UGH…Insomnia is no fun 🤕

I hate it when I wake up after just a few hours of sleep and then can’t fall back asleep. Last night was one of those nights…I fell asleep just after 9:00 and at 1:33a woke up to do what old people do in the night…visit the little room down the hall, a short hall but a hall. I crawled back into bed after getting a drink of water and it was 1:51a and I laid there. I laid there some more, watched Ron get up, stretched my right arm – it is really throbbing for some reason. Got up at 2:22 and took an Ibuprofen hoping the pain in my arm would lessen and my eyes would close.

I had the radio playing some soft gospel music…a little Bill Gaither, Mark Lowery and our sweet friends Roy Morris & Barbara Fairchild but alas my mind started to wander. Dreading the long days ahead. Thinking about our upcoming cruise ~ what all do I take, what do I leave behind. Wondering if I can take some 4oz cans of orange juice on the ship? What clothes do I need to take? Will it be cold? I know it won’t be as warm as Florida as been ~ we have been enjoying temperatures in the high 70’s to high 80’s.

I finally decided to get out of bed and move out to the living room…no need to disturb Ron just because I can’t sleep. I thought about my lunch and what I was going to take: a couple of mandarin oranges for a snack, a cottage cheese and pineapple doubler and a couple of mini lemon poppy seed muffins for breakfast. For lunch a chef salad, a couple of cheese sticks ~ that’s probably plenty. I do have some peanut butter crackers in my desk drawer if my blood sugar drops or I need a snack in the afternoon.

Sometimes I wonder if people get bored reading my jabbering, but some keep coming back so I guess I’m not too boring.

Today will be my 29th day in a row with writing a blog post, having a conversation with those out in the world somewhere. I am enjoying writing again and have been thinking about what I should be writing…do I just share my daily life? do I begin writing stories again? what about some poetry or psalms. I remember during a season of therapy in the mid 2000’s how Marla encouraged me to write psalms to God. I wrote a few back then and when I read them today, I give thanks that I am able to express things in word. I also chuckle because I hear Ron in the background saying, “Ali has never met a word she didn’t like.”

I wonder if I should write about current events and what I think of them and then immediately think “nope, won’t do that. I don’t want conflict and so often lately it seems if someone shares their opinion a mini war breaks out. At least what I have noticed. That is one of the reasons I have mostly given up Facebook. Besides being a time sucker, I got tired of getting messages from “friends” saying I’m wrong, my thinking is wrong, you shouldn’t put stuff like that on your Facebook for the world to see. and the list goes on…what I do miss about not being on Facebook is interactions with friends who I have known for years, who have walked the walk with me and hearing about new babies, weddings and specific ways to pray when someone is hurting or gets hurt. You know, like when Facebook first came on the scene.

I used to think of Facebook as a circle of friends, sharing the good and the bad of life with others and now it seems more like bickering and arguing. I guess I just wrote about what I think about Facebook 😉

Nineteen days till we leave on our trip to Washington and Alaska…it seems like Christi and I were just making reservations, wondering if we could really get all the money needed for the trip and here it is less, than a month and I will be seeing my niece, going on an adventure we have only dreamed about. Thinking more about what to bring…I wasn’t going to take my laptop but Ron has encouraged me to do just that. I don’t know if I will post on my blog while we are on the ship as we will have a limited amount of Wi-Fi…but he said, “honey you can write and then post them after we get back stateside.” I’ve been thinking I could write a few blog posts ahead of time. I know others do that so maybe that would work for me. I just don’t know.

I want to share a song I heard a few weeks back “Truth” by Megan Wood. Take a listen here. Note there are a couple of ads at the beginning, but it is worth listening to.

The Truth by Megan Woods

How many times can you hear the same lie
Before you start to believe it?
The enemy keeps whisperin’ to me
I swear these days it’s all that I’m hearin’

I used to know who I was
Now I look in the mirror, and I’m not so sure
Lord, I don’t wanna listen to the lies anymore

The truth is I am my Father’s child
I make Him proud and I make Him smile
I was made in the image of a perfect King
He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing
The truth is I am truly loved
By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough
I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You
And that’s the truth

When I feel like there’s so much noise
Livin’ rent-free in my head
Heaven finds me in a still small voice
And it sounds like grace instead

You remind me who I am
When I look in the mirror, and I’m not so sure
Lord, I don’t wanna listen to the lies anymore

The truth is I am my Father’s child
I make Him proud and I make Him smile
I was made in the image of a perfect King
He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing
The truth is I am truly loved
By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough
I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You
And that’s the truth

I know who I am
‘Cause I know who You are
And I hold Your truth inside of my heart

I know the lies are always gonna try and find me
But I’ve never been so sure

The truth is I am my Father’s child
I make Him proud and I make Him smile
I was made in the image of a perfect King
He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing
The truth is I am truly loved
By a God who’s good when I’m not good enough (not good enough)
I don’t belong to the lies, I belong to You (I belong to You)
And that’s the truth

Hm, And that’s the truth

Songwriters: Matthew West, Jeffrey Thomas Pardo, Megan Woods. For non-commercial use only.

No matter how tired I get today with only four hours of sleep, I know the Truth – I am the daughter of the most precious King!!!