"I don't want to read the Bible anymore!"Mother and daughter look at one another, one a smaller version of the other: straight blonde hair, fine nose, pretty features. The only difference is the mulish expression on the daughter's face.
She lies on the bed and turns her back, hunched over to express the maximum amount of disapproval. Her mother looks at her in exasperation.
Every night she sits beside her daughter's bed and reads the Bible, and every night her daughter listens. Until tonight.
The choices flash through her head. Get angry. Insist her daughter turn around. Keep reading.
She keeps reading.
"Well, you can refuse to listen if you want, but I'm reading the Bible to you anyway."
For an entire year they follow the same pattern: stubborn face, turned back, reading voice. She can picture the words flowing out of her mouth, around her child's back, across her closed ears. A year of reading to a back.
Until one day her daughter turns around.
The choices flash quickly through her head. Say something. Smile. Keep reading.
She keeps reading.
***
This is the true story of a mother I know, and her daughter, now grown, loving and serving Jesus.
A mother who trusted God's word enough, and who was wise enough, to gently persist without comment and without giving up. A mother who knew her responsibility, who wasn't scared of her child, who knew what her daughter needed. A mother who excelled in faithfulness.
I've been wondering what to do when your child doesn't seem very excited about God.
Now I know.
19/7/2009
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