Sleep-Less

Hullo everyone,

Whenever I can't seem to sleep, I usually post on my blog... I've really only done it once before. You see, I love my sleep so much I rarely forfeit it if I can help it. So it's seldom that I can't sleep. Did that make sense? Probably not. Anyways, maybe 2:00 AM isn't that late/early for most of you... but it definitely is for me!! Well, while I'm sitting here I might as well say something worth while... So I will.

Tonight when I was doing the dishes, I was listening to the different noises around the house, namely: Dining room: talk between the parents and Peter on his business. Kitchen: sound of pots and pans crashing together as they're being washed, dried, and put away. Landing: the sound of Angela and Chloe laughing about something particularly funny in those beautiful laughs they possess. Living room/family room/dining room/all upstairs rooms/kitchen/all hallways: the sound of scampering feet and screams of little children as they chase each other— "I'm going to get you!! Ohhhh yessss I will!! I'm going to put my lizard down your shirt!" — in short, a lovely, loud, typical night-after-dinner at the Hopkins home. Yet as I was listening to all these familiar sounds, a sense of completion and absolute contentment overtook me. I then thought how thankful I was that our family was whole. When Peter was gone for all those months, I never did have that sense. There was always something missing. When all the children younger than me went with mother to New York, it was abnormally quiet. The regular alarm clock of little children pounding up and down the stairs, slamming bedroom and bathroom doors, was completely gone. While it was refreshing, it was not normal or satisfying. And when they came home, though there was an explosion as soon as they walked through the door— (hey, they're little, what do you expect??) I thought, "Oh! We're whole now!"

These noises—yelling, fighting, playing, talking, running, etc—that all come from little childern, sometimes get on my nerves. I realize that siblings are really a blessing to me, and a lesson... A lesson in patience. They have been placed here for my sanctification.... And really, when they are all grown up, I know that I will miss all those noises. I know that the quiet will seem stifling. All these thoughts made me stop, and think, and finally be thankful for the time that I am given with my dear little siblings! How often I take things for granted... How often I get impatient and annoyed with siblings who I am supposed to love and serve. But oh! we have such a God in heaven who is so patient enough to forgive me for each one of these sins, and to never cease to teach me in the right way.

Well, I shall stop now... But I have one more thought... I just have to describe this. :)

Yesterday Olivia's mind disagreed with her body and refused to keep it running all over the place. In short, she took a nap in a chair. Now, for Olivia to take a nap in the afternoon is a rare occasion in the Hopkins household. But there she was. She had one little pudgy hand tucked under her head, and her large droopy eyelids looked like they covered half her face—but it was oh so adorable—and her little body was all scrunched up underneath a blanket. Her expression (because, you know, you DO have expressions while you sleep) was one of the utmost fatigue. She looked so sweet, so little, and so fresh and (well almost) innocent that I found her irresistible. And how grateful I was that God has given us that little girl for awhile, and how I long to cherish each moment with her, watching her grow up in the Lord.

Um... I don't know if this made sense to any of you—but hey! A blog is an online journal that's open to the public!! *gasp* So it's up to me to post, up to you to read and decide if it does make sense or not. :)

Oh, and this probably won't make much sense because it's late... :P