Being tested by God

I think that there should be some scripture in the Bible that states any Christian who goes to church on Sunday will not have their faith tested on that Sunday. Although I like to consider myself as always being a Christian, I am fairly new at knowing exactly what all that entails. For instance, I thought it was okay to be out in bars drinking 4 or 5 nights out of 7 as long as I talked about God to the "troubled" drinkers. I also thought it was okay to wear clothes that were more than a little revealing because, "hey, I'm not getting any younger and I have to use what I have". So, yes, I am fairly new at all this and I fail somedays, miserably.

Today, for instance, after getting approximately 3 1/2 hours of broken sleep, because of keeping both of my granddaughter s with me all night so that my mom could get a "good nights sleep" , she gets up to inform that she slept terrible. This happens most nights that I take both girls for her to get a "good nights sleep" , and then we both end up sleeping "terrible". I say if she is going to be up and down all night anyway it only makes sense to tend to the baby so that I am at least rested and more ready to face the day. So anyway, I keep my mouth shut, passing the first test, and continue to get myself and my granddaughters ready for church. My mom, thank goodness, can still get herself ready. So off to church we go, where I enjoy the services as usual but am having a very difficult time keeping my eyes open. Did I mention that I had my alarm set for 8 am and the baby woke at 6:30 and by the time I changed, fed and got her back to sleep it was 7:30 ... not much reason to go back to sleep. So my day started at 6:30 and as much as I love Pastor's sermons, he not only makes them interesting he makes them "human" and what I mean by that is he makes himself "human". He tells stories about his life, his wife, his children and it all puts him at an even level with church members. This to me is no small feat and it is one thing I admire most about Pastor and his wife. (No, I'm not putting this in here because Pastor's wife has figured out who I am.) It's the truth, believe me when I tell you I have searched many churches over many years and this is the first one to grab my attention and keep it. A big part of that is having a "leading family" who is "human".

Anyway, after church we stay for a short, but necessary meeting, then it's off to the grocery store and home to fix lunch. Mom does feed the baby while I prepare the big, and quite delicious, salad, along with one of those already cooked and ready to eat rottissiere chickens from the deli.
We eat lunch with nothing unusual or stressful happening. My oldest granddaughter, finished with her lunch goes to the refrigerator and starts pulling on the handle saying, "yoyert" ... it has become a ritual at nap time and bedtime that we watch one of her favorite cartoons on demand while I feed her a cup of yogurt and then it's off to sleep. (There are actually times that she is so tired that she will go for the "yoyert" herself.) I open the fridge, she grabs the ritual snack, I grab the spoon and off we go. Mom takes the baby in with her and all is good. Maw Maw's precious girl finishes her yogurt with heavy eyes and is about to fall asleep when my phone rings. It's my son, her father, calling to see what the girls are doing. I tell him about to take naps and he says he will call later. She is quickly back off to la la land when once again the phone rings. This time it is my mother, telling me she is so tired she can't stay awake and the baby won't stop fussing and climbing all over her and if she puts her in her crib she is just going to scream, so would I come and get her. I feel the aggravation rise, as my granddaughter is once again awake and I'm still fighting to keep my eyes open. I can feel that I am being set up to fail a big test miserably. I pray on the way in to get the baby that I will not loose my cool and that both girls will go to sleep within a few minutes so that I may, completely, dose off this time.

Remember I said earlier that my mom helps God sometimes to test me? Well this was their conspiracy today. I got the baby in to the room with me and my oldest granddaughter. Even though they are both so young they are like little giggling school girls whenever they see each other. So for the first few moments they squeal and laugh and grab at each others faces and hair until I can get them to calm down. Within 2 minutes, the wild climbing child that my mother had is fast asleep, hmmm? I go to put her into her sister's crib and her sister notices she is asleep so she has to yell her name. Apparently the baby forgot to read the manual that says nobody sleeps if the oldest isn't sleeping. I tell the oldest to be quiet and I put the baby in the crib and pat her butt a few times. As soon as I am confident that she is fast asleep I walk away. The oldest then decides her first yell wasn't loud enough so she gives another and, yep, it works!!! So the baby is awake and screaming. I get her and put her to sleep 3 more times just to have the older sister wake her back up 3 more times.

Guess what folks? I failed the test miserably after the 4th time of putting her down and the oldest waking her back up. I lost my temper, I yelled, I spanked the oldest, put the youngest back in the crib to scream, put the oldest back in my bed and dared her to get down. I then stormed off into the kitchen like a child and began slamming things around, and thinking if I can't sleep nobody is going to. Yes, I went there, I became the oldest sister, who by the way isn't even 2 yet. Like I said I failed miserably. I put my meatloaf together while talking to God and asking Him why He must test me on Sunday of all days ... I get up with every intention of being a good christian and He has to test me when He knows I am fairly new to this.
My talk with God helped and after getting the loaf in the oven I got the baby once again, put on demand on for the oldest and within 5 minutes they were both asleep. I could have went to sleep also, but I was too worked up so I decided to get on and check my blog. The result is a new blog called "being tested by God" and as I struggle to keep my eyes open, for the second time today, I think I should end. Take care and God bless!!!