Tales of a sometimes insomniac...

Last night was a rough one. I had no issues falling asleep, but for some reason I awoke startled out of a dream (that I don't remember details of) around 3am.

I realized it was because my computer had finished "rendering" the file it started long before I drifted to sleep... and the volume was way up so the "finished" beep had probably done it to me, and so I groggily stepped out of bed to take out the freshly burned DVD movie I'd created, and moved on to the next step which would take a few more hours, and crawled back into bed.

5 mins tick by.... 10....20...30 (at which point I decide I need to go to the bathroom) so I get up, more groggy, and stumble around until I find the bathroom door and blast myself with the super bright light. Ugh. So wrong. I need a nightlight... too late....

Off to bed I go.
5 more mins.... 10...15.... I drift.... Bzzz.
BZZZZZZZ!!!!
A mosquito right in the ear! I am jolted awake again, and turn on my light (again). I HAVE to get that sucker.

But he is no where to be found. Dang it. I turn off the light, throw a blanket over my head so he can't get me, and try to drift to sleep but my computer finishes it's file. I try to ignore it. It can wait until morning....

5mins....10...15.... SNIFF, SNIFF.... what the heck? Is it tuna? No, it's that stinkin' skunk! Gross.
I jump up again to close the window because the smell has penetrated my room when I think I see TWO EYES peering into my glass door! My heart jumps. That skunk is out to get me!
Then I realize maybe it was my imagination combined with the blue light on the computer tower. So I shut it down, but have flashes of a killer skunk peering through the darkness into my bedroom.

It's impossible to relax.
I throw the blanket over my head again and drift off to sleep for a few minutes, and then awake completely hot because my windows were closed. I throw off some blankets and then imagine the killer mosquito feasting on my body. So I get up (again), open the window (again) and sniff to fresh air. Good.

I climb back into bed and notice 2 hours have gone by. Great.

I drift again (sort of) when the wind picks up banging my blinds hard against the window.

Startled, I am awake, but there is NO WAY, I'm leaving this bed. Must squeeze 2 more hours of sleep into my annoying night....

Somehow I drift.

Then, the back gate next to my room opens and slams shut.
I think it's an intruder coming to get me but quickly remember it's Monday which equals the Pool man arriving at 6:30am sharp.

Dawn is breaking now.

I cover my eyes with a lavender eye pillow to shut out the light, cover my head to shield myself from hungry blood sucking mossies, and try not to think about the limited time of REM I have left.

I finally drift.

And wake to Valentine in the morning talking about something incredibly unimportant on the radio. I finally give in to the fact I wasn't going to get a good night's sleep this time around.

Then suddenly, it's 9:15am! And I'm late for work!

But at least I feel rested.

We put away childish things...

This morning I woke up like every other. I had no groggy idea that an inauguration was in full swing until I overheard my landlord outside talking to the pool man.

"Ya gonna run home to watch?" he asked.
"I wouldn't watch that man if I were a ---"

(Hard to guess which party they voted for no?)

That small exchange reminded me to turn on the news in time to hear Rick Warren's prayer and see a sea of audience members' eye wandering followed next by Biden's swearing in and Aretha's anthem. I decided to do some light chores until the real action, and when Mr. Obama took the pulpit for his first speech as our new President, something he said struck me hard.

He said "Scripture says that we are to put away childish things..." and he related that to our country, to government, to the economy... it was an eloquent speech I suppose, but I had no idea what he was talking about because I was so hung up on the mis-representation of that scripture. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is talking specifically about our relationship with Christ. He's talking about God's Love, and the depth and wonder of it- how our understanding of that Love will increase and mature as we strive to follow Him, and then finally be fully fulfilled when we see Him face to face in Heaven.

After Obama's speech the news reporters struggled over that line too, each giving their own interpretation of what they thought the President meant by that. Maybe some of their conjectures were close to what Obama was shooting for... maybe... but I wondered if anyone actually got the real meaning behind that passage from the way Mr. Obama used it in his speech, and if not, then did it even remotely belong in there?

(Well, it pointed me back to the Bible that is for sure, so maybe it accomplished what it was supposed to do.)

Online I read the following thoughts from Mart DeHaan and the main objective became clear.

Whoever our President is, whatever he says or does, he is no more and no less
than a man that God is using to accomplish his purpose.

And that is what should always be pointing us back to Christ. That is how we put away childish things. By remembering to pray for the people God allows to come to power, and to pray for them. Blue team or Red team or anything else.

I won't rely on my President to interpret or teach me scripture. I have an amazing church and an understanding of the Bible to do that.... but I will remember the kind of faith that Paul expressed and wrote about in the Bible. And keep focused on the real and ultimate prize- that is Jesus Christ as my savior.

May God truly Bless America. No matter what comes next.