Sleep is good, the Princess has always believed so. It was prescribed to her by her mother as a cure all and it worked fairly well. Naps have still be known to get the Princess out of a terrible funk sometimes. But even though the last couple of years have featured a decent night's rest most of the time (unlike when the wee man and little maiden were babes) the Princess still longs for rest. She can often sleep through noise and light or in strange conditions but she finds it harder to rest in those circumstances. What she is really looking for is:
"Space to breathe, to feed her soul, and dream dreams."*
This is more elusive to the Princess than sleep.
Princess Morag had been looking forward to this morning as finally her chance to rest. Finally, there would be some peace and quiet as Sir Rianus was returning to work. Not to be - the wee man came down with the sickness so the Princess is not alone, and it is not quiet.
But she is here, and she is fighting to maintain her concentration and be creative. It is not the same though. The Princess knows her limits. When her son is present, her radar is switched on, and she cannot rest. She remembers those long years of his baby and toddler-hood when she could never rest. She discovered her supercapacity to be hypervigilant. That's tiring to read, never mind operate your life on!
Only one person knew that she was suffering so much, that she was completely strung out. He met her in tears of grief and exhaustion. He met her at the moments when everything was too much. She wasn't always aware that He was there. But now that she looks back, it's the only explanation for how she kept going. She would reach breaking point and then someone would get sick, or Sir Rianus was going to be late home, and she just had to "get on with it" as her mother would always say for another day, another week....
This morning, she is in that same place, of knowing that she needs a break, a rest, and it might not be coming as soon as she would like. But He is here, He is her strength. He will help her to keep going. He will give her the love they need from her. She trusts in this more now. She believes He is faithful, because she remembers.
And there might not be a whole hour, but there will be moments of quiet. There will be time to sit with a cup of coffee and read a little, an interruption probably guaranteed but Princess Morag is getting better at telling Princess Perfectionist to hush and take a break. It might not be exactly what she wanted out of the time, but it will be enough.
*From Finding Spiritual Whitespace by Bonnie Gray
Dear Princess, oh, how I remember those days of little rest and much business, and busyness, those days of littles who seemed to demand all of me all of the time. Praying that you will be able to carve some whitespace time just for your rest.
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