[Ep 121] Sleep as a Christian Spiritual Discipline

How much sleep do you normally get? What happened to you when you didn't get enough sleep?  Did you ever stay up all night? Which part of you was most impacted by lack of sleep: physical, mental, or emotional? I remember a stretch of time when sleep was frequently interrupted. Both kids were getting up for various reasons, whether to use the bathroom or nightmares or what have you. And I was getting woken up every 2-3 hours. And it's hard, isn't it? If you are the parent of a newborn or taking care of a child with disabilities or an aging parent, you know what I'm talking about. But there are other times when we can't get enough sleep, aren't there?  We can't get physically comfortable in our bed. Or our minds are racing and we can't find a way to calm them down. Or we're worried about the next day or some big, looming situation that we're in the middle of. Or we feel like we have too much work to get done, and so we frequently stay up late. And whatever the cause, sleep doesn't come easily. God has been showing me that sleep can be a spiritual discipline, too.  Kari   RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES:  ·       Episode 54: 4 Simple Ways to Start (or Keep) Journaling ·       Episode 63: Using Christian Spiritual Practices to Draw Closer to God with Blogger and Writer Celia Miller ·       Sarah Jackson Coaching: Somatic, Cognitive, and Spiritual Practices ______ >> Free Journaling Workshop: 3 Ways to Encounter God on the Pages of Your Journal http://lovedoesthat.org/journalingworkshop >> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently >> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God's presence in your pain http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection