The last couple nights we have been teaching Neva to put herself to sleep.  Something she has been doing off an on, but now we are expecting a little more of her.  Which means some crying is involved.  It is hard on Matthew and my heart to hear her cry so we pray.  It was amazing to see how God answered our prayers. 

As I (Leslie) sat in bed the other night I prayed that God would protect Neva from spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental harm and attack while she is in bed crying.  I prayed that He would teach her how to lay down from her sitting up potition (which we usually find her in when we go in to remind her it is bed time).  I prayed that He would comfort her, and love on her, and meet her where she was at.  As I prayed she got quieter and when I finished she was asleep, it was 8:30pm. 

Last night Matthew and I lay her down and initially she was out because she was so tired.  Then she woke with a poopy diaper,  so Matthew cleaned her up said night night, lay her down and she began to cry.  So after about 30 minutes of crying our hearts needed to talk to God.  So we stopped held hands and prayed for our little girl a similar prayer to what I prayed the night before.  We finished praying and Neva had quieted.  10 minutes later she was asleep, at 7:30pm. 
Though it has been hard to listen to Neva cry, it has brought Matthew and I closer and it has drawn us closer to God.  Thank you Lord for this difficult time.

Through this I have also found renewed desire to pray so I start my day with prayer and Matthew and I end our day with prayer.

Matthew's sister is in town for a couple weeks and we had her over for dinner last night.  It was so good to see her.  Of course within moments of Matthew arriving home they began an intense conversation which lasted through dinner and on into our card game.  Love it!  What is famliy for if not to challenge your way of thinking.