The Rocking Chair

I was stirring in bed one night about a month before our Sweet Sleep team was headed to Haiti. I was thinking about how blessed I am to have a bed to sleep in every night and what an incredible gift it is to these children that Sweet Sleep is able to provide a place to lay their precious heads. I was stirring, though, because my mind was racing with thoughts about other soothing and comforting things that could bring the orphans of Haiti and all over the world a sense of peace. I heard God in that moment, and I turned to my husband and said, “Rocking chairs, they need rocking chairs!”

In my counseling practice, I have learned about calming techniques and self-soothing, specifically after we have experienced sad or traumatic events in our lives. Have you ever noticed a nervous person pacing or a mama rocking her little child in her arms as he cries? This movement is a natural soothing mechanism for most. I felt this incredible well of sadness build as I realized these precious children do not have parents to hold or rock them. And then I thought, “what if we could teach them to soothe themselves by rocking?”

After my midnight stirring and quest for rocking chairs, Cracker Barrel graciously gave us two chairs to take on our trip to Haiti. I had no idea just how cool a story it would tell until I met a little boy there named Wendie. The orphanage leaders told me that he was basically an inconsolable child who would not interact with the other kids or talk much at all. I asked to spend some time with him. I sat with him and rocked in the rocking chair for about 30 minutes. I do not speak Creole, so I do not know for sure what the child started saying to me, but the main thing is that he started speaking! He also started smiling and playing with the other children. I am not a miracle worker. I just sat and rocked a frightened little child.

The rocking chair sits on the porch of the orphanage, and many of my teammates rocked other little orphans to sleep in it. I cannot begin to explain how precious it was to see these children find peace and comfort.