Rest

Do you nap? Do you wish you could nap? Do you wish your children would nap?
My kids go down for nap every afternoon, usually around 12:30. The youngest usually goes right to sleep. Some days the three-year-old does, too. Other days, she fights it for an hour or more. I can definitely tell on the days when they don't get one, though. Their young bodies definitely still need that period of rest in the afternoons, whether they like it or not.
Quite often, once or twice a week, I will curl up on the couch and close my eyes for a few minutes, too (or an hour or so). Especially if one of the kids had a rough night the night before. Some days, I feel guilty about taking a little nap. I know there a ton of other things I could be doing instead. Naptime is usually when I get to do my Bible reading, catch up on emails, blog, edit, write, etc. I don't get as much of that done if I give up part of my quiet time for a nap. However, I am learning that if I don't stop and take care of me, I don't have enough of me left to give to others when they get up from nap, either. A tired Mommy makes for a cranky Mommy ... and a cranky wife. That means that even if everyone else is well-rested, the evening is not going to be pleasant.
I am trying to learn this lesson not only in my everyday life, but also in my spiritual life, too. Not that I need to sleep. But I need to stop and be quiet some every day. I need to listen to God, make my mind stop it's constant tumultuous churning and send all those thoughts up to God in a prayer, get back into His word more. Just like the days that I need a nap and don't take one, on days when I try to do it all myself without His help, it doesn't go so well.
How about you? Do you nap? Do you need to?