We have a sound machine in our bedroom. It’s actually pretty new, as our old clock that shines the time up onto the ceiling had broken, and when Kevin went to get a new one, they had this nifty combo version with both the ceiling clock and the sound machine.

(Typing all that made me feel old, for some reason, but I’m not gonna let it get me down)

We’ve pretty much settled on the ocean sounds, but occasionally, we’ll opt for night sounds, or soft rain. The babbling brook was immediately taken out of the rotation because it made us both have to go to the bathroom, and we manage that well enough on our own, without any help!

(Again, old, but at least we can see the exact time we got up to go with that nifty clock on the ceiling)

The other night, I was sleeping GREAT, which is not always the case for me so it is worth noting. The reason we don’t use the night noise sound on the machine very often is because, well, we have plenty of night noise right outside our window. Our house is well-insulated, and our windows are double-paned, but you can still hear the sounds of a Texas summer night. I’ve become accustomed to them to the point that I don’t really notice them much anymore, so when there was suddenly birdsong in the middle of the night (1:37am to be exact), right outside our window, it grabbed my attention. The birds are usually pretty quiet at night, and, hey, why was this one SO CLOSE TO THE HOUSE??

I was only partially awake, willing myself to not fully wake up and ruin the beautiful slumber that was mine. Certainly the bird would fly away. Surely he was just taking a load off for a moment before he flew off for a long stay in, I don’t know…CUBA! But he stayed. And he sang and sang and sang.

I tossed and turned and thought not very nice things about the bird. Typically a bird lover, I wished him dead by the end of the next hour. Still he sang on. I couldn’t believe that Kevin wasn’t disturbed in the least. I thought about waking him up, but that didn’t seem right, and eventually the bird had to leave, right?

The next morning, with fresh bags under my eyes, I turned to Kevin as he was waking up.

Can you hear that??

What?

That BIRD! It’s been singing ALL NIGHT LONG! We’ve got to do something about it, because I can’t take another night like that.

Okay.

Then he reached over and turned off the sound machine.

Unbelievable.

Apparently, it had a birdsong feature that I’d never heard and he’d accidentally knocked the switch on in the night.

Seriously, how often do we toss and turn and fret and lose sleep over something that turns out to be nothing? It may look like something, or sound like something, but in the end we’ve invested a lot of energy and worry over what turns out to be a counterfeit problem.

We’ve invested a lot in a nothing when the real somethings remain unattended.

I’m thankful for Someone bigger than I, who is willing to take on all the fret and worry, no matter what it sounds like. That way, I can focus on what’s real and what matters.

Like good, solid, silent sleep, for instance. And not being able to tell you a single, exact ceiling time when I wake up.

“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 ESV

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6-7 MSG

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:34 MSG

“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Matthew 6:27 NLT