How Many Times?

It's probably pretty safe to assume that most of you know I am completely smitten with my two little Canadian granddaughters, Coraline and Amelie. Just in case you don't know or you've forgotten, they are both beautiful little geniuses and I adore them ... adore, adore, adore them. Without question, the thing I look forward to most each week is our Skype time together. Even though I'd much rather be with them in person, I don't think I could live without seeing their little faces and hearing their little voices, and I'm so very, very thankful for the technology that allows me to do so. Matt and his little family are in Germany for a couple of weeks because he's speaking at a conference there at the end of the week, and today they surprised me with an unexpected Skype session during lunch ... hands-down the best part of my entire day for sure.

A few weeks ago following an extra sweet "Can we wead anudder book, Ghee?" Skype session with Coraline, Matt announced that it was Coraline's bedtime and she needed to tell me goodnight. She had a serious look on her face as she leaned into the screen and adamantly instructed me as to the proper sleeping attire for nighttime. I had no idea as I nodded my head and agreed to abide by her quite hilarious bedtime clothing rules just how serious my little blonde-haired granddaughter really was until the next time I talked with her.

"Ghee, did you amember what I telled you about nighttime?" she asked seriously.

"Oh, baby girl, I'm sorry ... I forgot and wore the wrong thing last night, but I'll remember tonight ... promise," I replied sincerely. 

"Ghee!! How many times I have a tell you?" she said in her best parental-sounding voice, making me wonder if perhaps she's been asked that question a time or two in her three short years of life.

While I've had more than a few chuckles regarding both Coraline's instructions and her subsequent chastisement for her forgetful Ghee, I realized last week there was something much greater than amusement I was meant to learn from that particular interaction with my sweet granddaughter. Her question, "Ghee, how many times I have a tell you?" ... that one question packs a seriously powerful punch for me. I've been told a couple of times in my life ... okay, maybe a few more than a couple ... that I can be a bit stubborn on occasion. I maintain, however, that one woman's stubbornness is another woman's determination and persistence ... so I say I'm determined and persistent, not stubborn. But then there's Coraline's question ... my granddaughter's question smacks me right in the face and tries its best to make me understand ... to make me see ... to make me hear the truth that is often so obviously clear to everyone else but me.

I could list a million "How many times I have a tell you?" moments in my life ... moments when I needed to pay attention but I didn't ... moments when I didn't listen like I should have because I didn't want to know or see or hear the truth ... moments when I turned a deaf ear to the reality of what was happening all around me because it was too painful to accept. And you know what? I'll bet there are a whole bunch of you nodding your heads and wiping your eyes because you've got a great big stack of "How many times I have a tell you?" moments of your very own.

"Ghee!! How many times I have a tell you?"