Are you looking forward to Daylight Savings Time? I have mixed emotions. In my neck of the woods, we spring forward this year on Sunday, March 9. I personally enjoy seeing more daylight hours in the afternoon and evening, and I understand the philosophy behind the changes. However, my biorhythms do get confused.
If this time change causes issues with your sleep schedule, Glenys Nellist’s new book God’s Perfect Peace is a perfect antidote. For young and old, this book can soothe your sleep as well as your soul.
Recently released by Paraclete Press and illustrated by Natalie Merheb, Nellist’s latest book gently reminds us that God’s metaphorical arms can surround us with His love and His perfect peace if we will trust in Him.
This beautiful board book offers a lovely bedtime reading ritual for little ones. Quite honestly, adults who ponder its pages can also find reassurance of God’s peace. Filled with adorable wood creatures as well as sweet and simple reassuring rhymes, this book can help children cast aside the woes of their day and fall asleep peacefully.
“Don’t let your heart be troubled,
And do not be afraid.
God’s peace, just like your pillow,
So close to you is laid.”
Thank you, Glenys Nellist! I often need this reminder to help me fall asleep!
Max and Denalyn Lucado’s book Bedtime Prayers can be another prelude to sleep and also help your little ones remember they are not alone.
Like God’s Perfect Peace, Bedtime Prayers provides a great opportunity for children to develop a love of words and to be reassured of the love of their Heavenly Father.
In Lucado’s introductory letter, he encourages parents to “raise [their children] in a house where prayer is the predicted practice, not the extreme exception.”
What a powerful and potentially life-changing recommendation!
From nighttime animal images and lyrical lines to reassuring scriptures, Bedtime Prayers can also soothe the soul.
So if springing forward gives you some sleepless nights, remember that God offers you His perfect peace. I encourage you to turn your cares over to Him as you practice your predicted prayers each night.
“Jesus, You are here.
Jesus, You are strong.
Jesus, You will keep me safe
This whole night long.”—Max Lucado
“And if you wake up in the night, you do not need to fear. Remember, you are not alone . . . The God of peace is here.”—Glenys Nellist
Side note: I love the simplicity of these children’s books! They speak to me. Yes, in college I studied Chaucer and Shakespeare and some of those American authors who took five pages to describe a tree, but children’s books cry a universal language from which we can all benefit if we will but listen.
“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.”—Homer
“To die, to sleep—to sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub.”—William Shakespeare
Isaiah 26:3; John 14:27; 1 John 3:20; John 16:33; Philippians 4:6-7
WONDERFUL MESSAGE. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME. I LOVE ❤️ MORE DAYLIGHT. SWEET DREAMS. 😘
Thank you, Joyce, for sharing the books and thoughts that speak to you. We want our little grands to hear God’s voice at all times and we want them to know Jesus as their Savior. I’ll look for these books and get them for my grands.
Jennifer, these two books are precious! Thank you for your encouragement and support!