Getting Your Child to Listen

Do you ever feel like your son or daughter, or grandchild, or other little one in your life just doesn’t listen to you when you want them to? For the most part, my kids are pretty good about listening, but there’s one thing I do that makes my almost 4-year-old all ears.

Every night, we have story time before bed. Typically I’ve let my kids choose the books they would like read to them and then we’ve added Bible stories too. Well, most recently, my oldest has wanted to do “made up stories.”

Each night he wants me to tell him a story that I make up on the spot. So I have to come up with a main character and then decide if it will be a person or an animal or something else. I have to think through a quick plot and main point of the story. I have to use language he will understand. Talk about pressure! LOL.

However, there’s something that really sweetens the deal for me and makes it extra worthwhile. I can literally see the anticipation in my little guy’s eyes. He patiently, but eagerly waits for me to begin the story. He will hang on every word. I will have his full and complete attention. This, in and of itself, is a total victory!

One night, I made up a story about a clean pig. We usually think of pigs as dirty (think of the term “pigsty”) but this one was clean. All of his pig friends were dirty and made fun of him because he was clean.

The clean pig started to get sad and discouraged because the others were making fun of him. But he began to realize that they just didn’t understand why it was so important to be clean. So, one by one, he began talking to his friends and helping them see why it was so good to be clean. Eventually, all of the dirty pigs decided they wanted to be clean too.

It’s a silly little story but it has valuable life lessons. As a believer, cleansed by the blood of Christ, my little boy might some day be made fun of for being “clean” or a goody two shoes. Though that might discourage him at first, I hope he sees that the issue for those doing the teasing is actually a heart-issue, a need-Jesus-issue.

He can choose to share with others why he is “clean” and how they can be too. I hope and pray, should the occasion arise, that he wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

As I laid down to go to sleep after telling my son the pig story, I realized that my made-up stories are a lot like Jesus’ parables.

Think about the parables Jesus told and why He chose to communicate that way. He certainly had the attention of his hearers. He used language and cultural things that they understood. Think about the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. People could easily relate to those things.

Now, Jesus used parables with adults, and I think we can too. This might be a great way for us to share our faith with others in a little more of an indirect, but still very powerful manner.

So that’s my challenge for us this week – to consider using parables or story-telling as a way to communicate the Gospel to others. Others might include our own children, our neighbors or people we work with. Give it a try – even if it puts you on the spot a little, just like it does me every night at bedtime.

Your words don’t have to be perfect, just genuine.

Let us use our words wisely this week and see who might listen to them. And let us go be radiant!