Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk

Each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.

Psalm 42:8

I (Leslie) was having a sleepless night—an evening cup of coffee, my ill husband’s coughing and restlessness, and details about an upcoming trip were keeping me hopelessly awake. Even after I slipped into the guest bedroom, I still had trouble. Finally, at 3:15 a.m., I crawled back into my own bed, next to a now half-awake husband. “Can I do anything to help you sleep?” he whispered with a groggy voice.

I couldn’t believe it. Les was having a miserable night himself and still wanted to know if he could do anything to help me sleep better. I suppose I would have done the same thing. And my guess is you would do the same for your spouse. Why? Because we all know how valuable a good night’s sleep is.

Poet William Wordsworth, in “To Sleep,” describes the agony of attempting to get a good night’s sleep:

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by

One after one; the sound of rain, and bees

Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,

Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky—

I’ve thought of all by turns, and still I lie

Sleepless. . . .

We all need sleep. It’s not a luxury. It is as important as breathing or eating. In fact, it might surprise you to know that people can survive longer without food than they can without sleep. If you don’t have enough sleep, you not only make more mistakes, but your thinking becomes muddled. You become more irritable. You become sluggish. And if that weren’t enough, you increase your odds for becoming sick. We even age more quickly and gain weight more easily. Experts tell us we require about eight hours to function at our best. Yet one-third of adults report they normally sleep less than six and a half hours a night. And even those hours are not always restful.

Sleep plays such an important, yet unrecognized, role in your married life (especially during the busy Christmas season). So this topic deserves some serious pillow talk, even tonight. What can you do to help one another become better sleepers? As you help each other become more rested, you and your relationship will operate at the optimum level. Think of all the needless conflicts you can avoid by being rested!

Here are a few suggestions from the sleep experts to get you started: get to bed at the same time each night, exercise at some point in the day, avoid snacking late at night, and give each other a gentle back rub before dozing off. Be intentional about your sleep. Your marriage will thank you later.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.

—Leo J. Burke