Over the past few weeks, I have learned firsthand that spiritual guidance and assistance, in my case in the form of an answered prayer, often materializes in ways we do not expect.
My youngest daughter spent several weeks going through a rough patch with her sleep. Whether it was a sleep regression, two year molars, bad dreams, or being afraid of the dark (or a combination?) nap time and bed time had become a source of great anxiety for me. She would refuse her nap and wake up several times a night demanding to be held/rocked/whatever so long as she wasn't alone. My husband helped when he could, but since this pandemic drastically changed his work schedule and my youngest has practically attached herself to my hip, this meant that I wasn't getting a whole lot of sleep or relief...which I desperately needed in order to care for my other daughter, do my household duties, and, ahem, help run a business. :)
I spent many, many, MANY hours, nights, praying to my spiritual team for help and relief, OMG PLEASE LET THIS BABY GO TO SLEEP, only to end up with a tired and cranky but stubborn child and many tears (hers and mine). One night after been back in my bed for twenty minutes after a two hour rocking session, she began screaming yet again and I found myself grumbling, angry, and desperate. All of a sudden my prayers were answered through an inspired thought - sleep in her room. I grabbed a few couch cushions and threw them on the floor of her room, told her to lay back down, that I was right here, and then, hallelujah, we BOTH went to sleep.
She was fine being in her crib, and preferred to be there, so long as someone was there with her as she fell asleep. This became a nightly ritual, one that worked, for several weeks until we went ahead and assembled a "big girl bed" in her room so the biggest girl (haha) has a place to sleep for the random nights my youngest needs a comforting presence in her room, and a place for me to work while she falls asleep at nap and bed time.
Long story short: sometimes the answers to your prayers are within the strategies, ideas, and alternatives. I told my spiritual team I needed help so I could get some sleep, and they gave me the perfect strategy to do so. I told them that I needed time to do my work, the work that we do for others on their behalf, and they shared with me the idea to take my laptop into her room while she falls asleep. It's so true when they say, when one door closes another one opens, except in my case it was a bed and couch cushions! There are many possibilities and strategies available to us that are answers to our prayers, but we must keep our eyes and minds open in order to see them when they appear. :)