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...of a church nap

I am sitting in the parking garage next to the hotel where our church meets with a finally sleeping baby, glad that I brought the wifi with me.

I have been trying to be thankful for the years at the Austin Stone where we had four church service times to choose from. Sometimes, however, I feel upset that we only have one option now. And that one option is exactly during Selah's first and best nap. In those moments of frustration, The Lord reminds me to be grateful that we even have a church body here. We weren't expecting to and it's been a great blessing. We've made some new friends and we love the heart of Redeemer Dubai.

Actually, most of the friends I have made have been other moms walking their babies around trying to get them to go to sleep during the service just like I do with Selah each week. Sometimes we can only give each other empathetic looks and smiles as our strollers pass and the babies exchange cries of frustration. Sometimes, by God's grace, we can stop and have a whispered chat and congratulate each other on the success of our sleeping children. But it's been a blessing, even when I can't be a part of the actual service.

Every once in awhile, Quinn takes Selah duty and I am the one who gets to go into service with Abram (who doesn't go to KIDS because he still sucks his thumb and seems to pick up any possible virus that might be present in a room full of small children). He does such a good job sitting quiet during prayer and the message and praising Jesus during the worship. Quinn has prayed fervently that he would be able to do that, and God has answered those prayers so faithfully.

Today, Selah was just refusing to fall asleep in her stroller and I thought I might die of heatstroke if I put her in the Beco. We were in a different ballroom with less places to take a sleeping baby. So, after getting to visit with a few friends, I got the keys from Quinn and headed out to the car. After driving circles around the parking garage for about 15 minutes, she finally fell asleep and I was able to park. She is hitting her 30 minute mark (her normal transient nap length time) and Quinn and Abram should be coming out of church soon.

Thankfully this is only one day a week. Every other day she willingly goes down for her naps without the use of a motor vehicle and who knows how much petrol.

And I got to listen to "Avalanche" by Hillsong on repeat for an hour. So that was nice.

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