He was overtired and screaming. I gathered his bottle and pacifier and took him back to his bedroom, where I began to change his diaper and put on his pajamas. And like I do every night during this part of bedtime, I began to sing to him. And as I sang under the dimmed lights of his bedroom with the water trickling on his white noise machine, he quieted down and looked up at me with big eyes.
Then to my amazement, he smiled his sweet gummy smile and began to coo along with my singing.
The bedtime song I’ve chosen for this child is “Gratitude” by Brandon Lake, and let me tell you, that moment he began to coo and smile after screaming and fighting made tears fall down my face.
What a gift for a tired mama.
Today this little one is two months old, which is so crazy! Two months of bedtime routine, singing to him as he gets ready for bed. And that night, when he calmed and switched from upset to happy, I reaffirmed my faith in the positive power of routines.
I know it works for me. I’m very much a creature of habit and I have a routine of things every night at bedtime that helps me to shut down. It’s nice to see that it works for others–especially when as a mom you read all sorts of things about bedtime routines for babies!
As I thought about routines, I wondered if Jesus had routines in His life on earth. So I went to the Bible and took a quick look at His life. Here’s what I found:
- Luke 4:16 NIV “…on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom.”
- Luke 5:16 NIV: “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Jesus’s life was a reflection of those positive routines. He poured into the lives of others, and in order to do that well, He spent time allowing His Father to pour into Him. And He did these things regularly, demonstrating their importance to His disciples and to us.
I for one am so grateful that our Lord lived His life with routines. And I’m grateful that our Creator wired our brains with the need for routine as a way to bring peace and calm when everything around us is chaotic.
Because life is chaotic. But gratitude–and routines–can change our perspective on how we handle the chaos.
Don’t have routines in your life? It’s never too late to establish some! Seeing how it helps my baby boy at bedtime, it’s definitely worth it!
Blessings with gratitude,
~Lynne
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