Teaching Moment

I just wanted to take a minute to remember a really neat experience I had with Monica tonight.

She woke up after being in bed for 10 minutes complaining of having a bad dream. Ryan was a little skeptical, so I asked her what the dream was about and she said that it was about the whole house being filled with bugs. So I let her come to my lap for a cuddle because I know those kind of dreams don't take long to wake up from.

We talked about good bugs and then about good things she could think about to get her mind off the bugs- garden and animal fairies, unicorns, kitties who hunt bugs- after a few minutes she said she still couldn't stop thinking about the bugs and was still scared.

So I told her the story of Jesus, who was asleep in the boat when the storms hit and His apostles were really scared. So they woke Him up and asked for His help and how He calmed the seas. Then I told her anytime she was scared, she could call on Jesus for help. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "But Jesus isn't in town!" I just hugged her tight and told her we call out to Him by saying a prayer to Heavenly Father and He sends His Spirit to help us.

She wanted me to say the prayer, but I told her she had to say it because it was her fear, but that I would help her. So we prayed. We asked Heavenly Father for His help. We told Him she was scared and needed help being able to sleep, and asked Him to calm her heart like Jesus calmed the sea. We closed the prayer and within seconds, Monica was asleep in my arms, breathing peacefully.

I don't know if she will remember the experience. But I will. Her faith and trust allowed her prayer to be answered so quickly. And it was amazing for me to be able to witness it. It also strengthened my testimony of the power of Jesus Christ, and when we speak of Him. There really is nothing in the world that could bring peace to a troubled heart more quickly than He can. And to share that experience with my daughter, who is really His daughter, was more beautiful than I could ever describe.