Joshua and I have started sleep-training Dani. Basically, that means putting Dani down to sleep in her crib and we leave the room until she’s asleep. We decided it was time to teach her to sleep independently, before she gets too attached to me. We’ve been at it for 2 days now and both nights she cried for an hour before falling asleep. I’m pretty sure it’s harder for us than it is for her. It breaks my heart to see her look up at me as I walk away. It’s an expression of confusion mixed with sadness as if to say, “Mommy, why are you leaving me? Can I trust you love me?”

I’m learning that the heart of the Father. The times he “leaves” us alone for our own good are always scary and confusing. We cry out to him, “Daddy, why are you leaving me? Can I trust you love me?” The Father says, “Yes, trust me. It’s all because I love you.” It breaks the his heart when we don’t trust that what he is doing for our good. When Dani cries, I want so badly to remind her of how much I love her, how even though she doesn’t see me in the room I am thinking of her, listening to her every movement and cry, and praying for her. Our Abba Father is doing the same – our Lord Jesus is ever interceding for us before the Father’s throne, the Holy Spirit ever reminding us of how faithful our God has been until now. In the scary and lonely times of our life, let us trust that he is yet, and especially in those times, with us.

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27: 14