It’s difficult for me to lay down and just go to sleep at night because my mind goes into hyper drive. That being said, it was worse when I was a child.
I don’t think any kid likes to go to bed, but I really dreaded it. Why? Because I was blessed with an overactive imagination. Every night I imagined monsters walking toward my room. Terrified, I would call out to my mom. You know, I don’t think she had a full night’s sleep until I was around eleven years old. Of course, she would reassure me that it was all in my mind and I was perfectly safe. Then one night something different happened.
I was around nine years old when I was suddenly woken up by a strange sound. At first, I was confused. Was I dreaming or imagining it? As I listened, I realized it was very real. To me, it sounded like an owl, but not a normal one. In my mind I envisioned a giant mutated owl standing next to our house as it hooted and flapped its wings. Frightening myself as usual, I called out to my mom. “There’s a mutant owl outside!” She answered: “That’s no mutant owl. It’s your father snoring.” On one hand, I was kinda disappointed that it was just my daddy snoring. On the other hand, I was glad I didn’t make awful noises like that.
That changed when I was in my mid-twenties. To say I stayed busy is an understatement. I was married while working and going to school part time. It wasn’t easy, but I held my own. That is until this one semester. Some of my classes were being restructured for the next year, so I needed to finish my math and accounting ones before that happened. On top of that, there were a couple of classes I needed to take that were only offered one time a year. So had I had to take them too. I lacked a few hours having a full-time schedule. I had day classes on my days off and I had a couple of night classes too. So, what little spare time I had consisted of housework, laundry, and studying.
One evening I plopped down on the couch to take a break while Tim watched TV. Being exhausted, I fell sleep. Let me tell you, I was sleeping hard, that is until I began to hear this strange racket. I remember feeling agitated at the high-pitched whistles. There were also a few snorts too. At first, I first thought it was something from the TV show. I almost complained to Tim: “Trying to sleep here. Turn it down!” As I laid there, I realized that noise was coming from me and Tim had turned the TV up to drown out my snoring, I hate to admit it, but it was so much worse that the mutated owl noises my dad had made.
“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” Mark 2:27 (KJV)
That was the first time I remember hearing daddy snoring. At that time, he was working a full time and part time job. So, he was over tired as I was in my episode. We all need rest. Being our Creator, The Lod knows this, that’s why He commands us to take a day of rest. He doesn’t want you to stress about not working, but rather relax and rejuvenate spiritually and physically.
So, do I snore now? Unfortunately for Tim, I still do at times. I know it was bad when he says: “I’m surprised the curtains are still on the windows.”

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.