An End of an Era

THIS is truly the day every mother dreads: the day there are no more naps. I have officially made the conscious decision to not put Breanna down for naps anymore. She just doesn't sleep well at night if she has a nap now. I guess I feel fortunate. Aidan stopped taking naps just after he turned 2. Ouch! So at least I got an extra year out of Breanna. However, quiet time is still REQUIRED--every day. My friend Debbie calls it "sanity hour" at her house. Mommy is just a nicer person when she has a little bit of quiet time each day. We have rules for quiet time at our house. No tv. No laundry. No house cleaning. We CAN read. We can lay down and stare at the ceiling or out a window. We can have one toy and play with it on our bed. (That rule is for the kids.) I actually try to not have any appliances running, too. Not too long ago, I read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Not the best book, spiritually & theologically speaking, but a decent read none the less. One of the things she talks about in the book is taking time to be quiet, really quiet. Just sit there and be alone with your thoughts and God with no noise distractions. It's actually kind of difficult. Even living in a quiet, small town there is still noise everywhere. I think sometimes it's easy to let the noise of life distract us. I know it's kind of a cliche, but it really is true. Try it sometime. Turn off everything and just sit. Don't sleep. Just sit. I have an expression that I will *eventually* put on my wall that says "The memory of God comes to a quiet mind." So here is my challenge to myself (and anyone else that might happen to read this): quiet your mind; listen to God. He actually talks to us all the time. Now I just need to listen.