Motivated Mommy Monday's: Teaching Kids Godly Courage

I decided to write this post because I am reading in 2 Timothy and this morning I came across one of my favorite verses to pray over my kids, 2 Timothy 1:7.

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

 See, I have a 4 year old son who has been having nightmares for a couple of years now and a 2 year old daughter who has just recently started having nightmares. I'd like to say that by now my husband and I have become experts at dealing with the scared to go to sleep issue, however, we are discovering that overcoming fear is a long process. Hopefully you can learn from our journey.

When we first started waking up to a shrill scream it terrified us. I remember waking out of a dead sleep to the most awful sound in the world (my baby screaming from terror), jumping up and stumbling out of bed 8 months pregnant and in a daze as my husband sprinted down the hall to rescue our son from whatever was attacking him. Of course, once we reached his room we discovered he was only having a bad dream. I say only because my husband is at his worst when he is woken up  in the middle of the night, lets just say for him not to be upset you had better be seriously injured. Josh is a great dad he just doesn't think clearly when he's half asleep, so needless to say when I got to the room and realized why Jeremiah was screaming I knew I was going to be the one to comfort him.

For the first few months the nightmares where rare, so when he had one I would just sit on the floor next to his bed singing to him and rubbing his back until he fell back asleep. However, as he grew and his brain developed the nightmares became more frequent. Once that happened he started to fear going to sleep, especially in the dark. So, on the nights Jeremiah was really scared Josh would lie on the floor until he fell asleep, and if he got up in the middle of the night I would comfort him. After about another four months we realized that strategy was not working, especially since we had a newborn in the house. It was apparent we were going to have to teach him to face his fears. After all, we had a son who was scared to go to sleep and all the coddling in the world was not going to help him. The problem is how do you teach courage to a 2 year old?

We tried everything to help him to feel safe. First we left lights on, and then we tried stuffed animals, we even let him sleep with his laser gun and a foam Astros bat a few times (you know so he could defend himself if need be). I have to say the bat worked well... for about a week. So at least a year after all this had begun we were still no closer to helping him overcome this fear. Finally, after one exhausting night he woke up again, weary I tried to calm him. When he finally started to relax I realized we had a problem we could not solve on our own. So, I did as I always do when I come to that realization, I desperetly began to pray; calling out to God for help and praying over Jeremiah as he finally feel back asleep. That was our turning point.

The next night as I was saying good night, Jeremiah was begging me not to leave the room. So, with my new found strength I asked Jeremiah if he would like for me to pray specifically that he not have any bad dreams. To which he excitedly replied yes, so I began to pray. I specifically prayed that God would vanquish any bad dreams from his head. Then, God brought to my mind 2 Timothy 1:7, so I prayed it aloud. After, that he just let me leave. No crying, no getting out of bed...nothing. Oh, and that night he slept great.

So we had a new nightly ritual. I wish I could say that was the end of it, but eventually he did have another nightmare. We countered it with more prayers as we continue to do. The fact is Jeremiah still occasionally has nightmares, however, he is learning to deal with them. Prayer has been a huge help, in fact, I no longer have to ask Jeremiah if he wants me to pray over his dreams...because now he just tells me when he needs me to do it.

That brings me to this morning, as I read 2 Timothy 1:7 I began to reflect on what that verse has come to mean to my family over the last few years. I also began to reflect on how God taught my son threw all this. Though it has not been easy to watch my son through this struggle to overcome fear, I now realize I would not have stopped the events of the last two years even if I could have. See, my son has learned a couple of great life lessons. First, he learned the power of prayer. We had been praying with Jeremiah nightly way before he started having nightmares, however, this was the first time he had a specific prayer that he saw answered. Second, we have all learned the power of praying scripture. It's not like his fear just disappeared, instead he is discovering the power, and the love and the self-discipline that it takes to overcome ALL fear. My son now has the self-discipline to not let fear overcome him, but instead remember that The All Powerful loves him and is on his side. That is a characteristic that will save him so much pain in the future. So, I gladly trade a few years of minor fear for a lifetime of major fear.

I wanted to share this because I know there is someone who needs to hear it, even if it's not for the reason I think. Maybe you have a child who is struggling with something else and you just need to be reminded that God is not just putting them through this for no good reason. He will use it for their benefit. Or maybe your about to enter this stage and God wants to save you some grief by showing you what to do before your knee deep, like we were. Either way I hope this helps.

Finally, I would like to share a few other verses that are helpful in this situation:

Psalm 4:8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD , make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 46: 1-2a God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear.

MEL