Lessons from the Toddler: “I Felled That Off!”
By Shirley McDonald
August
14, 2006
One day as two-and-a-half-year-old grandson
Lane, PawPaw, and I were playing, Lane suddenly with urgency said, “Mimi!
I’m so sorry I felled that off!”
I was unsure what he had caused to fall, so
I asked him. He had misjudged how close his motorcycle would come to an antique
railroad lantern, and he had accidentally knocked the lantern off the fireplace
hearth. There was no damage done, but to his Mimi it would not have mattered had
the lantern been destroyed—it wasn’t Lane’s fault! I assured him that
everything was okay, and we resumed our fun time of playing.
After a moment of silent amusement at his
choice of words, I was then impressed that Lane had apologized before I
even knew what had happened (good job of parenting Donny and Kim). Even though
Lane had confused his verbs, I had no problem understanding his meaning. And
even though I had not seen the lantern hit the floor, Lane knew he had made a
mistake and wanted me to know he was sorry.
So it is with Christians. Sometimes when we pray, we cannot seem to find the right words, but our God still understands what we are trying to say. When we make a wrong decision and ask His forgiveness, we can be assured God, just as this loving Mimi did, will assure us that everything will be all right. He will put our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), and He will help us repair any damage.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2006,
Shirley McDonald
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Shirley McDonald is a
Copy Editor for ninetyandnine.com. She loves learning from her
grandchildren—they teach her such valuable lessons.