Today I babysat our grandson and he took a 15 minute nap on the way to our house.  When his Mama put him down in his bed here, he woke up.  :o(  After trying for a while, finally we hear his little toddling down the hall and he pokes his head around the corner.  Awkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!  A 15 minute nap to last the whole day??  So an hour later after lunch and reading “My Go to Bed Book,” I started playing night-night game.  That is when I lay my headie down and talk really softly, finally down to a whisper.  I whisper about pillows and headies and closing eyes, while I rock our grandson.  He was so content to just rock for 20 minutes, while I am whispering Jesus and prayers over him, and playing lay our headie down time. 

Finally I lay him in his little portable bed and he is not asleep, but he lays his head down with his bottom way up in the air, just like he did as a newborn.  I can hear him jabber “Night, night, night, night.”  I creep down the hall to my chair and listen.  20 minutes later he is still jabbering and content, but not a wink of sleep!!  So I finally got his bottle and went into the room and with a whisper, asked him if he would like to have his bottle.  I quietly rock him some more, all the while I am whispering to him and he is sucking his bottle.  I try to keep my eyes shut so he knows it is still time to sleep. 

Finally I peek and his huge blue eyes are wide awake and sparkling with the most precious sense of humor.  I knew there was a huge laugh behind them.  No sooner did I see them, he burst out laughing, which made me laugh.  Then as soon as I laughed, he laughed some more.  We laughed and laughed and laughed and that was the end of quiet time and laying our headie’s down!!

His laughter brought me SO much joy and it flooded my whole body and heart with lightness.  And it all started with a look in his eye.  He was just waiting for me to open my eyes and look at him.  As I pondered it later I thought of the scripture where it says the joy of the Lord is our strength.  It is the LORD’S joy over us that gives us our strength.  We give him immense pleasure just by snuggling, cuddling, rocking, and being quiet with Him.  We may not always understand what He is saying to us, as He teaches us how to rest.  But just one look of His eye, and the joy floods through with pure delight.

Neh 8:10  NKJV

Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength ."