Big Jesus

Emily up. . . again. This is the common theme when there is a storm outside. Emily hates storms. She is terrified of them. And yes we had a storm. There was thunder, lightning, rain pouring down, and eventually hail (grape sized.) As soon as the rain started pouring and thunder boomed, I knew it wouldn't be long until we heard from Emily. At one point Emily, Mike, and I all were sitting on the stairs listening to the hail pound on the house. Emily was convinced the house was moving. When the hail stopped she said, "Good the house stopped moving." I think she thought the house was making noise - not the hail. She got up several times throughout the night. Mike and I took turns putting her back in bed.
On my turn to take her to bed, she started climbing up the ladder of her bunk bed and said, "I want the big Jesus mom. The big one Jesus." I was puzzled at what this meant and thought very hard about what it could mean. I finally realized she meant the children's Bible we had been reading earlier in the night. (It is a bigger book). I tossed the book up to her, laid her down, and kissed her goodnight.

Shortly thereafter, Mike and I were sitting on the couch. He told me a little story that happened earlier in the night that made the previous encounter with Emily a little clearer.

I was on the phone with my teaching partner, and sure enough Mike heard movement from upstairs. He headed towards the stairs to investigate. When he rounded the corner he saw Emily sitting at the top of the stairs holding a picture of Jesus. He went to the top of the stairs and sat next to her. "Are you scared Emily?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thunder scare me."
"Well you picked a good guy to hold on to."
Mike helped Emily up and they walked hand in hand back to her bedroom. Emily who is so in tune with everyone and everything around her remarked, "Ariana has a big Jesus on her wall, so she'll be okay." (Keep in mind that I put the "big Jesus" up in Ariana's room a little over a week ago. It was my Aunt Louise's. It had sat for a while, and there was an empty nail in Ariana's room) She continued, "I want a big Jesus on my wall."
By this point they were at Emily's door where Mike pointed out the small crucifix hanging above her door.
"No dad I want a big Jesus like Ariana. Right here. (She pointed above her bed.) As Mike tried to coax her into her bed she kept her reasoning going, "Mom has a big Jesus, Ariana has a big Jesus, I want a big Jesus."

So apparently my assumption about big Jesus being her Bible was wrong. I also now know what her next gift needs to be. A large crucifix (big Jesus). Emily amazes me everyday with how in tune she is to the world around her and to Jesus. She often talks about Mary, Jesus, and Joseph. She also is so sweet to her baby sister (usually). She is truly a blessing in my life.