Late night crying...

I remember when Bennett was just a newborn, I read a talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott, "The Eternal Blessings of Marriage", that really impacted me, especially with the stage I was in. There is one part of his talk where he talks about his son:

"In this one night our little son Richard, who had a heart problem, awoke crying. The two of us heard it. Normally my wife always got up to take care of a crying baby, but this time I said, “I’ll take care of him.”

Because of his problem, when he began to cry, his little heart would pound very rapidly. He would throw up and soil the bed clothing. That night I held him very close to try to calm his racing heart and stop his crying as I changed his clothes and put on new bedsheets. I held him until he went to sleep. I didn’t know then that just a few months later he would pass away. I will always remember holding him in my arms in the middle of that night."

The same night that I read the talk, my own little baby started to cry. I quickly got out of bed and went to his bedside to comfort him. His crying didn't let up. So I picked him and held him close and the crying still didn't stop. I quickly became frustrated as I was running out of ideas to comfort him. Immediately, the talk came flooding to my memory and I held him close as he cried and savored the moment, it made that late night meeting much more manageable.

I hadn't thought much about that talk until last night. Bennett woke up just before I was going to bed at 11:30. He's old enough now that he's able to put himself back to sleep. But after the crying didn't let up for quite a while I went in to comfort him before going to bed myself. He settled down and I left the room. 10 minutes later he was crying again - I went in again and comforted slightly more frustrated than the first time. I went into his room 4 times last night, every time I would calm him and leave, he would start crying again. Elder Scott's talk came flooding back into my memory as if I had read it that morning. Against everything I believe, on my fourth visit to his room, I pulled him from his bed and brought him into my dark office where I sat and rocked him. In my arms he was calm. His breaths were even and consistent. I held him curled in my arms with his head on my shoulder for 40 minutes. There were several times where I knew he was sleeping, but I wasn't finished with the moment we were having.

What a kind reminder the talk was for me to take advantage of seemingly unimportant moments especially with my young kids, they grow too quickly and they'll be gone before I know it. I will always remember holding him in my arms last night and in my mind he was that same newborn baby that I held the first time the talk pricked my heart.