Sleeping and Eating by the Clock
Posted By Jacque on May 24, 2008
I read a very informative page on mercola.com about sleep that has made a huge impression on me. It is Sleep Patterns Governed by Light.
When I was little, my mom says she put my brother and sister and me to bed early, like seven pm. As I grew up, I did not have so early a bedtime. Our family was frequently up at all hours. My dad owned an auction barn, and it was part of our life-learning process. Unfortunately, we learned to be up late, and I still have problems with it, and I am passing it on to my children. Matt does not have this problem, as he can fall asleep in a chair, sitting up and stay asleep through pretty much anything!
I found, through this article, that Matt is the normal one. Yikes. And ugh. It tells how one can ignore the affect of light on the body long enough that these sleep patterns are inhibited and altered
I have already been learning that it is useless to be up in the middle of the night, in the dark, and asleep during the daylight if I don’t have to be. I really do enjoy being up at the crack of dawn, hearing the birds, enjoying the morning air (unless it is because I am still up from the night before!). I just have to reconcile that with Matt’s schedule of working long hours and getting home after a decent dinner hour and staying up so we can all spend time together. To me, that is a part of finding my place in the role of The Titus 2/Proverbs 31 Woman.
I have found over the past few days that if you use the lawnmower or weedeater for three days straight for an hour or three each time, you have absolutely NO trouble getting to sleep early, thou you may still have trouble getting out of bed the next morning!! Sometimes that is what you have to do to please your man! 
And it is worth every minute of it!
The article addresses different health issues that are affected by one’s sleep pattern. It also says that we are born with an internal clock that tells us according to the light and dark when to sleep. This is not strange to me. It makes perfect sense that Our God ordered our lives that way. It makes sense just like the info I read several years back about the fact that our bodies are created with an internal hunger clock also. It tells us when we are hungry and when we are full.
Reading it caused me to change my perspective on belonging to the “Clean your Plates Mom’s Club”. I make sure to know if my children are full, and if they really are, I do not stuff them with whatever else is on their plates. Now, that said, we do not waste food. We can’t. We make sure they only get small portions if they get a second helping, and I do test them to see if they would like some ice cream…. which means they can finish their plate if they do!
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Anyway, knowing our God and that He created man in His image, which means it is perfectly constructed in the beginning, I place credence in the fact that our bodies know how to be healthy if we listen to them. I am not talking about placing an extraordinary amount of emphasis on the ‘deity’ of our bodies though. That is New Age philosophy, and that is sinful.
The problem with us hearing our hunger clocks is that we usually give in to our appetites before we ask if we really need it. We are more fleshly in some areas or have been trained to suppress those alarms. I mean, if a goat can browse and know what she should or shouldn’t eat, I think God gave humans the internal information to know when to stop eating instead of gourging ourselves or when to rise to give us the best day to walk in God’s best for our lives. For His glory and our best.
blessings!
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5 Responses to “Sleeping and Eating by the Clock”
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Hello Jacque,
Thank you ever so much for the sweet comments you and your daughters have left my girls and I. Words can not express how your kindness has helped our hearts. I want to commend you and your husband on your daughters, we were so touched when “Super Angel” called to talk to my girls last night. It was such a blessing to my girls that someone that they have never met before would care enough to call them and send comfort to them. God has truly used your family, and we are grateful.
Love to you all,
Josephine & Girls
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Hi…I came upon your blog through the carnival of home schooling links…
I so enjoyed reading this post- such good wisdom here! I’m a night owl by nature, but my husband is like yours in that he can fall asleep anywhere!
I’m a home school mom of two girls, ages 8 and 6. Nice to “meet” you and hope you can stop by some time and say hello!
Blessings,
~Tammy
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The absolutely, hands down, no questions asked, without a doubt BEST mothering book I ever read (and yes, I am a compulsive how to reader) is “How to Get Your Kid to Eat, But Not Too Much.” by Ellyn Satter. It covers much more than eating habits, but once you read this book you will NEVER make your kid eat everything on their plate!
Good Luck with the sleeping changes – one of the reasons I decided to homeschool was so that I wouldn’t have to wake up my 3 year old to put him in the car for 50 minutes to drive my 5 year old to preschool every morning and afternoon!
Regards
Aussie Kim
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Lately I’ve been kind of convicted about sleeping patterns, too. I don’t typically stay up too late, but when I don’t have college classes, I typically get up at 8:30. I don’t know about you, but I am always more productive in the mornings than I am in the evenings. When I get up at 7, I always feel refreshed and I have more time to get stuff done that needs to be done. It’s also really nice to go jogging early in the morning, but I haven’t done that in a LONG time.
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Thank you Sweetie for sending me the link to this post for the Homesteading Carnival. You are a blessing.
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