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Two Strong-Willed Children

I met Missy very briefly at She Speaks.  When I got home, I went to check out her blog, and it has quickly become one of my favorites.  I can relate to so much of what she writes, plus she writes so well.  We have chatted back and forth via email, and I consider her a trusted friend.  She wrote the following post on April 14, 2008.

Long ago, there was a woman who had no children. She would hear folks
talk about "the strong willed child" and her eyes would roll. Every child has a strong will, she would think. Those parents just don’t know how to discipline. So they blame it on their kid. And she would finish it off with a Tsk, tsk.

And
God heard this woman, and he said, "Hmmmmm. I think maybe Miss
Know-It-All needs a bite of humble pie. I shall give it to her in this
package.


"She
will love this child more than life itself. She will be overwhelmed by
her beauty, and in awe of her intelligence, her humor, and her
girliness. She will thank Me regularly for the gift of a daughter.

"But
the child will be demanding from the very beginning. And within a
couple of years, Missy will have found herself driven to levels of
frustration, anger, shame, and confusion that she has never before
experienced. She will be amazed at how bewildering one little girl can
be.

"I will see to it that she be humbled daily. She will
realize just how little she truly knows. She will learn how impossible
it is to exert control over another person, even a very small person.

"Missy
asked me to point out her sin to her, in order that she might repent.
She married a man who is pretty easy to live with, so there is less
opportunity in her marriage. I will give her a daughter to make up for
it.

"This child will not train easily. She will have a temper to
match Missy’s, and the verbal skills as well. She will look for the
loophole in every situation – just like Missy. She will think that the
rules apply to everyone but her – just like Missy. She will be
hardheaded, rebellious, recalcitrant and impatient, just like her
mother. Missy will often be shocked to hear her own mother’s words
spring from her mouth.

"Sometimes in responding to her
daughter’s behavior Missy will display all her hypocrisy, her anger,
her lack of self control, her selfishness and her pride. Sometimes all
in one day. Sometimes all in five minutes.

"But I am a loving
Father, and I will not abandon my daughter Missy, but I will grow her
through her failings. This child will teach Missy to rely on her only
Hope. When James Dobson, Tedd Tripp, Kevin Leman, Ginger Plowman and
all the others whom I have inspired still won’t provide answers, she
will remember that I am the source of all wisdom. When her friends
shrug their shoulders with a helpless look, she will be forced to call
on Me. When she loses her cool once again, she will repent to Me in
tears, and I will comfort her and encourage her.

"Many times
Missy will creep into her sleeping daughter’s room, pull her out of her
crib, and rock her in the dark. Many nights she will kneel by her bed
in prayer. And then through her desperate tears she will beg Me for
wisdom, and I will answer her.

"When she seeks Me, she will find
Me. I will show her the way to love our daughter. For I love Eva Rose
even more than Missy does.

"And I will refine them both like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my daughters,’
and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’ "

from Zechariah 13:9

Missy blogs at It’s Almost Naptime.

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18 Responses

  1. I’ve been reading Missy’s blog for a little while now and love it. I LOVE this post. I can relate to every single bit of it!!

  2. Love this! I have a daughter that matches this description to a tee! No books will help much; only God can help! There is hope-it does get better, but the stubborness stays. I tell my daughter she needs to use her powers for good to help the world. 🙂 God made her like this for a reason.

  3. I could have written this post! I’ve found myself praying beside my daughter’s bed at night while she sleeps. She is SO strong willed and just as much of a blessing. I was a preschool teacher and thought I knew everything that a toddler could go through…boy, was I wrong.
    Thank You for sharing this.

  4. I could have easily subbed in my name and my oldest daughter’s name here in this post. Thanks for the beautiful reminder.

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