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Poor Chicken Nugget. It seems she has the gift of frequent pottying, just like her mommy. Last night as I was going to bed, Chicken Nugget, who had been sleeping for a few hours, got up to use the bathroom. It is annoying not to be able to sleep through the night for having to get up to go potty. But, it gave Chicken Nugget and I an opportunity for a little hug and sugar before she headed back to bed.

However, like an episode of the Simpsons, the first five minutes of this story have little or nothing to do with the rest of it.

I thought Chicken Nugget was headed back to bed. But thirth seconds later, she emerged into the doorway of our bedroom. Very groggily, she kind of walked around in a circle, blinked, and headed to our bed, halting every few steps.

"What are you doing, sweetie?" I asked her.

"I'm getting up here," she mumbled, and it was scarcely audible.

Buffalo Wings was already mostly asleep, but when she got into our bed, he looked up, put on a silly face, and looked into her sleepy face.
"What are you doing?" he asked, in his silly daddy voice.

"I'm sleeping in your bed," she answered, settling in and pulling covers around herself.

We shrugged and settled in ourselves.

It's been awhile since Chicken Nugget has gotten into bed with us in the night. But as I snuggled next to her, I was happy about it. Our eight-year-old feels safe enough to get into bed with mom and dad for no good reason. There's not going to be any trouble for her to snuggle next to us. She just wants to get into our bed, so she does it.

As I drifted off to sleep, I thought about children who live worlds apart from the world my kids live in. No, I'm not a perfect mom. At times, I'm not even a good mom. Sometimes a really terrible mom! But at least . . . I'm a safe mom, and my kids think that being with mom (and dad) is a safe place to be. I know that many children out there don't have that sense of safety, that crawling into mom and dad's bed would be the last thing on their mind, that fear might be a way of life. I'm thankful that BW and I can offer a safe place for the kids God has given us.

As we are considering becoming foster parents, as I drifted off to sleep, I also thought that maybe God will let us help someone else feel safe someday. Maybe there's a little girl out there who really wants to crawl into bed with mom and dad . . . maybe one day she'll stumble into our bedroom some night and find safety and comfort there. I hope so.