Well, SOMEone's Making a Difference

Rowan was sleeping in my bed one night a couple weeks ago. In the middle of the night she woke up very scared. She had a bad dream. That happens to all my kids (I always chalk it up to their big imaginations) especially between the ages of 2-6. Usually, Rowan doesn't want to talk about them too much. She doesn't even want to tell me what her bad dreams are about, but that night she did. I was SO sleepy but I really needed to hear what she needed to say. She proceeded to tell me it was something about Gage and how he had gotten hurt and he was out in the back yard all alone. "And no one would help him, Mama, no one." She was very upset and teary. Her little arms around my neck were tensed and tight.
My normal MO is to start telling them a bedtime story, a "once upon a time" story because I believe it takes their mind away from the scare and refocuses it on something happy. Then, even if they (or I) fall asleep they won't fall back into the same bad place. So I started, "Once upon a time..." Rowan interrupted me saying, "Wait, mama, wait you can do that in a minute, but first can I say a prayer?" "Oh, honey, of COURSE you can. That is such a good idea. That is so smart." Tears came to my eyes it was so sweet and I was also a little chagrined that I hadn't thought to remind her of that option. We had talked about it before--how you can ALWAYS pray to Heavenly Father when you are scared or worried or for comfort but MY sleepy mind did not go there first. She clasped her little hands and prayed silently for quite a while. In fact, I was surprised how long her prayer was. Then she snuggled up to me again and said, "Ok, mommy, now you can start."
I am grateful for Primary teachers and others who teach my children such wise and wonderful principles because I am not sure I am covering every base. I am especially grateful for the things my children teach me each day. And I'm sure there are opportunities to learn EACH day. I just need a reminder now and then to actually pay attention to those little lessons. They are some of Heavenly Father's tender mercies.