Bedtime Blessings

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a seminar put on by a friend of mine about praying with children.  I left that seminar equipped in areas I didn't know I was lacking and I had a few take-aways that I knew I needed to implement right away.  One such takeaway was the idea of a bedtime blessing.

A bedtime blessing is something kind or positive that you say to your child while you're putting them to bed so that you can fill them up with truth and love before saying goodnight.  After I was grabbed the idea, I immediately thought about the current state of Nicole's already lengthy bedtime routine and the idea of adding yet another component to bedtime felt foolish.  However, I couldn't shake the idea and a few days after the seminar, I pitched the idea to Shawn and he was completely on board.

Bedtime blessings quickly became the favorite part of bedtime.  As soon as I say, "Nicole, my bedtime blessing for you is. . . " her face immediately breaks into a grin as she waits for whatever I have to tell her.  Sometimes it's something I noticed in the day like, "I noticed that even though you were having a hard time playing kindly with Jonah this morning, you turned it around and behaved kindly and gently to him in the afternoon."  Sometimes it's something I enjoy about her such as, "I really like watching your blue eyes sparkle when you laugh and I always enjoy reading books with you." Sometimes it's something about who God made her to be, "Nicole, God has given you a spirit of love and self-disciple and I noticed you being loving and using self-disciple today when you generously shared your toys with your friends even when you didn't want to."

The concept is simple but the change it has made in our bedtime routine and in Nicole is profound.  There are less tears at bedtime now and we have noticed Nicole regularly doing the good things we have pointed out in her.  As an added bonus, Nicole almost always gives me a bedtime blessing after I'm done giving her one.  It's usually something along the lines of, "I noticed you were very kind to Jonah when he needed help today." or, "I noticed that you were very kind to those other moms at the park today." She's learning how to pay attention to the good the things that she sees and to bless someone by naming those things later on.

I hope all is well!
Love,
Erica