A REMINDER TO PRAY

To say this semester of student teaching has been easy is a complete lie. It has been so.dang.hard. Not only do I have a 14mo. old (who's been sick for almost.. two weeks now?), I'm also 26 weeks pregnant. This semester has been challenging, exhausting, draining, sometimes really not fun, but also incredibly rewarding.

For the most part, during the really hard times, I've tried to just tough it out and get through it on my own. Well tonight I had a bit of a humbling experience.

Around 7pm I started to get Alex ready for bed. Like I said, he's been sick. The past few days he was doing really well but yesterday/today he's been getting worse again. Tonight was a rough night. Before bed I gave him medicine, got him ready, got him a bottle, all the normal things we do before bed. I put him down, and he was good for about an hour. Then he started screaming. So I went in, tried a few other things we do especially for when he's sick/congested, and put him down again. He was good for about a half hour, and then he started screaming again (by this point it's about 9pm). I had gone into my room to work on lesson plans and could hear him through his baby monitor.

He screamed for probably 10-15 minutes and I tried to wait it out with the hope that he'd cry himself to sleep sooner rather than later. Well, he didn't. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I just started crying right along with Alex. I cried for maybe a minute and then started to say a prayer. Through my tears I asked Heavenly Father to help Alex be calm and comforted so he could get the rest he so badly needed. I had done everything I could think to do and he was still screaming, and not sleeping. I asked for strength and comfort for myself, to help Alex and also be able to get my plans done for tomorrow. I asked for help to know if there was anything else I could do to comfort Alex, that I hadn't thought of.

During my prayer, Alex had a moment where he was calm. Then he started crying again. After my prayer, I sat there and slowly he started to calm down. He'd cry, have a calm moment, cry a little softer than before, then have another calm moment, until finally he had fallen asleep.

This experience humbled me, and reminded me of a loving Father in Heaven who hears my prayers and knows what I need. I don't know why I forget or don't think to pray when I'm having a hard time. Maybe I just feel like it's not a big deal and I shouldn't ask for something so small or "silly". Maybe I'm stubborn and feel like I should be able to do it on my own. But I don't have to do it on my own, and I shouldn't. He's there for me always, and I know it. I'm so grateful for the power of prayer.