Miracle #1

This month our Bishop gave our ward the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 85 days. The past few times there have been Book or Mormon challenges, I've had good intentions, but never did anything about them. This time (same as all the other times) the Bishop promised us miracles in our lives in accomplishing this goal. It hit me this time that if there was ever a time in my life that I needed some miracles, it was right now!! I won't list off all the reasons why! :) Anyway, I had faith that regardless of what the miracles or blessings would be, my life could only improve and be happier if I accepted and accomplished this challenge. So it's been almost a week and a half and I've been keeping up to the schedule and last night, I realized that I've already witnessed my first miracle!! And it is HUGE. Huge. I've blogged many times about how bad of a sleeper Jacey is. Whether it's him being in our bed all night, or parts of the night. Or whether he's having periods of insomnia when he's WIDE AWAKE for 2-3 hours a night. Ever since just after Jaclyn was born, he has been a thorn in my side as far as sleeping goes (literally, he's glued to me in our bed) and especially now that I'm getting more pregnant and my back and hips are failing on me, getting good sleep is crucial. I can't even recall all the things we've tried to get him to sleep in his own bed. But there have been many!!! And sometimes we've been successful for a couple of nights here or there, but it always reverted back. And even the success we had, was minimal and recquired a lot of work. For example, he would go back to his bed, but after fighting us on it, then cry about it forever and we'd have to sit in his room for an hour, stuff like that. But this week, when I explained to him about the pain in my body and how sleeping alone was so important for me to be healthy and not hurt, he just got it. It clicked. It's been 4 days now, and he hasn't even woken up at night. I can't even remember a time when he hasn't woken up at night once. Even when he slept with us, he always woke up at least once. But he's been sleeping straight through and not sneaking into our bed once!! And in the mornings, he calls out to me to ask if it's morning and if he can get out of bed! I can't even believe that this is happening to us!!! I've been waiting for this day since he was about 17 months old!! And he's four now! Actually, the first night, he did wake up once. Jeffrey went into his room and Jacey was the one that told Jeffrey that he couldn't go to mommy's bed because her back hurt. And then he went back to sleep. That was when I knew he got it. He's never been rational about staying in his own bed at night before!!! Now I know many people will say that he's just old enough now to get it, or all this time and work has paid off, but I KNOW that this is a miracle!!! I know Jacey. And he is stubborn!! He doesn't just give in if it's something he really wants. And sleeping with me has always been what he wants the most! So the fact that he so easily gave it up and we haven't had to fight him on it, I know it's a miracle!! And I credit it directly to my obedience of the Bishop's BOM challenge. :) I'm happy!! If this was the only miracle that came out of reading the BOM in 85 days, I'd be so happy!! But the Bishop said miracles, and now I wonder what else is in store for me! :)

Looking back over the years through pictures...

I will admit, I loved snuggling him in bed and I will miss that sometimes. But I now cherish my own space. And I am WELL aware that I created my own problem by allowing him in my bed in the first place. :) I learned this lesson the hard way!

The end of an era.