by Pastor Mike

I was awoken this morning at the eye-bleary time of 4:15 am to a very familiar sound. A soft cry was coming from my 5-month-old son’s room. I looked over at my wife, who sleepily muttered, “It’s your turn…” Opening the door to his dark nursery, I picked up the crying bundle into my arms, and all of a sudden, the tears stopped. I felt my son give a little sigh as his whole body relaxed, and he immediately fell back into a deep sleep as I sat with him in a rocking chair. All was right in his world now; Dad had arrived.

I sat there for a while, more than an hour, just rocking him back and forth. In the silence, I found myself in prayer, just thanking God for this moment in my life at this early time of the morning. What began as a trudging of sleepy weariness to a crying baby turned into a sweet moment of devotion with God and my sleeping son.

One facet of making time for the Lord that we often overlook is that God will sometimes provide that connecting time for us. We just have to be willing to acknowledge and accept it as presented. How many times has God interrupted our days with moments that we could pray or just sit in his presence, only for us to wish it or work it away? In the prophet Micah’s writings, it states, “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” This morning, I heard God say to me, “I have provided this moment for you to pray with me and rock your son.” Isn’t it just like God to provide one moment for numerous solutions? And my sons’ crying then became not an inconvenience or distraction, but instead a purposeful moment of prayerful conversation between me and our Savior.

Now, the moment was fleeting (like all things). After an hour or so of prayers in between sleepy dozing, my son began to squirm and fuss. By 5:45 am, it was time for a feeding, and he was letting me know that my assistance was no longer required; and at that point, my wonderful wife was willing to step in and take over as I crawled back into bed to try and get another hour of sleep. However, shortly after nodding off, I was awoken to a wild-haired, four-year-old girl who wanted to crawl into bed with mommy and daddy, so much for sleeping in!

God will provide the time (at times) if we are just willing to recognize those blessed moments for the gift that they truly can be.

Look for the God moments this week, my brothers and sisters! Blessings!

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Pastor Mike McVey
Minister – First Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ACS Chaplain – United State Coast Guard, Station Galveston TX