Quote of the Day
If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got.
— Unknown - from a sign in our office.

 Verse of the Day 

When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. 
–Sirach 14:14-16

And then. . . 

When our youngest daughter started kindergarten, we were concerned. Each evening, she would crawl up on my lap and we would rock. She had a favorite blanket with satin trim. As we snuggled, she would gradually work her way around the border of the blanket until she found the best spot to go against her nose and her thumb went into her mouth. We rocked till she went to sleep and I carried her into bed. Occasionally, the thumb would go in her mouth at other times during the day and we were concerned that she would accidentally put her thumb in her mouth and the other children would make fun of her.

My wife started asking her when she planned to stop. "On my 6th birthday," she would reply. For several months, we discussed the day. "It's 35 days till your birthday, are you still going to stop then?" The answer was always, "Yes, on my birthday."

The big day came. As was the custom, she crawled up on my lap, only this time without her blanket. I asked her why she didn't have it, and she said that it was too hard to not suck her thumb when she had the blanket. We rocked for awhile. Finally after a little squirming, she got up and went to bed. I was shocked! I went in to pray for her and tuck her in and asked her why she decided to go to bed. She said that if she rocked, she got too snugly and kept wanting to put her thumb in her mouth. 

After about a week of going to bed without rocking, she fell asleep while sitting on my lap watching television. I covered her with a blanked and just enjoyed her. The thumb never went into her mouth again, but the snuggles never stopped. Nine years have passed and we had to get a bigger chair. I know that the time will come when that joy will end. . . but isn't that what grandchildren are for?

Last update: 2/8/00