Falling Asleep On God's Couch

I was born with a deadly combination of genetics. First, I have a strange love of couches. I realized this after moving into a dorm room with no couch. Aside from my family, the things I truly missed most were all somehow related to the couch in my living room: watching sports with my dad, having a place to sit and read in comfort, taking Sunday afternoon naps. I began at once to seek out friends that possessed couches. Ok, not really...but I did begin spending a lot more time NOT in my room so I could enjoy the couches of others. A solution arrived during spring semester when my parents showed up with the best charcoal gray futon IKEA could offer. I fell immediately in love. Second, I was born with a superpower that is more of a curse than a blessing most times: I can fall asleep anywhere after 9 PM as long as I'm sitting down. I have missed the climaxes and resolutions of countless movies because of my superpower; I have failed to do some of my homework due to droopy eyelids and the inability to stay awake; I have fallen asleep in odd places as a result of the curse my father bestowed upon me.

A love of couches does not mix well with an inability to remain conscious after 9 PM. That's typically when I find time to study or watch movies or hang out with people and just talk. It's a predicament.

It can also put you in a slightly awkward position when you are a freshman in college making new friends while simultaneously lacking a couch. Luckily though, I discovered that I have to reach a certain level of trust with people before I doze off on their couch. Thank goodness my superpower has one Achilles' heel! Along with the realization came a new measurement for how much I trusted the people around me. It was great. And I love my friends who have allowed me to fall soundly asleep while watching movies and episodes of "The Office" with them...and then have promptly woken me up when it was over, sending me back to my own room.

I like to carry on conversations with God as I'm climbing into bed. We talk about all sorts of things because we can. And like many people, I frequently fall asleep while praying. My prayer for that evening just fades out, dangling like a misplaced preposition ("Where is that preposition at???") or an incomplete....... No "Amen." No "In Jesus's name I pray." Not even a "Goodnight, sleep tight." I think a lot of people feel guilty leaving God hanging like this. Maybe they equate it with hanging up on someone or closing the door in someone's face while they are mid-sentence. That would indeed be rude. Especially when done to the King of kings and Lord of lords. It's different for me, though.

For me...

It's like falling asleep on God's couch.

It's trusting that even though I neglected the proper farewell phrases, God will still be there in the morning when both my phone and the quiet sun remind me that there is still life to be lived.

It's knowing that the Almighty is going to protect me as I sleep, vulnerable and helpless.

I mean no disrespect by it. He knows I am human and He created me with this incapability to remain awake. It's just that as I sit on His couch and talk with Him, I cannot help but feel safe and secure, trusting Him with all that I am. And so, I fall asleep.