That Police Officer DEPRIVED Me of my Sleep

: To keep something away from someone. Those who live in poverty are kept from having enough food or shelter. Plants experiencing water deprivation will shrivel up and die. If a teenager is grounded, their parents might impose video game or cell phone deprivation. And if someone has trouble sleeping, they are sleep DEPRIVED.

I had only a very few hours of sleep, when I had to get up early for my drive to Tulsa again. Sis and I are still working on the Estate Sale for Mom and with our busy schedules, we've had to carve out time almost every other week to get it all wrapped up. We're getting closer each time I make my trek there again. Wednesday morning, I headed out early after those very few hours of sleep and by the time I hit the Indian Nation Turnpike I could hardly keep my eyes open. In fact, I did have moments where I nodded and caught myself. I slapped my face, chewed gum -- all to keep me awake. There are no rest areas on that stretch of the turnpike so I was pleased when the turnpike ended and I saw a motel and thought I'd just drive around to the back of it and stop to shut my eyes for just a few minutes. That few minutes turned into 20 minutes and it would have been longer, but the tapping at my car window by a police officer woke me and startled me.

I did my best to regain composure because I must have looked like I was on a stiff drink or drugs because he was eyeing my car in the front and back to see if I had anything in it to prove it. He said, "Ma'am, are you okay? We received a call from the motel owners and they said they saw a woman slumped over in her car." I replied: "Oh, I'm fine. I was so sleepy on that stretch of the turnpike and nowhere to pull off to rest, that I just had to shut my eyes for a few minutes at the first place I saw." By then I was WIDE AWAKE! I asked him to thank the motel owners for letting me take a snooze, and I was on my way.

I realized that I MUST get a good night's sleep before I head out on these road trips. Sleep DEPRIVATION could lead to real trouble in so many ways. It was a WAKE UP call for me for sure.

As I was typing my post for today, I thought about the word DEPRIVATION -- particularly as it applied to my sleeping habits, but I also thought about how we DEPRIVE ourselves from being physically and spiritually healthy. We deprive ourselves of water which is our main source of life. If we continue to deprive ourselves of getting the H2O we need, it can have severe repercussions on our health. Not getting enough water can result in fatigue and lack of blood flow to our tissues. Not getting enough physical activity and exercise will deprive us of good health and normal organ function.

In the same way, when we DEPRIVE ourselves of the refreshment of a close, abiding relationship with our Heavenly Father, we'll become spiritually sluggish, weak in faith and poor in spirit. Like the officer who gave me a WAKE UP knock on my car door yesterday, God is knocking on our heart's door and announcing -- drink up of this water that I give you and you'll never be DEPRIVED of water again." His love is FREE for the taking. We are never DEPRIVED of His peace, joy, hope and overflowing blessings. Those gifts are ours for the taking.

"Happy are those who listen to Me, watching for me daily at my gates." (Proverbs 8:34)

"Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28: