Gentle, Tender Melody

Autumn In Our Yard, originally uploaded by Chip.

Last night our 8-month old woke up at 3:30 am. As usual, I got up and changed his diaper, then fed him a bottle. Usually he drifts back to sleep and I go on back to bed. Not this time. This time he cried and cried and cried. He would settle down some, but when I tried to put him in his crib the crying would erupt all over again. I would have been pretty irritated by this, but I was distracted. I had my headphones on listening to music (Phil Keaggy doing a Christmas podcast).

At about 4:30, Melody came in, took baby boy, and sent me back to bed to get a little sleep before the alarm sounded. I was back under the covers in two seconds.

But I didn't go to sleep. Instead I listened to Melody with our son through the baby monitor. I was struck by how gentle and how tender she was with him. She was speaking soft, comforting words both to him and over him. She was amazing.

I had just been holding him, only waiting for him to fall asleep so I could go back to bed. I paid much more attention to my MP3 player, really, than to our sweet baby. That may have left him feeling unsettled.

But Melody had him asleep and in his crib in no time at all. And I really believe it was the comfort of her gentle, tender words that finally settled him down.

Laying in bed just before I fell asleep I thought, "that's how God settles me down when I'm upset". As the Psalm says, "When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolation - Your comforting words - delight my soul."

Melody is a reflection, in our home, of God's heart.

Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord your God is with you... He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing." That's the tenderness Melody showed Luke this morning. She is such a great example to me.

So all day I wanted to write a poem for Melody, about her gentle, tender way with our son. All I could write, though, was the word "gentle" over and over. The rest of the emotion I felt was too deep for words. So I've stumbled through this grossly inadequate entry instead.

Thank You, Lord, for settling my woman who was barren in her own home, in her own home town, as a happy mother of children (Psalm 113:9). I know she was created to be the mother she has become by Your mercy.

Thank You, Lord.