Pulling it together

A step back into no man's land today. Sometimes the pull down is so strong, it takes all one's strength just to tread water. I wonder why that is. Is that when we step away from the arms of God and fall too far, or are we pushed from behind by an unseen evil? The day looks the same on the outside; sun is shining, the water is sparkling, people are smiling. Inside the mind is spinning out of control into the dark of night. My daughter tells of nights this summer when she would wake to a little voice in her bedroom, asking for some comfort for the 3rd or 4th time, and my daughter would tell this little girl to pull it together and go back to her own bed. It sounds outrageous that a 2 year old could be expected to understand what her mother meant, but she seemed to, as she went back to her room and back to sleep. I wonder what was dragging a little girl down, and I wonder what she thought about in her bed while she was pulling it together. Did she think about crayons and cookies, swinging on swings? Did she hum a little song to herself, or watch the outside lights play across her bedroom wall and imagine angels in her room? Maybe she didn't have to imagine them. Maybe she saw what God has promised to protect us and pull us up from the deep.