he makes me rest.

this past weekend, b and i hit our exhaustion wall! we've not had a solid night of sleep in months (elliot has been sharing our room as we've shared our house with others and abi constantly tries to share our bed at night.), two of the kids have had a stomach bug, the rest of us are dealing with colds, b has been working two jobs (our pastor is on sabbatical this summer), and i've had the crazy idea that it would be great to move the furniture around in most of the house. (when will i learn to keep things simple??)

i could blame my exhaustion on adding a fourth child because elliot does contribute to it. but lately it's felt as if he's such a relief during my day. i find myself sitting quietly rocking him or nursing him and i feel so thankful that he made me pause. often i'll lay my head back while in that moment and think if it wasn't for him, i wouldn't be taking this minute relaxing in a rocking chair. other times he brings a different type of rest by brightening my day. i can stay completely tense about things, feeling like everything is undone, but then i'll look at him and he'll give me one of those bright eyed smiles and it will just unwind me. i guess this is just one of those types of gifts God gives to us. we pray for peace and rest and He gives to us in unexpected ways... sometimes they are even all warm and cuddly with sweet smelling silky skin!! elliot is certainly one of the sweetest excuses to rest that i can think of...