Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Encouragement

You never know when a smile, a kind word, or a sweet gesture will turn around someone's day or week.  In the past three weeks, I have been running on low sleep, zero energy, and two-parts frustration.  Natalie has been waking at least once a night (more often two or three times a night), where as she used to give me a solid 12 hours of sleep.  A few things have kept me plugging away with a little bit more joy in my heart: nursery chats, women's Bible study, and loving support from ladies in our church.

I have to confess that there are times when I linger longer than necessary in the nursery during either church or Sunday school for the mere reason that the women down there are encouraging me in exactly the way(s) that I need.  Whether it is sharing their own stories of parenting babies, encouraging me to continue pressing forward, or offers of prayers and support, I have been so blessed by the ladies in the nursery ministry.  Not only does it provide shoulders for me to cry on, but it also affords me the opportunity to meet and cultivate friendships with many of the women in our church.  I look forward to my time spent in the nursery each week, and I thank all of the women who volunteer down there from the bottom of my heart.

The next wonderful thing in my life right now is Thursday morning women's Bible study.  When I was initially asked to join/participate, a part of my mind said, "Erin--it is going to be sooo difficult to get yourself and the baby out of the house on Thursday mornings!"  Thankfully, the other part of my mind said, "I'd love to--sign me up so that I'm forced to come!"  Since I've been attending, I have gotten to know more women in our church.  My sense of community in the church has increased ten fold as I now have women to pray for every day.  Not only this, but it is wonderful to talk with women who have been in my current shoes and the shoes that I hope to fill one day.  The first and third Thursdays of the month are the highlights of my weeks!

This past week, I was sharing some of my concerns (in a sleep deprived state) with another dear woman from church.  She encouraged me to press onward, shared how she dealt with the same problem with her babies (waking through the night once they reached a certain weight), and all in all made me feel like I could face the week again.  On Monday night, she called me up and offered to take my snack duty for me on Sunday since she knew that I was running on empty.  I almost cried.  Patrick was in the car with me when I had this phone conversation, and I told him that this was just one more reason why I knew that we were HOME and why I loved our church.  I was so thankful for this kind gesture, and I am still thanking God for putting us in a church where there are people who care so much about our family.

As you can tell, God is doing great things in my life right now.  He is bringing new people into my life who are encouraging me, commiserating with me, and giving me the courage to face every day anew.  Despite my lack of sleep the past few weeks, God has filled my heart with joy and thankfulness by bringing new friends into my life.  I doubt these ladies know just how grateful I am for all that they are giving me, but I go on with new resolve in my heart to fight the good fight and to take every day with joy as it comes.

1 comment:

a.friend said...

Erin,
Despite your lack of sleep, you write beautifully. Thank you for taking the time to encourage the rest of us with your thoughtful writing.
I assure you that what you are going through will get better. I was married for ten years before my wife and I had children. Then God blessed us in a great way. Through adoptions and growing our own we went from zero children to four in 30 months. I was a walking zombie for years. But we got through it and God was good to us every step of the way. Now I miss all my little guys and girls. I almost wish I could do it again. Embrace the moment and trust God to sustain you. When you don't think you can deal with one more thing, crawl into His lap as a child and let His love wash over you. His love is so amazing.
BD