The Power to be Brave

Last night around 9:45 Cody and I heard the dogs in the yards behind and beside us engaged in some sort of very heated dispute. I hardly had the words out of my mouth to tell Cody that if those dogs don't stop barking like that they're going to wake Kate up before we heard a little three year old voice from down the hall say, "Momma? Momma? MOMMA?"

Here's a brief run-down of our conversation:
M: "What's the matter, baby?"
K: "Those dogs are ruffing too loud - they woke me up."
M: "I'm sorry..."
K: "They make me scared. I want to be brave. Momma, can you make me brave?"

My mommy mind went into immediate overdrive as I scrambled to try to figure out how to answer this question truthfully and yet in a way that could help her go back to sleep.

Kate participated in POWER WEEK last summer at our church's Power Lab VBS. For all five weekdays she learned about the power to do something, but as a two year old she was only able to retain the one of those truths on a long-term basis: Jesus gives us the POWER to be brave. But because she was able to latch onto that one truth, we've been able to talk about being brave many times when she's scared or when she sees someone else who is afraid, so last night during my frantic mind scramble the familiar "Jesus gives us the power to be brave" phrase seemed to resonate as the most appropriate way to answer her.

M: "Momma would make you be brave if I could, but who gives us the power to be brave?"
K: "Jesus!" (she's always so proud to know that answer)
M: "I think you should ask Jesus to help you be brave so you aren't scared of the dogs."

She accepted my answer without question - probably because that VBS truth has taken root in her. I was so tempted to selfishly step in as a momma hero and try to save the day by granting her request to make her brave on my own somehow, when the answer she needed wasn't for me to try to manufacture some sort of temporary human fix for her problem... the answer she needed was my honest admission of powerlessness to help while pointing her to the One who could.

And then she prayed a very short and simple, yet more self-directed prayer than she ever has before asking Jesus to help her be brave and sleep. It was one of my proudest parenting moments so far - some nights I go to bed so disappointed with myself and frustrated over things like missing/possibly eaten earrings, but other nights I go to bed with a smile in my heart because I'm so proud of the little girl my baby is growing into!