“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8
My daughter’s sleep has rarely been a time of peace. Safety? Sure. But peace? Hardly.
Because my daughter was and is a fitful sleeper, we have tried to routinize what we can: the bedtime ritual.
She takes a bath.
She brushes her teeth and takes her allergy medicine.
She sits and listens to a bedtime story.
Finally, she gets a prayer and a good night and a closed door.
Since she was a year old, that nighttime story was something my wife provided. Sure, I would fill in if my wife was away or indisposed, but if at all possible, my daughter wanted her momma to read her a bedtime story.
So it came as a bit of a surprise a week ago when our daughter agreed to let me start reading her stories before bed.
Not every night, mind you. But four times in two weeks is nothing to sniff at.
You see, I had been telling her about a book I had been reading, a nineteenth century children’s fantasy called The Princess and the Goblin. On one of her bike rides, I had regaled her with the story of the Princess Irene, her miner friend Curdie, and their battle against the goblins. I had stopped in the middle of adventure, and she wanted to know the rest of the story.
What if, I offered, I read her a chapter before bed? She agreed.
So for the first time in forever. I’ve had the privilege of putting Cat to bed.
It’s a blessing to read her a story before she sleeps. It’s more of a blessing to get to pray with her before she goes to sleeps.
I do pray for her peace and safety. I pray for her health. More than anything, I pray that she would grow in her love for God and others.
And if this keeps up, I may just have to start working on the next book for us to read through.