Crying in the Night

I normally don't write about this but I haven't written in a while and it is pretty fresh in my mind.

We have an 11 month old son, Levi, who is teething. He actually has 4 teeth coming in at once. We are also the mean parents that have decided that we are going to let our kids "cry it out" if they wake up in the middle of the night. And cry it out they do.

Last night was really rough. Levi was crying. Screaming. He was in desperation. His teeth are about to explode out of his gums. We knew that there was nothing we could do to stop the pain and he wasn't hungry or anything so we had to let him cry it out.

From his perspective, his cries of desperation were to no avail. He was completely alone. He endured his pain by himself. There was no rescue. No comfort. I can't imagine how it must have been. But I believe it is for his good. (At least that is what many that have gone before me have said)

But something he didn't know was that his parents weren't sleeping. We were in our own anguish sticking to our commitment of what we believe is best for him. He doesn't know that I was standing at the door watching over him to make sure he didn't get hurt, laying in bed listening to his screams and wanting desperately to go and pick him up and bring what comfort I could. While that might have made us all feel a little better in the moment I think it would create more problems in the future.

Going through this process is showing Levi, even at this early age, that he can handle some things himself. It is showing him some realities of life that are not easy. There are going to be things that he goes through alone. It's hard to go through this process but I believe it will pay off in the future.

If you are going through a season where you feel like you are experiencing the pain in isolation or that your cries of desperation are going unheard let me tell you that you are not alone. Someone is letting you go through this because somehow it is for your good and He is standing at the door watching over you. And I guarantee that it hurts Him to watch you go through this as well.