What songs do you sing to your kids at bedtime (or anytime)? Here is a post, written 2 years ago, about a John Lennon song that has meant a lot to me. Sharing it again for your enjoyment and inspiration. Tell me what songs you love sharing with your kids in the comments below!
Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster’s gone
He’s on the run
And your daddy’s here
A couple of weeks ago I was wracking my brain to think of some different songs I could sing to the kids before bed. We always sing them songs as part of our bedtime routine. It’s something I find incredibly endearing since I remember being sung to before bed when I was a child. What a perfect way to end our day. No matter how stressed I was or how many times I failed to be patient, no matter how many messes or fights I will always find something in my heart that wants to sing to my children.
But let’s face it, singing Twinkle Twinkle and Jesus Loves Me over and over and over was getting kind of old. Since Christmas the kids have also been on a Christmas hymn kick. Don’t get me wrong, this is great! I love singing Silent Night, Joy to the World or Away in a Manger before bed too… but now that it’s mid-March and the thought of snow is more than depressing singing these more ‘Christmasy’ songs just doesn’t feel right anymore.
So one day it struck me. A movie I remember seeing years ago with a sweet song about a dad singing to his boy. I looked it up and instantly melted back into the emotion I felt from watching this movie! Some of you probably know it, I know my mom does! Mr. Holland’s Opus. It’s a fantastic film. Please, go watch it if you haven’t seen it before. Richard Dreyfuss, about a composer and high school music teacher. It’s great. Go watch it.
Anyway, the song is Beautiful Boy by John Lennon. The first stanza about the monster caught my ear because Theo seems to be drawn to anything with monsters, robots, ninja’s, skeletons, bad guy’s, etc… His favorite Bible story right now is David and Goliath, go figure! But how sweet and fitting to describe the monster running away because of who is there: daddy. Or in some cases I say “mommy” because that makes more sense when dad’s not home. But ultimately, God is the one who is always here, always near, protecting us from any kind of evil! (see Psalm 23) No monster can mess with us, we’ve got God on our side! (Romans 8:31) What a glorious, yet simple truth to rest in especially as evil around the world seems to pervade. Matthew 10:28 is also a comfort thinking of these things.
Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It’s getting better and better
Praying before bed is one thing I do almost every single night, it’s weird not to, especially with my kids. They ask to pray, and sometimes they pray (the cutest, sweetest, funniest things too). This next line though can be thought of different ways. The way I see it though, every day God is faithful to make me more holy, to convict me and sanctify me. Every day God is good is to bless me with His presence, with breath, with meeting my needs. Every day I am one day closer to meeting Jesus. If I think of this way, this lyric is true. It IS getting better.
I came home from the second training weekend for Biblical Counseling just a few days ago. Even in the midst of exhaustion from a certain little baby who likes to wake up a lot at night, God was faithful to preserve my health and sanity that I could sit through most of the conference without falling asleep and receive phenomenal biblical truth that impacted my soul in a new way. Going to a Biblical Counseling Training Conference means that I wish to pursue training so that I can counsel others… but that is not the primary benefit I see right now. Right now I see the benefit it has had on my own soul. I have been convicted of more sin in my heart that I have not seen before, even though it’s been there for a long time. Things like anxiety, worry, fear, among others… Maybe that will be my next post! How God has been walking me through my journey of freedom from anxiety.
And one of the primary things I have anxiety about is in fact my child not sleeping at night! It’s so bad I lose sleep over being anxious about losing sleep. This is not a good cycle to get into! But even then, these last couple nights HAVE been better. I DON’T feel like I am about to die. I have the help and support of my husband, my family, and my church. GOD is sovereign over this circumstance in my life. My baby WILL outgrow this stage, this sleeping issue; he will not need me forever. He may kill me first, but he will not need me forever 😛 Yet my hope is NOT in my circumstance, my hope is in God. I’ve been learning to say EVEN IF my worst fears are realized, God is enough to get me through it. This kind of hope means every day is getting better and better.
Out on the ocean sailing away
I can hardly wait to see you come of age
But I guess, we’ll both just have to be patient
‘Cause it’s a long way to go, a hard row to hoe
Yes, it’s a long way to go but in the meantimeBefore you cross the street
Take my hand
Life is what happens to you
While you’re busy making other plans
Motherhood has been such a rollercoaster. I still don’t really know if I have completely accepted the fact that this is my life. It all happened so fast and in the midst of many other transitions. It is hard work and it can be stressful and completely draining and exhausting. It seems like I will be doing this forever, much like a woman feels she will be pregnant forever when is 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 or 42 weeks pregnant. “I will be pregnant forever!” she says…and then a couple of days later the baby comes. Those two days feel like forever though don’t they? I know it will feel like all of a sudden I will blink and my children are adults. Part of me is excited for that season, and part of me doesn’t want it to come too fast. I hope to enjoy these little people while they are little, because they do not stay that way as we all know. It is an exciting, unpredictable, beautiful, dangerous, sometimes choppy and sometimes peaceful ocean to sail through.
The next line is one of my favorites. This has been painfully true in my life! God’s plan is almost never what I think it will be. I cannot get bent out of shape when things don’t go my way. After all, I am definitely not God. Even if it involves a draining season of sleepless nights that erase all of my plans that I’ve had for my life then I miss out on the joy and peace that I could have if I focused on what God’s plan was instead of my own. This is life; God’s plan always happens, no matter what we say or do, so don’t be too busy wrapped up in your own, because God can always surprise you.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boyBefore you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It’s getting better and betterBeautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
When I sing this to the kids I insert their names, or sometimes Theo asks me to sing ‘baby’. They are precious gifts – Theo, Rosie, and TJ – that is for sure. Something I have been reminded of lately is that they are not mine, they are God’s. He created them, beautifully and differently with personality traits and characteristics that only they possess. God knows every ability they will have, every flaw, every challenge, every gift, every ambition, and every feature of their precious faces. God’s creativity amazes me and I see that most prevalently in the lives of these sweet kids. I might be there earthly mommy but God is their Heavenly Father and author of their lives. I pray that their little souls can encounter the amazing grace of God, that they can one day celebrate a Holy Week because they have been saved by Jesus Christ’s work on the cross. I am praying this during this Easter season and will continue to do so. I am reflecting on these things now, all while having this classic John Lennon song stuck in my head far too often. Hopefully I won’t get sick of this one too like I do the other ‘goodnight songs’ we often sing, because I really like it and it’s even helped me describe my faith.
And if you’re almost in tears like I am every time I think about this song, here’s the scene from the movie to really get you sobbing like a baby.
Thank you for reading. Don’t forget to tell me your other non-traditional or uncommon bedtime song ideas! Our latest one the kids have enjoyed is Moon River.
*The link to the Beco Carrier is an affiliate link, which means if you click through and purchase something I make a small commission. This post was not edited from the original of 2 years ago (although I was tempted to) and I thought the carrier pictured was a good opportunity to simply share my honest opinion of a great mom product since I used this carrier A LOT!
Jessica Wilson - writer 