loves to give. 

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."
~Psalm 4:8

Children reach a certain point at which sleep is the only solution to their meltdowns. Sleep is what they need and a wise parent makes sure it happens for their sanity and for the sanity of all those exposed to them.

But this is not a maturity issue. 

This is a physical-bodies-have-limitations issue.

I can have a full out meltdown, too.

I am most often tempted to let myself when I am exhausted.

As we begin the shorter days of fall that lead into God's natural design of even shorter days in winter I am reminded again that there is a time for everything under heaven. It is not harvest time all the time. Sometimes, a time of rest is exactly what is needed to bring the greatest yield.

SLEEP. Because it is a loving gift from Him, to you.

SLEEP. Because He designed you to need it.

SLEEP. Just do it. We need it for correct focus.











What bedtime/waking routine have you found works best for you? Do you feel when you have adequate sleep that you can better focus on God and serving others?