No beans, no cookie

The Christian Science Monitor

It was dinnertime, and our two-year-old was again avoiding her vegetables. I asked her to eat her beans, but she refused and asked for a cookie instead.

"No beans, no dessert," I said. She started to get upset. But I remained unmoved, determined that she finish her dinner. Soon she had worked herself into an uproar. I decided that I needed to leave the room and pray for a solution.

As I prayed I began to wonder if it was so important for her to eat her beans after all. I could see now that the real issue was not what she ate, but learning how to work with each other.

I knew that there is only one God—one Mind. Man doesn't exist in a world of his own with a mind of his own. He is part of one grand whole in which all works together in harmony.

My daughter and I, I realized, are both children of the one Mind, God. Instead of thinking I knew what was right and she needed to learn from me, her father, I could appreciate her ability to hear and follow God's directions. I decided to listen more to God and less to myself.

I remembered the description of Mind in Science and Health. One phrase, in particular, stood out to me: "Deity, which outlines but is not outlined" (p. 591). I saw that I could depend upon God to outline my daughter's actions correctly. I needed to resist the temptation to step in and try to do the work for Him.

I put the whole beans and cookie incident into the hands of God, praying "Thy will be done" (Matt. 6:10). Peacefulness swept over me.

Absorbed in prayer, I hadn't noticed my daughter enter the room. Standing at my side, still crying, she was making a request: "Beans please." I wasn't sure I was hearing correctly, and for a moment my heart sank. I had already thrown the beans out. Then I took out some frozen beans, cooked them in the microwave, and gave them to her. Smiling and nodding approval, tears gone, she ate them like ice cream.

All unhappiness and resentment had vanished. And with this healing, the whole string of similar episodes came to an end.

I was so happy to give her a cookie. And I have learned my lesson that obeying God is right for everyone.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Parenting: helping teens "do the right thing"

November 18, 1996

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit