Each night when I put my kids to bed, we read a book, talk about their day and pray for their sleep and their futures.

 

Sometimes after the prayer, they want me to scratch their back. 

 

On special occasions, they ask for “Sleep Tonight”. 

 

“Sleep Tonight” is really the song MLK by U2 sung in my best Bono voice.

 

I know.  My wife has already said you can’t use a U2 song as a lullaby.

 

By the way, you can see/hear it here:

 

Sleep Tonight-MLK by U2 on YouTube 

 

While I am singing the song to them, they want me to lightly touch their face with my index finger and draw circles around their eyes, cheeks, nose and chin. 

 

We’re weird.

 

Tonight I was tucking Shea, my two year old daughter, into bed and she asked for “Sleep Tonight”.

 

I gave her a couple verses in hopes that she would fall asleep, but it didn’t work.

 

I then told her to sing “Sleep Tonight” to me.

 

She started singing the words she knew and drawing the circles on my face.

 

I had a terrible premonition of my deathbed.

 

I could just see her seeing me for the last time and singing this song over me.

 

How morbid…

 

But then I started thinking of the words.

 

Thanks to U2.com here they are:

 

Sleep, sleep tonight

And may your dreams be realised.

If the thunder cloud passes rain

So let it rain, rain down on he.

So let it be.

So let it be.

 

Sleep, sleep tonight

And may your dreams be realised.

If the thunder cloud passes rain

So let it rain, let it rain

Rain down on he.

 

When I die, I will sleep, but I will awaken.

 

If only my dreams could be realized, I will have been blessed.

 

My dreams include a long, productive, fruitful life with Christ.  It includes the assurance of salvation for my children and their close walk with God, their meeting and overcoming of life’s challenges and their outliving me to hand me off into the arms of Jesus.

 

Was Shea being unknowingly morbid?  Of course not.

 

Was she singing a blessing over me for tonight and for the future?  Emphatically, yes.

 

May we and our children see all of our “dreams be realized”.