Liberty, my dramatic, imaginative, mini-me, has been having nightmares every night for the past two months. Sometimes, she sleepwalks along with her nightmares. Grand times! As you can guess, Mercy is the only one in this apartment getting any sleep.

Jeremy and I have been praying for Liberty and praying with Liberty. We've changed her diet; we've changed her room temperature; we've changed her room lighting; we've allowed her to sleep with us; we've allowed her to sleep with Mercy; we've allowed her to sleep in a fort on her bedroom floor. I can't even remember all of the adjustments we have tried in an attempt to get her to sleep securely through the night. None of them have worked.

I have also noticed a daytime change in Liberty Grace. She used to enjoy discussing things with God randomly throughout the day, but in the last month or so, I have not heard her conversing with Him. At our meal table, she refuses to pray with us. If I ask her specifically to talk to God about any certain thing, she tells me she doesn't want to.

Then last week at bedtime, Liberty said, "Mommy, will you sleep with me, please? I don't want to have any bad dreams."

I was unable to lie down with her at that exact moment, and I didn't want to be tricked into a new bedtime routine. "I'm sorry, Honeybunny, I can't right now, but you know that God is always here with you."

"No," she said sadly, "He's not. God is not real."

If you could have heard her tone of voice right then, you would know that she was not referring to the fact that God is invisible. She truly believed and was distraught over the fact that He did not exist.

"Oh, Liberty, yes, He is. God is here with us right now. He can hear you, and He can see you, and He loves to take care of you and keep you safe."

"No, Mommy," she responded as though I were a little child, "God is just pretend." She sounded infinitely sad and heart-broken.

I gathered her up into my arms as I sat on the bed, and I prayed. I asked God to show Liberty truth. I asked Him to help her continue using her brain in a very smart way, and to reveal His existence to her. Jeremy came in and cuddled both of us together, and he asked God to give Liberty happy dreams that night. We hugged and kissed our little girl and tucked her into bed.

Then we went to our own bed and continued praying for good dreams for her.

Our entire family slept all night long.

The next morning, Liberty announced, "DADDY!!! I HAD SIX HAPPY DREAMS LAST NIGHT!!!"

She was beside herself with glee. We were, too. "Wow! How did THAT happen?" Daddy asked happily.

She quieted down and thought about it very seriously, and finally her brain must have arrived at a conclusion that she could not deny, even though the way she said it made it seem that if she could deny it, she would, "God gave them to me," she said quietly and with conviction in her voice.

"That was nice of Him! Thank you, God!" I said, and we continued making breakfast. The Holy Spirit prompted both Jeremy and I to leave the internal work up to Him.

When our meal was prepared, and we were all seated at our plates, Jeremy asked Liberty if she would like to thank God for our food. As usual, she declined strongly.

A week has gone by since then, and yesterday, as the girls and I were driving home from our new home, Mercy dropped a toy between her car seat and the wall. She asked me to pick it up for her, but I could not reach it.

"Mommy!" Liberty spoke up with excitement, "I could pray to God about it, and He can make your arms grow longer!"

I laughed internally at the specific request, but her offer excited me. I cautiously questioned, "Would you like to talk to God about Mercy's toy, Liberty?" I fully expected her to refuse as usual, but she didn't.

"Sure, Mommy!" she said, and she started praying.

I started praying, too. Okay, God, it's really not funny that THIS is the prayer You have put on her heart as her very first request now that she's back on speaking terms with You! Give Mommy longer arms! I know anything is possible with You, but I don't really WANT longer arms, and I don't want to disappoint her, either. You are too funny! And THANK YOU, THANK YOU for breaking through to her! HOORAY!! Okay, now, what do You want me to do?

When Liberty finished her very lengthy prayer full of dramatic pleading with God and convincing Him of what importance to Mercy's eternal happiness the obtaining of that toy would be, I pulled the car off to the side of the road. I unbuckled my seat belt, whirred the mechanical seat as far back as it would go, adjusted the seat-back into an almost completely prone position, and I popped my shoulder out of joint (it goes back in painlessly because I'm double-jointed) reaching behind me to the toy. I came back up with it triumphantly and deposited it into Mercy's lap amidst much cheering on Liberty's part.

"Oh, God!" she squealed, "Thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You!"

"Yes, thank You," I breathed, referring to Liberty's renewed connection with Him and the work He did to accomplish that.

Liberty has had no nightmares since that first night of six happy dreams, and I am enjoying the great privilege of SLEEP. Ever since her conversation with God, yesterday afternoon, Liberty is now back to discussing her every day life with Him just like normal, and I love eavesdropping on her conversations throughout the day even more than I enjoy sleeping!