five minute friday: afraid

Here we go again with another “Five Minute Friday” post!  To learn more about “Five Minute Friday” (FMF), check out the linked image here.  Basically, each week there’s a word given for you to write about.  You start writing, no back-tracking, editing, etc.  At the end of 5 minutes, you stop.  Then you post it, and share in the community of words that were birthed during these 24-ish hours.  It’s cool stuff.
So here’s this week’s response to the word: “ afraid ”

She’s been doing it for quite a while now.  I know every parent with more experience will smile and tell us to “treasure these moments”, and we totally do.  But when you end up getting a heal to the nose more than once a night, the desire to teach your 5 year old where to sleep grows within you.  Every morning we ask her, “hun, what made you want to come to mommy and daddy’s bed last night?”

More often than not, she confesses, “I heard the train.”

We’ve explained to her what every reasonable person can understand.  Trains run on tracks.  There’s no way an engine pulling cars could be chugging along, take a look to the side and notice our home half a mile from where the tracks run and decide to head our direction instead.  We’ve laughed at how cute it is, that she might think a train could end up coming down our Avenue.  She smiles, and we understand there’s probably something deeper going on anyways, and work together towards overcoming it.

But there was that one time, just a few weeks ago, as we drove past a set of unused portion of tracks.  We were forced to slow down as we noticed 7 train cars de-railed and sitting in the field next to the hill the tracks run along top of.  A train was accidentally pushed too far onto old tracks.  We instantly knew what seeing this would do to our fragile girls’ bedtime fear.  We assured her…trains that DO go off tracks sometimes, don’t go very far at least?  There’s consolation there? 🙂

It’s a simple issue really.   She’s 5.  Trains make noise.  She loves mommy and daddy and our comfy, safe bed.

But someday she will learn what it means….yes, sometimes trains do go off the tracks.  Unexpected things happen. We don’t have control over our lives.  But God is with us.  Now, through the noisy whistle.  And then, through whatever may come.  She will learn how to draw near to her Father when she is afraid…

(fist pump in the air)  That one went pretty sweet.  🙂