I am the Nap Queen

Yes, I love to sleep and I have for a loooong time. Just ask my Mom! (I think it’s genetic, ‘cause the whole family likes to sleep!) I remember the days of sleeping in ‘till noon or one. Or those rainy afternoons on a school day wrapped up in a comfy blanket taking a nap. Oh the memories…or are they?

I may not sleep in that late anymore (try rising at 4:30am) or curl up for a daily afternoon snooze, but the “nap” occurs when I least desire it to happen. Yes, during morning meditation it seems I’m resting with the Lord on nearly a daily basis. Okay, I’ll be honest. It doesn’t just seem like it; it’s a fact.

This resting with the Lord in prayer started long before I entered the convent, so why did I think it would end afterwards? Maybe I was just hoping it would! My frustration with this fact lessened one day when I was a postulant working down in our day care center.

One morning I was holding a sleeping baby. Have you ever held a baby asleep in your arms? Do you try to wake them up? Of course not! Don’t you just love them as they are? Then it hit me: this was like me. I was in the arms of the Father everyday that I fell asleep during prayer. Yes, He was loving me, His child, as I slept. I have come to learn that He is holding me and I am safe in His arms of love.

Now, let’s make one thing clear: I am not telling you to go to pray with the intention of taking a nap. If it happens, don’t be hard on yourself, but the intention to go take a nap is different than the intention to go encounter the Lord through prayer. Each one of us deals with different distractions during prayer – our own thoughts, other people, noise, _____ (fill in the blank). Remember, you do not have to “start over” in your prayer when you recognize you are distracted, but just re-focus and continue. So, what do I do when I fall asleep? Well, first I have to wake up and when I do I thank the Lord for the rest! It’s much more helpful to give thanks than to get frustrated that I fell asleep…again! Try, try again! Then I just continue where I left off before the sleep took over, I converse with the Lord.

So do not get discouraged in prayer dear friends! “Rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) If you don’t hear the Lord speak in the morning, I advise you to not lose hope. You may hear His voice later in the day. Be attentive, for He speaks in various ways!

May He speak to your heart this Christmas and throughout the Christmas Octave. Whether it be through song, silence, scripture, or a short snooze may you be open to the Lord’s message for YOU. I hope to be taking only one kind of nap this year on Christmas. You know, the kind where I choose to do so. But to tell you the truth, I’ll probably be taking two kinds of naps on Christmas and I’ll just have to remember that I am resting in the arms of the Father!