Mothering by grace....

Oh how I long to be a mother who gives grace...to my babes, to myself, to other mamas. We had a rough night last night with the babies waking up continuously from 10-2 crying, crying,crying. We couldn't figure out what was wrong and it felt so helpless. In my head I could hear myself saying to another mama (or when I left her company)in the same situation, " If you just do this or that then they would probably be sleeping better." The solution,of course, is never that simple. So when in my sleepy stupor I started to beat myself up over sleep habits, question our whole parenting philosophy,etc. the song came into my mind, "Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within....Grace, grace, God's grace...." over and over and over. So I prayed for wisdom, and I am praying still. I know there are lots of methods out there, and we have tried a few. I want what is best for these two specific babies, though, and if having twins has taught me anything it is that babies are not cookie cutters! So, until we figure out the best way to gently help them sleep through the night I pray for grace and I thank God for the reminder that the same measure of grace He gives to us needs to be given from ourselves to our children, ourselves, and each other. The great thing is that He makes babies so amazingly cute that after the most frustrating of nights, you wake up and see their precious smiles and decide that you can indeed be a mama again today.