I can't remember the last time I've gotten at least eight hours of sleep. There has been so much going on and I have learned that sleep is not very high on my priority list. It's up there, and I really do enjoy sleep, but especially out in the mission field, there are far better things I can find to do with my time.
This month, I woke up at 6am every morning to spend the first two hours of my day in prayer, worship, and bible study. I was usual the first or second person up on my team, and the toddlers were just starting breakfast and the kids were just leaving for school. It was the most consistently quiet time of day, so I was intentional about taking advantage of this time.
Every night, I aimed to be in bed by 10pm to get those eight hours of sleep, but that never really happened: whether it was marathon feedback sessions, discussing our problems and speaking truth over the lies that my teammates had been believing; spontaneous heart-to-hearts with the girls about personal struggles; running a prayer night for the nannies at the orphanage; crunching numbers for the budget; planning team devos; movie nights, as a team or with the kids; late night workouts… I never got to bed on time.
In the last three nights, I've gotten about 16 hours of sleep. Every morning, I'd wake up feeling energized, and thanked the Lord for His strength to get me through the day. But today this all caught up with me. I woke up today at 6am, as usual, but I woke up feeling exhausted. I snoozed my alarm twice this morning [disclaimer: I NEVER snooze my alarm]. I then managed to roll out of my tent and go about my normal morning routine. As I sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast, I was struggling to stay awake. I
was supposed to lead the team devos this morning with Michelle this morning, but after some dozing and praying, I decided the best thing for me was to go back to bed and sleep. I gave her the materials she needed for the devos and talked with her briefly about it all. She was ok with out me and was very understanding, the whole team was. I climbed back into my tent and slept for another two and half hours. I woke up feeling 1000x more energized and refreshed.
As much as I'd like to maximize my time on the Race, sometimes God needs to remind me to take care of my own basic needs. It was my own fault that I woke up exhausted, but still He blessed me with an understanding team, and a flexible schedule that allowed for me to get the rest that my body needed.
With only a few days left here, I want to take full advantage of the time! To me, sleeping does not fall into that. But if I am not rested, how can I serve these kids? If I am not rested, how can I focus long enough to listen to the Lord's voice? If I can't even make it through my own devos to be filled with the Holy Spirit, than how can I pour into my team and these kids?
