Are you a napper?

To start off, does an early morning person always seem to marry a night owl? This has been my experience. I wake up each morning somewhere between 3:30–4:30. It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed at night—8 or 1, I’m still up that early. Whereas my husband… I have to wake him up because he stays up until after midnight most nights.

And the best part about my husband? He is functioning in the morning. After about 5 in the evening, don’t ask me serious questions or expect me to do any complicated tasks because my brain has shut off, so I can go to sleep as soon as possible. Now, my best part… at 4:30 in the morning, I’m up and ready to go!

This brings me to napping. Do I take a nap during the day? Sometimes. I may get 20 minutes, or I’ll get three hours, yet my wake-up time never changes. This leads me to encourage rest.

I feel it is very important for our children to get enough sleep. One of the main problems in society today is that our littles aren’t sleeping enough.

Our littles at home are 9, 8, 6, and 4. They all nap, with Fridays off due to music lessons. Our home is quiet from 12:30–3:00. Do they nap that entire time? Sometimes. However, the majority of the time, the older children wake up and stay quietly in their rooms.

As a family of 12 children, we have a little experience when it comes to napping and resting. It is not only good for them physically, but spiritually as well.

Our bodies need rest. Our minds and hearts need rest. When we are constantly on the go and don’t rest, we wear ourselves out and become grouchy.

God encourages us to rest within His Ten Commandments:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God.”  Exodus 20:8

This rest is for our own well-being.
“And he saw a resting place that it was good.”  Genesis 49:15

My encouragement for you today is to purposely seek out and find times of rest—10 minutes here or there, and if needed, longer. Seek the Lord during those resting periods to reset your soul. The Lord will bless you for seeking Him in His rest.

So… are you a napper?