Andrea and I took Owen on his first trip out of town. We drove an hour and a half to visit my parents. Most of the family made it. It was great because there were some family members that met Owen for the first time. One of the coolest moments was snapping a picture of Owen with one of his great-grand parents. We call her Mema. Needless to say there was a lot going on. By the end of the day Owen was spent. He had never been held so much. We loaded up the car and headed back to Chattanooga. As I drove I glanced off and on to Owen while he slept.
Man we have a good baby, I thought.
Little did I know of what was to come. It is our fault, Owen was exhausted and we got him off his schedule. It was close to 1 in the morning when we were finally putting Owen in his crib. He was so tired he didn’t even wake up.
So easy.
A couple of hours passed. Andrea and I slept blissfully. It was about 3 in the morning, however, when the tranquil comportment of our home simply… disintegrated. There are no words to describe my child’s cries, but if I were to guess at a translation I believe it would fall somewhere along the lines of:
“THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! ”
I consider myself a patient man, but I lose my cool when people fail to reason. Now you don’t have to remind me that I am dealing with a baby, but when they have a; 1) clean diaper, 2) full tummy, 3) comfort and assurance, what else does a baby need to sleep! Veteran parents know the drill. Sometimes babies are too tired to sleep. They get so upset that they can’t fall asleep. This catch 22 scenario about made my head implode, especially since I was so tired I felt like crying along with him.
After an hour of trying to comfort my child, I had to lay him down and step out of the room for a moment. I didn’t know what to do. I was frustrated with him. It didn’t make sense. My sleep deprived brain couldn’t grasp my son’s position, because when I want to sleep I simply go to sleep. Owen had a hard time with his concept. It was maddening.
The whole scenario opened my eyes with God’s patience with us. How many simple things am I struggling with that God wants me to grasp. Things like selfishness, pride and lack of compassion. Or even more simple things like managing my time. For an all powerful being, God sure does exercise some incredible restraint with his children. It also made me think of my sin differently. Owen had no idea of the vicious cycle that had him stuck. Without awareness that his sleepiness is what made him upset to the point that he couldn’t fall asleep, Owen was completely dependent on my intervention to help him rest. God does the same with our sin. I use to get so depressed and defeated when God revealed sin in my life. Now I see it as a blessing. When sin is revealed it can be dealt with and cut out. Otherwise we continue on in our sin without being aware of it’s consequences. Perhaps that is why God is so patient with us and our sin. Don’t get me wrong. I know God abhors sin and that we should never grow complacent in our wrongdoing. I guess that is what makes his patience and grace with us all the more amazing.
The timeout from Owen helped me a great deal. I was able to reset and God worked in yet another lesson in the meantime. My patience had been extended, and when it was all said and done the three of us was able to get some sleep. It truly was blissful; yet something tells me that God’s reminder of His grace made it all the sweeter.
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