The Jesus Chair

Since Will has been 3 months old, I've sang him the same song as a lullaby.  It's calmed him down through the years, has taken on pretty significant meaning, and is one of his favorites.  According to him we're not allowed to sing it during the day...it's only for bedtime.  When Micah was born I wanted him to have his own song, but nothing ever seemed to stick....except for one.  Jesus Loves Me.  It's not specific to him, like Will's is, but he loves it and it's taken on the same purpose as Will's song.

Over the past few weeks Micah has woken up in the middle of the night screaming.  I'm not talking about, 'Hey, come get me!' scream.  I'm talking holy terror, nightmare screams.  Before when Gregg and I have gone in to comfort him when he's woken, covering him back up and patting his back for a bit is enough...he's back off to dreamland in no time.  But these have been different.  He's actually needed me to pick him up and rock with him to get him to finally calm down.

So I pick him up and sit in the rocker in his room and we rock.  The first time it happened he kept talking.."Bye, bye, car. Bye, bye."  Kind of in a whimpering sort of way.  Was he dreaming...having night terrors about being out in the road?  Then he started asking (what sounded like to me) for Cheez-Its.  "Chejus, Chejus." I kept saying no...not now, buddy.  After a few more time of him asking, it finally got through my foggy, sleep-deprived head...he wants me to sing "Jesus."  So I sang to him, and when I was done there were a few moments of silence, then a sweet, quiet, and much calmer voice..."Chejus?"  So I'd start again.

That first night I must've sang Jesus Loves Me to him at least 10 times.  Only then was I finally able to lay him down and get him back to sleep.  It happened again last night and after he told me something about eyes (man, what kind of dream was that?), he asked for Chejus and you better believe this momma knew exactly what he was asking for.  So we sat and rocked and sang Jesus, and he was back asleep in no time.

It's caused me to give that chair a special name...it's our Jesus Chair.  I'm so glad we found a song that has stuck and gives him comfort when he's upset.  I'm even more glad it talks about the love of our Savior.  From the early days of his infancy he will have heard about the love Jesus has for him, and as he gets older it will be a platform for me to actually talk to him about it and pray he understands.  This morning Will asked to hold Micah, which he does from time to time.  I said, "Okay, but if you sit in that chair you have to sing Jesus to him."  So he sat and held him and sang.  When he was done, he proudly stated, "Mom!  I told him about Jesus!"  Thanks, buddy.  I'm a proud momma.