Parenting from My Dad

I don't even remember how old I was.. We lived in Orlando in this small mobile home that I always thought was perfect. It's funny the things you realize when you get older! Now, I remember that the floor slanted and there were rodents in the walls...

I had trouble sleeping as a kid. For this time I was waking up during the night afraid. Dad says I would never tell him what I was afraid of, just that I had a bad dream.

One night, I remember going in their room and waking him up. I think I told him that someone was coming to get me. I remember him taking me to every window and every door in our dark house and showing me that it was locked. He told me that no one could get in, and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. He prayed with me and asked God to keep me safe. He used phrases in his prayer that I've since found came straight from Scripture:

"Take my thoughts captive..." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

"Send your angels to protect us..." Psalm 91:11

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;

There is such power in Christ, and power in using Scripture against the enemy, Satan. Satan didn't want me to sleep peacefully, and he wanted my 5 year old mind to be afraid so he could plant the seeds of doubt. Jerk. I am so thankful for a dad who recognized that what I needed was reassurance and love, and what we needed could only be gotten from God.

We started saying prayers together at night. Until my older sister and I started staying out past the other ones' bedtime, every night we would gather the 4 of us plus Dad and each of us would take turns praying before we went to bed. This is one of my favorite memories!

What was I really afraid of at the time?? You might laugh. I think it's kind of funny now... I learned to read really early, and read everything I could get my hands on. I remember reading a newspaper over my dad's shoulder in the car one day. They would always get a paper after church on Sunday and I think Mom had gone in the grocery store or something. Anyway, I remember the headline on one of the stories - something about Jeffrey Dahmer. Yes, the cannibalistic serial killer from Wisconsin.. It didn't matter to me that he was already in custody and so far away from us; to my child mind he was coming to get us! I would lay in bed on the top bunk awake at night, watching the window, certain that every shadow was him.

My daughter has not been sleeping well lately, and if you ask her she'll say that she's scared of the dark, but won't tell you why. I found myself in tears the other night, walking around the dark house, letting her touch the window locks and door handles, reminding her that mommy and daddy are here, and that Jesus tells His angels to protect us...