What mom meant for evil...

So, I had one of the biggest mom-fails of the century the other morning. Hailey, Caleb and I were upstairs in Hailey's room playing and singing silly songs. Hailey was playing in her closet, going in and out. The last time she came out she must have hit something that made a little McDonald's toy talk. She asked what that noise was. And I, not thinking at all about how our daughter tends to be a HUGE scaredy-cat said, "I don't know. Is someone in your closet?" If she would have had her boots on (which she usually does) I promise she would have jumped out of them. Her eyes got huge and she screamed and took off down the hall. I called her back in the room and she was crying. I.Felt.TERRIBLE! It never even crossed my mind that my comment would scare her, I was just playing around. But I sat her down on my lap and explained to her that there was no one in her closet and we proceeded to open it up (well, I opened it, she clung to my leg with her eyes closed.) We found the little basket that held the talking donkey toy from Shrek that made the noise and I assured her that that was all it was. She felt much better after that but was still not willing to venture into the closet alone so we decided to put the donkey in daddy's office at church (I'm not sure why there but that's what we decided.) I explained to her that there was nothing to be afraid of and then my little light bulb came on and I realized that this could be a very teachable moment. I explained to her that sometimes we do get scared but God is always with us and even when we hear something in our closet or it's thundering outside that God loves us and He will protect us and that He is always with us. We then went downstairs and got her little devotional book which I have found to be awesome and the best book for explaining the Bible in a way her mind can understand it. We found a devotion about being afraid and we read it and then I taught her the song "When I am afraid I will trust in You, I will trust in You, I will trust in You. When I am afraid I will trust in You, in God whose Word I pray." She sings that song all the time now. And every day when we get out her book to read she wants to go to that one and read it and then sing the song. So, what this mom (unintentionally) meant for evil, God meant for good!