8.12.2007

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...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I miss nursing the babies. It was always a wonderful time to just sit and be in awe of them. If I just shoved a bottle at them, (once they are old enough to hold it and feed themselves) I would have missed so many precious moments of staring into their sweet eyes and sharing that incredible bond.

keri said...

such a sweet boy. i'm happy you are enjoying time with him and not feeling like he's getting neglected!

jess said...

oh my goodness. that first one! you need to frame that one. so thankful he's brought you rest and a sweet respite during the day.

Angie Davis said...

so sweet. i am thankful for him too.

this made me think about the many conversations we had about whether or not you guys were "crazy" to have a fourth. and then the fun news at Cascal. the Lord knew you needed little E in your life.

i took a similar picture of Charlie the other day with what looks like the same hat as Elliot (that you gave him).

oh - and you look really pretty in the pictures with ginny!

Family W said...

He's beautiful. That's a great picture of him looking up. I agree about the rest coming in unexpected ways. God sees that we get rest when we don't even realize we're resting sometimes!

Lizard said...

I missed something...Angie had a baby??? (I am ALWAYS the last to realize these things.) So gorgeous Angie!!! He looks like a mini-man.

Katie- Love you and I am thinking about you today. Lord-send rest, send the Field's back soon.....Will Brian get a break when they return...to just sit and stare at the walls...

Anonymous said...

Thinking of you. Hoping you are sound asleep right now and don't have to wake up for a long time.