The (Morning) Family Bed

I guess there are worse ways to start one's morning. As soon as the children both wake up (and they usually wake up around the same time), they love to climb into bed with Sam and I. Catapulting into the bed are cold feet and legs belonging to a certain 4-year old whose pajama pants always seem to short no matter what size they are. Next come the grabby, pinching, chubby little hands of a certain little girl that wants to get our immediate attention.

Next, the real fun begins. Chase starts to body slam and jump on his Dad, often narrowly missing me as I yell, "I'm delicate!" Alyssa initially joins in the full body fun but quickly tires of it and goes in search of my Trident. I almost always forget to take the attractive and interesting gum off my nightstand where I reach for it in the evenings after the children are asleep and the results are always the same. What is attractive and interesting about sticks of gooey resin flavored with peppermint and wrapped in little papers? I have no idea but trying to separate Alyssa from gum will result in a scream that would make one think she was being tortured. She does not eat the gum. She carefully takes each stick out of the package, studies it, and then carefully unwraps it. After studying the unwrapped piece of gum, she either gives it to someone else or places it in a neat pile on the floor.

By this time, my eyes are finally able to stay open and focused more than a few minutes at a time and I come to the full realization of what Alyssa has done. "Oh boy, not the Trident again!" So I begin my morning retrieving pieces of Trident, re-wrapping them (Yeah, I know there are germs on there but I am not wasting my Trident!)

I often feel tempted to complain as I used to every morning. I would spend our family bed time complaining about how little sleep I got and how it was going to make facing my busy day more difficult. I realized that complaining only made me feel worse and did not increase the amount of sleep that I had the night before. So instead, now I remember what it was like when I was single and woke up alone every day and I remind myself to feel grateful for cold feet and grabbing hands.

So begins another morning...

Today's Devotion:

Philippians 2:14-15
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

Dear Lord,
Help me to greet each day happily and filled with gratitude for all of my blessings. Banish complaing, grumbling and murmuring from my conversations. Even in jest, help me to maintain only positive conversations about my family life. Thank you for reminding me about all that is good in my life and keep me forever thanking you. In Jesus name,
Amen.