Jackson recently decided that naps are no longer necessary.

Who has time to nap when there is so much playing to do?

After going to battle over naptime for several days in a row, which only served to wear me out, it was time to change strategies. We instituted “quiet time.”

Sometime during Lauren’s afternoon nap, Jackson has quiet time for about 30 to 45 minutes in his room. The only rule is that he must be quiet. Otherwise, he can play to his heart’s content.

During his first quiet time, Jackson played hard. Though I could hear him, it wasn’t loud enough to wake up his sister, so I let it be. I had a monster headache, so I actually took a nap.

When my alarm went off to notify me that Jackson’s quiet time was up, the house was strangely still. I went to Jackson’s door and listened. Then I cracked the door. As I pushed the door open wide, Jackson’s room was empty, minus scattered toys. Was he playing hide and seek, ready to pounce and scare me? I looked in the closet and around the room again, and Jackson wasn’t there. I had a momentary panic trying to ascertain whether I slept so hard I didn’t hear him sneak out of his room or go outside. “Jackson, where are you?” I asked out loud. There was no answer. I turned to leave the room and begin frantically searching for him, when a little fist on the floor caught my eye.

I slowly bent down, and there was Jackson fast asleep under his train table, perfectly hidden.

I’ve found him like this several times now. Because taking a nap is on his terms, he often decides he is tired and just crawls into his bed and closes his eyes.

Jackson wasn’t as grown up as he thought. And, that was okay!

We may need to learn the same lesson. Often we take on too many projects, get too little sleep, try to please everyone. We compare ourselves to others. We think we can handle things on our own, or that we’ve moved past a situation. So, we independently make the decision to push forward. And we find out we may not be as “grown up” as we thought.

We get frustrated when it doesn’t go our way or it is too big for us to shoulder alone, and then fight with God for what we want. Could it be that sometimes God gives us the freedom we ask for but cannot handle in order to clearly show us our need for Him?

God cares more about our submission to His authority and loving provision than success according to the world’s standards, or our own for that matter. He desires for us to bend to His will because we trust Him wholeheartedly with our lives.

Let’s stop fighting it. We need a nap!

We need Jesus.