Sometimes the kids get scared at bedtime.
They had a bad dream or saw something scary and when it's time for lights out their little hearts are fearful.
When this happens at my house the selfish part of me feels bummed out. At the end of the day I am ready to disengage and be done. I'm ready to hang up the mom hat and put on the relax hat.
Times like this remind me that in my own strength I can't be the mother God wants me to be. They remind me of how it is such a blessed gift that I can lean on His Grace & Strength to love in those tiring moments when I feel spent.
It feels like we stumbled onto an effective remedy to this problem by accident but looking back I am sure it was the leading of the Holy Spirit.
One night my son was unusually fearful at bedtime. The night before he had a scary dream and so this particular night he did not want me to leave nor did he want to be left alone in the dark. We did two simple things that changed the atmosphere of his world and allowed him to fall asleep peacefully.
The name of Jesus.
The first thing we shared with our son is about the power of the name of Jesus. We let him know that when we call on Jesus the enemy has to flee. Maybe he knew that already, maybe not. Either way, we wanted him to know that the name of Jesus is powerful and always just a spoken word away.
Worship music on YouTube.
The next thing we did was pull up worship music on the phone and we let the words fill the air and change the atmosphere. A worship Pandora station would also work. It was quick for me to grab my phone and pull up a couple songs and for about 20 minutes we sat quietly listening to truth about God. This song is one of our favorites to play when the kids get scared.
Pray.
This is one of the most valuable tools we as believers have in our arsenal and oftentimes it can be one of the most forgotten and underused weapons. Pray not only for peace, but also for God to reveal anything in your home or your child's life that could be causing the fearful thoughts.
