At church yesterday, John Ortberg told the story of how sometimes a strong-willed child can become an excellent leader later in life. He talked about how the closer we get to God, the more we are becoming what He wants us to be...but we'll still be ourselves. I love this story:
A mom was having trouble with her 4-year-old daughter riding her tricycle everywhere in the street. The mom sat down with the little girl and told her the parameters. She said, "If you go beyond where Mommy said, I will spank you. Do you understand?" The little girl looked right at her mom and said, "You can go ahead and spank me, 'cause I have places to go!"
Mandy was telling me the story about her friend Melissa's little girl, about the same age, who was having trouble keeping her room clean. Melissa told her, "If you clean your room, you may keep all your toys. But if Mommy has to clean your room, I will take three toys out and you will not get them back." A little while later, Allison (the little girl), came to Melissa with 3 toys that she had carefully selected, and proceeded to tell her why she didn't need these three anymore and that Melissa could have them. HA!
Kids are so great, aren't they?
