Light in the Darkness

One of my most embarrassing failures as a mother happened many years ago in our old house. (I still don’t even know why I am writing this!) Calum was night shift and I was left on parent duty all on my own. I woke in the middle of the night with a crying child and went upstairs to see what the matter was. Now, I am not the type of person that copes well with being wakened in the middle of the night or even the morning for that matter. I honestly hate it, I find it so difficult. So for me getting back into my bed as fast as possible, is always my number one priority!!

The child shall remain nameless to protect their identity! 😂 I went into their bedroom and I worked out that they needed the toilet. I carried said child downstairs to the toilet and waited impatiently for them to finish. They were quite agitated and I quickly shushed any concerns they tried to express and carried them back up to bed. Again they were still quite teary, again I shushed them, informing them that it was time to sleep. I tucked them in, gave them a quick kiss and rushed downstairs back to my warm cosy bed! All of this was done quickly and in the dark so neither I nor the child were wakened anymore than was deemed necessary. I fell asleep again and didn't wake up until Calum came in from his night shift in the morning. I heard him go into the bathroom as he usually did, then he came into the bedroom all ready to catch up on his lost nights sleep. That morning though he asked ‘who was up during the night at the toilet, they’ve left a mess all over the toilet seat?’ ‘Eh only ***** but it was only a pee they needed’. Calum informed that whoever had been at the bathroom during the night had definitely done more than pee! 😬

I don’t know if it was because I was just awake but I didn’t seem too bothered by this announcement. However I got up to check the bathroom and go for a shower. As I waited on the shower heating, I noticed some brown suspicious looking stuff on my foot 😱😐💩. "No way, please tell me that isn’t what I think it is", was my reaction! I went through to the bedroom to tell Calum what I’d discovered, still not able to work out what had happened. I went to go upstairs to investigate and sure enough, there on every second stair was some brown stuff, trodden into the carpet. It turned out, while said child woke up, they had actually had a bit of an accident in their sleep. When I lifted them out of bed some 💩 had rolled down their trouser leg, and onto the carpet. Unbeknown to me, I had stepped into it and trailed it through their bedroom and all the way downstairs. Then once I’d put him back to bed I had then trailed it into my own lovely cosy bed!! 🙈

What a morning that was, beds stripped, carpets scrubbed and my feet!!!

It took me a long time to live that down. I was told that's what I got for not putting the light on. For being too lazy to take the time during the night! If only I had put the light on when I had gone upstairs or even in the bathroom, I would have been able to see what was going on! I would have saved myself a lot of mess and hassle if I was able to see clearly.

Light is always needed to see clearly. Our outside light stopped working in spring but we didn’t really miss it because it was light in the evening. Now that it is getting darker earlier, it can be tricky if we need to go out to the car or the bins. We need to put our torches on, on our phones, but even then it’s still too dark to see properly.

Many would say that 2020 has been a pretty dark year. Even more so now that restrictions are getting tighter again and the virus and hospital admissions are on the increase too. I’ve heard many say, what do the officials expect to see in order to say that this pandemic is over? It all just seems pretty bleak.

For many, life has been dark for a long time, long before covid-19, family problems, grief, isolation, job loss, mental-health problems, addiction, rejection, humiliation, pain. Many feel like the darkness is overwhelming and there never seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

The amazing news of the bible is that Jesus came to be the light of the world.

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life”

John ch 8:12

Jesus wants to bring hope to those that are lost. Light to those in darkness. When we are bogged down in the dark place, it often feels like there is no way out. We stumble about, going the wrong way, like me in that night described above, going from one mess to another. One problem to the next. Jesus wants to be that light in your life to illuminate the way. He never said that in trusting him, there wouldn’t be any problems. But by trusting him then there will be some problems that we can avoid. Other problems he will be a light to guide us through them. There is a song I love by artist Tom Walker ‘leave a light on’. It’s about a friend that has made some poor choices and has found themself in a dark place. He promises to leave a light on for his friend to find a way back when they are ready to seek help. He says there will be no judgement there, only grace. I do hope that anyone reading this knows that even though there might not be a literal light on here in my house every night, my door is always open for anyone that feels like they need help and that they've lost their way. But even more so, Jesus wants to be that light for you to turn to. He too is willing and waiting to show grace to anyone that needs it.