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Lessons from the Grandchildren May 21, 2007 By Shirley McDonald
Lane’s admonition
As soon as he could understand words, Lane has displayed an extreme sensitivity to being laughed at. Once I was relating some really cute action of Lane’s (there are so many of them!) to a friend, never dreaming that he could follow the conversation. Suddenly he tugged on my dress to get my attention.
“Mimi,” he said urgently, “don’t you know you aren’t supposed to talk about somebody to other people?”
It seems that Lane at his young age had already learned what my mom taught me by her actions all her life—her refusal to talk negatively about others. Mom was extremely talkative, yet seldom, if ever, did she have a negative remark to make about anyone. In fact, if anyone began to criticize a person in Mom’s presence, she quickly began with, “Yes, but….” And would immediately point out something positive about that person, making certain that the conversation ended with a positive thought, rather than the negative comment that had been made about someone.
So should all Christians follow Lane’s and Mom’s examples. How much more would others be drawn to God’s love if we would only learn to “…speak evil of no man…” (Titus 3:2).
Dawson, the Mimic and Tower Destroyer
Fifteen-month-old Dawson has an amazing verbal ability for a toddler. He can say any word that he hears us say and relates the words to the object in incredibly short time. Now I can’t take credit for the genes that make him so intelligent, since his mom, Farrah Bunch, is my “chosen” rather than birth daughter, but isn’t it interesting that my grandchildren are so far above average?
What a responsibility we have to Dawson to be sure our conversation and behavior is clean and holy so he will learn only those words and actions that are pleasing to God.
And what a responsibility we Christians have to those babes in Christ to model holy and clean behavior. We must remember that to the rest of the world we are an epistle “...known and read of all men” (II Corinthians 3:2).
Just last night, Dawson and I were on the floor playing with Legos (didn’t I tell you he was advanced – how many 15-month-old toddlers play with Legos??). As quickly as I built a tower, Dawson would take it apart. And on and on we went for quite some time. Patient and loving Mimi didn’t scold him and yell at him for tearing down my towers, but instead, I kept rebuilding more and more towers (which got increasingly shorter as Dawson became more adept at taking them apart) for him.
So it is with Christians. Even though God keeps building our lives, often one Lego at a time, we quickly tear apart what He has done for us. Yet He continues to help us rebuild the tower of our life, by simply loving us until we finally learn through trial and error not to self-destruct what He has done for us.
Congratulations, Kristen, You Have Just Made a Christian out of an Atheist
Kristen, the lovely 14-year-old sister of Dawson, is a freshman at the high school where I am a librarian. Every day she and her friends brighten up my day by coming by to see me. Popular, outgoing, and a trendsetter, Kristen is still always modestly and fashionably dressed. Others copy her shoes, headband, and hairstyle, and several girls claim her as their best friend.
Kristen has an incredible love for church and for God. Unafraid to talk of God and her church, Kristen recently talked a friend into coming to a youth service with her who proclaimed she was an atheist. At the end of the service when the friend was feeling her first touch of God’s Spirit, she looked at Kristen and said through her tears, “Congratulations, Kristen, you have just made a Christian out of an atheist.”
Thanks to Kristen’s inspiration, although I have never been a part of converting an atheist, her boldness in witnessing has inspired me to become a bolder advocate for Christ.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Shirley McDonald
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Shirley McDonald is blessed with a wonderful family who constantly inspire her.
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