Pillow Prayers and Book Giveaway!

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Lack of sleep can endanger lives. I listened to the news report and let out a laugh. The story was about new attempts to shorten the hours doctors work in their first year of residency. Instead of twenty-four hour shifts, it was suggested that newbies should only have to work sixteen. I tried to count the hours of sleep I’d had the night before, but didn’t have the mental capacity.

Grace is my third child, but I still struggle with lack of sleep. Everyone else — doctors, pilots, and truck drivers – seems to have rules about how long they can work, but there are no regulations on mamas. We can put the keys in the fridge, wash our hands with lotion, forget to shampoo in the shower, and draw a blank on when the baby ate without getting fines or pink slips.

There is compensation, though: we learn to send up countless pillow prayers. Lord, thank you for this fluffy pillow. Thank You that I’m lying down. Thank You for this break. And then there’s the most important pillow prayer of all:

Lord, please let the baby sleep. Please let the baby sleep. Please let the baby sleep.

Carol Hatcher

This devotional by Carol Hatcher originally appeared in Daily Guideposts: Your First Year of Motherhood and is reprinted with permission from Guideposts Books and Inspirational Media, Guideposts.org. Copyright © 2011 by Guideposts. All rights reserved.

**BOOK GIVEAWAY!!**

This devotion is from the book Daily Guideposts: Your First Year of Motherhood. Want to read more devotions from Carol and 19 other moms (and 1 dad)? Enter for a chance to win a free copy. Just leave a comment here telling us why you love being a mom or why your mom is the best for a chance to win. To read a review of the book and get another chance to win, visit 5 Minutes for Moms and leave a comment there. This contest will run from May 2-16. The winner will be draw randomly from comments on May 16.

*This giveaway is void where prohibited. Please see our terms and conditions for complete contest rules. Please note that Guideposts provided both review sample and prizing. But our opinions are always our own!

21 Responses to Pillow Prayers and Book Giveaway!
  1. Katie
    May 2, 2011 | 6:53 am

    As someone hoping to have kids in the not too distant future this book will, Lord willing, come in very handy.

  2. Cheri
    May 2, 2011 | 7:20 am

    I love your humor Carol! Sounds like a great book. 🙂

  3. Kimberly
    May 2, 2011 | 10:27 am

    As a mother of 7…and being a RN that works the nite shift….this book would be a blessing!!

  4. Kevin
    May 2, 2011 | 10:51 am

    Carol thanks for the reminder. As a father of 16 years it is so easy to forget what Mamma does evey day and has done – I praise God for my wife and all the hours of sleep she has willingly forsaken (as mothers day approaches) 🙂 Thanks!

  5. Anna Fouts
    May 2, 2011 | 3:52 pm

    I have loved every moment of being a mother, although many of those moments were spent in prayer, believe me! Many of the prayers were “Lord, please let the baby sleep.” Many more were “bring my “babies” home safely. “Keep them in the center of Your Will, Father”. My “babies” are now 53,52,51, and 36, but they will forever be my babies. Thanks for the memories your devotion bring to mind, Carol.

  6. tennille
    May 2, 2011 | 5:07 pm

    pregnant right now-i would love this

  7. Meg Isaacs
    May 2, 2011 | 8:49 pm

    Oh my… my oldest deughter just turned 2 last week and my second daughter will turn 1 in 3 weeks… I don’t even know why I am online… my burned eyes need sleep! But I got up to be able to read at least a few verses from my Bible and then I hopped online. It would be a blessing to have a devotion to follow along and read. God bless people like you who are blessed with being able to write!

  8. Linda Kish
    May 2, 2011 | 10:47 pm

    Please include me

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

  9. Steven W. Siler
    May 3, 2011 | 10:09 am

    As I am sure Carol can appreciate, my Southern grandmother was not just a mother, but the spiritual leader of the family. Her love was unconditional. Praise took the form of chicken n’ dumplings and apple cobbler. Interlaced was an ironclad belief that she instilled of two facts: This Too Shall Pass and There But For The Grace of God Go I. And I will never forget it.

  10. Karen Foster
    May 3, 2011 | 11:48 am

    I love being a mom ~ because my kids are amazing!

  11. Laura Jackson
    May 3, 2011 | 11:56 am

    I’ve been a mom twice….I have older kids 34, 33 and 29. I also have a 10 year old who is essentially my blessed “Do over”.

    My youngest child has a much better mommie as I am now a christian and my daughter is being raised in God’s hands…This means more to me and my older children than you could probably imagine as my older children and myself were raised in what many (me too) consider a cult. The freedom of knowing how/who God REALLY is and being able to live within that comfort for us all… especially being able to show older my children the REAL truth and having the priveledge raising my youngest with christian freedom, has been and IS the best thing I could have ever asked for. I am blessed book or no…. BUT I would also like the book too! LOL 😉

  12. Laura Jackson
    May 3, 2011 | 11:58 am

    P.S, I have 3 grandchildren….#3 is on his was as I write this! <3

  13. Clarissa
    May 3, 2011 | 7:25 pm

    I love being a Mom because he’s finally MY child. Being a preschool teacher/nanny for 9 years has been so rewarding but wow what a totally different love I have for my lil one. (And I can actually say yes now for the dreaded question “Well do you have kids? You wouldn’t understand”)

  14. Audrey
    May 3, 2011 | 9:20 pm

    I love the time between baths and bed when my husband and our three kiddos hang out in the girls bedroom. There’s no stress and we can just ENJOY the kids and how great our life is right now.

  15. darthchrista
    May 4, 2011 | 9:33 am

    I can’t believe how much I love being a mom. I knew I wanted children, but had no plans to stay home with them…God totally changed my heart and not only did He call our family to have one income, but he has also called us to Homeschool! Crazy. He has taught me more this year about being His child through interacting with my children. There are so many things I love about being a mommy, but the biggest is watching my children grow in Christ for His glory. It is truly a miracle.

  16. Leigh
    May 5, 2011 | 3:03 am

    I love being a mom, because God has blessed me with two precious children to love, nurture, and teach. I love to witness their love for Jesus, and their unique ways of expressing it! He teaches me so much through them! I am so very thankful for this opportunity! (and for encouraging friends like Carol to share this journey with!)

  17. Pauline
    May 5, 2011 | 9:44 pm

    waking up every day and seeing the gifts that life/god have given me makes me realize how blessed I am to have a wonderful family filled with lots of love

  18. mendy
    May 7, 2011 | 4:16 pm

    I just happened to stumble upon your blog and was instantly drawn in. I am a mom to a 15mo Lil boy whose name is Asher. He is the love of my life. I never knew I could truly be this happy. Nothing beats having a conversation with him, even though it is just jibber jabber. He his my big helper and I can’t imagine my life without him. I prayed for him when I thought there would be no children in my life. Then one evening while watching tv god spoke to me and let me know that I would have a baby boy. I didn’t know when but I knew soon I would have the love of my life and sure enough Feb 1st 2010 Asher entered the world. Thank you God for blessing me, and thank you Asher for letting me be your mom!!

  19. Jill L
    May 8, 2011 | 11:34 am

    Also, please Lord, let me have just 5 minutes to myself today!! Please let the kids get along for a 1/2 hour.

  20. Liz V.
    May 10, 2011 | 7:58 am

    Sleep is truly a blessing.

  21. Leslie H.
    May 14, 2011 | 4:43 pm

    I love being a mom. It can be trying sometimes. but I have the most amazing daughter. she makes it all worth it.