Contented Exhaustion

I think I may have to cut my feet off at the ankles...
Seriously, at the moment, it doesn't seem like a bad idea as they are throbbing like mad.
It has been an exhausting, but exhilarating 24 hours.

Yesterday evening, I worked in the nursery at HPC (as per usual); I did sign-in and then worked the 2-year-old room. Pretty uneventful night. Tonight, however, was a completely different story! Tonight was the 15th anniversary celebration of Healing Place Church and all of our campuses came together for the event.
I was in the 2 & 3 year old room (combined) and we had a total of 37 kids.
THIRTY SEVEN TODDLERS!!!!
And they gave them cupcakes with blue icing!
'Nuff said.

But, back to last night...
I put my 3-year-old to bed at a decent hour (for a change) and crawled into bed, myself, before midnight, -- shocking, I know.
I had to be up by 6:45 this morning to go to my first LEADERSHIP Class with Mrs. Ann Morrow. I was so excited and nervous. I think it was around 11:30 when I finally got to sleep.
Raisha then proceeded to wake up (night terrors) every 20-30 minutes for the next 2 hours. I was about to go sleep on the couch! Then around 4:00 am, she started talking in her sleep and actually woke herself up laughing! Of course, she was wide awake by then and refused to go back to sleep. She wanted to get up and play. I made her stay in bed, but neither of us got back to sleep until well after 5. Next thing I knew, my alarm was going off.

Sometimes, the devil is so transparent.

I made it to Leadership Class and it was awesome. I learned so much and just really felt like I was in the right place at the right time. Obviously, this explains the ridiculous amount of sleep I got the night before.
You see, I am NOT a person who can go without sleep and I am definitely NOT a morning person. I don't even understand annoying morning people. And there was definitely a time in my life -- not so long ago -- that getting 2 good hours of sleep would have been MORE than enough reason to stay in bed on a cold, cloudy morning.

But something happens to you when you allow God to speak into your life...
Not to sound hokey, but you get a whole new sense of purpose that you've never had before. You actually care about what comes next and you are excited by the possibility in every opportunity.
It's really quite difficult to explain, but I told someone recently,
I feel like I "just woke up" into my faith.
Does that make sense?
I have been a Christian for many years, but I haven't always walked it out and I certainly haven't felt that I was living with PURPOSE until the past year or so. I was kind of just drifting along like a lot of Christians do...

Sara Groves has another song I like called, "Just Showed Up For My Own Life," and I think I know just what she means:

Just Showed Up -- Sara Groves

Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take
by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface
repairing the holes in the shiny veneer

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the Holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel, all that's honest and real, until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear, until it's finally clear, and it changes our lives