The Lord Lifts My Head

The littlest of our household, our eight month old daughter, has been having a stint of frequent night wakings. She's been waking up every 2-3 hours at night for about three weeks now. At first I thought she was teething, then I thought she was having tummy problems, then I decided I had no idea, then I went back to thinking it was her tummy, and now I've arrived to the final destination of she's a baby and a baby's gonna do what a baby's gonna do.

Having an older baby that is going through a newborn type sleep pattern is tough because you are not a mother to a newborn. I'm a mother to an eight month old. My baby is not in the potato phase. The sleep deprivation hits a little harder when the baby is chatting, and eating solids, and playing with toys, and trying-but-not-really-trying to crawl. They are sleeping less at night and during the day. Not to mention, this whole household needs running and I have a three year old boy Tigger bouncing about the home.

It's also really, really hot outside. Duh, it's summer! But it's also quite warm inside our house as our AC is struggling to keep up. I experience eczema flair-ups in the summertime and usually find solace inside. Of course, praise the Lord, it is not nearly as hot inside as it is out. But it is still quite warm during the day which adds another layer of discomfort on top of the sleep deprivation.

And speaking of summer, my husband works a job in which his hours increase pretty significantly during this season. This also increases my hours as mom, by myself, at home.

It does not help matters that I truthfully just don't love summer. It never has been my favorite season. There are people who experience seasonal sadness in the winter, I experience this in the summer.

The fact of the matter is I am just uncomfortable. My flesh does not enjoy this station. If i'm not careful, I can find myself dreaming of Autumn as a sinful escape to all these not-so-fun realities. As if all my problems will simply melt away with the changing of the leaves.

But you and I both know that isn't true. An ugly attitude will follow us into new seasons if we don't put it to death in the one we’re in. Wherever you go, there you are.

Being uncomfortable isn't necessarily the problem. Allowing yourself to wallow in self pity because you're uncomfortable is the problem.

The Psalms provide us with ample evidence that God's people will find themselves in less than desirable situations. The same Psalms also provide the solution. Such as in Psalm 3¹ —

"Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
Many are they who say of me,
'There is no help for him in God.'
But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill."

The Lord is our shield from the fiery arrows of self-pity and discontentment.

We don't even have to be the ones who lift up our weary heads.

He will do it for us.

He is our shield and the lifter of our heads even when we're up with the baby for the fourth time at 3AM and repeating this Psalm over and over again with puny faith, hardly believing it's true.

We wake up to see that the sun is shining once again. The Lord has sustained us once again. The Lord abundantly pardons once again. The Lord's mercies are new once again.

May our souls bless the Lord in the midst of every season.

1. I chose Psalm 3:3 as a memory verse for my son the week my daughter’s night wakings began. Totally a coincidence, right? ;)