be careful what you ask for.

today, i am blessed to be able to work my 4-hour shift from 12-4pm instead of 8am-12. i was very excited about this change in schedule for several reasons:
A. let's face it, i'm not a morning person. the idea of sleeping in, even if it's only for an extra hour, excites me.
B. quality time. i feel like time spent with my girls in the morning is much more 'quality' than in the afternoon. maybe i'm less distracted? i'm not sure....
C. my to-do list. i much more productive before work than i am after work. period.
last night when i went to bed, i knew it was going to be hard to force myself out of bed in the morning. so, i just said a little prayer asking the Lord to help me get up in the morning. i told him i really wanted to be able to enjoy the morning with my girls before i had to take them to the babysitter. and i also warned him that when my alarm came on in the morning, i wasn't going to hit 'snooze'..... i was going to turn it OFF!
guess how he answered that prayer.... not how i anticipated!! (of course)
the little babe woke up at 5:30, ready to face the day! yep, 5:30 AM. awake. not going back to sleep. for those of you who are curious, that is a full 30 minutes EARLIER than i usually wake up. so much for sleeping in. but, on the bright side, she was so happy. so, after a few minutes of trying to force sleep, i gave in and just enjoyed my baby. and boy did i enjoy her... for nearly 2 hours, just Kate and Mama.
when she fell asleep, the big girls were still sleeping, so i took a quick shower and decided i would do some cleaning when i got out. guess what i saw when i opened the shower curtain... the most beautiful little 3-year-old face in the whole wide world. awake. ready for her day to start. the 3-year-old that loves to start her day with cuddle-time on the couch. so to the couch we went. and i got to spend the next hour with Jada. Just Jada. my little girl that never, ever, ever gets alone time with her mama. my little girl that desperately needs alone time with her mama.
then, finally, at nearly 9am, we decided to wake up Eden... because we wanted PANCAKES!!
guess what... i'm not mad at all that i didn't get to sleep in. i'm so glad that i had to wake up earlier than i normally do. because God used that time to answer my simple prayer in a way that i could have never scheduled on my own. and i have more energy now than i would have if i would have slept until 9am.
Thank you, Lord, for hearing this weary mommy's prayer. Thank you for time spent with my 3 beautiful princesses.