Give it up....

There are hundreds of ways to meditate and ponder.  This past week, I've been making a special effort to take time to ponder and reflect on my life in a positive way.  One thing I noticed right away was it was more difficult to fall asleep if I had anything weighing on my mind.  Maybe it was something I neglected to do that day or a concern I had that needed to be addressed but wasn't sure how to go about it.  Whatever the problem, during my evening prayer, I gave it to the Lord.  One of my favorite scriptures that goes along with this topic is found in Alma 37:36-37 of The Book of Mormon:

Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

 

There is a lot I could say about these verses but I'll point out a couple: 

 

1) We should spend our day giving it all to the Lord and lie down unto Him at night.  Lay down our troubles, worries, heartache, guilt or whatever it may be.  Let Him watch over you while you sleep.  Sleep is so critical to our holistic health.  Sleep is the time our body detoxes and cleanses itself.  While we sleep, our brain organizes and stores information and memories in categories to help us function (which is why we don't mentally operate as sharply when we have disturbed sleep). 

 

2)  Once I give it up to Him and let it go, it is such a comforting thought to know that He is watching out for me while I'm resting and my body is working so hard to rejuvenate and help me live optimally.  I've tried to take this time while drifting off to sleep to allow my mind to reflect on his many tender mercies in my life.  I allow my body to feel of His infinite love and put my trust in Him. 

 

When I wake up, I can't help but give thanks for all that I have.  Gratitude is a beautiful way to start the day. 

 

This image is so innocent and sweet.  We are to be like little children with their humble, teachable natures.
Story time:  Audrey has offered up the same prayer every night before bed for almost a year now.  It goes something like this, "Heavenly Father, please protect my room so no monsters come into my room. Please protect Mommy's room so no monsters come into her room.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  Sometimes she'll insert ghosts.  I'm not sure what made her decide to pray for this but I can stand as a witness that our home is protected from mean ghosts and monsters. :) I know she's thinking of spooky monsters that you see in cartoons but I think of real monsters in the world and am grateful she is offering a prayer to protect our home from evil.