Fast asleep

Fast Asleep
I rocked my 3 year old daughter, E, to sleep tonight. Most of the time, she is still awake when I lay her in her bed. But every once in a while, every so often, she will fall asleep while she is in my arms. It's quite an experience. To feel her breath on my neck, to feel the heat rising off of her scalp as she sweats when sleeping, to feel her heartbeat every so slightly on my chest, those are things that I can't even really explain. My trying to describe them isn't even close.
How long do we get with our children? How long will life and the world and their will let us cradle them, hug them, kiss them, pray with them? How much time do we have while they sit with us in our laps, listen to music, be quiet as the night comes.
I'm sure it will not be long enough. But if we are willing to take risks for God, if we are willing to be misunderstood for His sake, to go to the dangerous places, literally and figuratively, our children will go before us and advance the Kingdom in ways we could never imagine. And when we see that, we will be glad that instead of keeping our kids in our laps and coddling them to sleep, we released them to be a part of God's glorious epic story to win the nations to Himself.