An actual bedtime story that I told my daughter tonight:
A long time ago, a young man named David was chosen by God to be King of Israel. In those days, the people in the north part of Israel didn’t trust the people in the south part of Israel, and the people in the south didn’t trust the people in the north.
Now David was from the south, but he knew that God wanted him to be the king of ALL of Israel, not just the south. He had to choose a city to live in, and it couldn’t be in the south, and it couldn’t be in the north. If it was in the south, none of the people living in the north would trust him as king. If he chose to live in a city in the north of Israel, all of his friends in the south would think that David had abandoned them.
So, David did a very wise thing; he chose to live in a city right in the middle, the city of Jerusalem. It wasn’t in the north, and it wasn’t in the south, so the people in Israel knew that David wanted to be king of all Israel. His decision was so wise that all of the elders of all of the tribes of Israel come together in Jerusalem, and they crowned David as King.
Yes, that’s right. I sent my daughter off to bed with the mesmerizing tale of the geopolitical tensions surrounding David’s ascension to the throne of Israel. At what age, do you think, will she realize that her father is a Class A dork?
How old is she now?
Whatever it is, take that and subtract two from it, and you’ve got your answer.
Still a quality story though.
A lot sooner than she lets on, but she won’t care, ’cause you’re her daddy.
You’re way ahead of the game if you’re around to tell her ANY story at bedtime. You’re a good daddy Michael.
Isn’t inaccurate? I thought Jerusalem was inside Judah’s territory which was sandwiched between Benjamin (Saul’s country) and Simeon
-PC
http://www.ltradio.org/charts/Israel/The%2012%20Tribes%20in%20Israel.gif
ps. You will be happy to know that Websense has categorized your site as MP3 and Audio Download services. That category is blocked by default in most installations.
Crap…..you would think that before I critic another’s touching story between him and his daughter, I would at least proof read it. It should have said “Isn’t it inaccurate” & “Simeon’s”
-PC
Yeah, I was shooting from the hip - not claiming any extra points for accuracy.
It wasn’t so much the north / south divide that mattered, it was the fact that Jerusalem was not yet a captured city, it didn’t belong to any of the tribes, so choosing it as a capital city meant David was make public his intention to treat all the tribes justly.
It was easier to use the north / south language, because she’s already familiar with that distinction, on account of the research she’s been doing for her thesis on the influence of the Civil War on the development of Jazz.
“…his intention to treat all the tribes justly.”
Except the tribe of Dan…..I mean, who really cares about Dan.
-PC
Those pagans and idolaters? Man, they couldn’t even push the Philistines into the sea and take their territory. You can see why David, in particular, might have a little grudge against them.
I actually love this part of the night. After bath, teeth brushed, jammies on, Sophia sits on her daddy’s lap while he attempts to brush her curly hair and tells her a story. I like to be the eaves dropper. Sometimes it’s a made up story, sometimes a story from either of our childhoods, or like last night a bible story. It’s building good memories for all of us.
Gretchen,
Just make sure he’s careful about some of the storied about his childhood. Some of those could be damaging to a young child’s psyche.
-PC
dammit….I did it again. “storied” should read “stories”. Look, in my defense….having to go through the multiple steps to disable Websense and the logs tracking such steps (so my boss doesn’t check what I really do during the day) is starting to affect me. It’s already Monday and I need a drink.
-PC
ummm … proxy?
Don’t you do this for a living?
Actually we block all proxies at a lower level. If I removed those, alarms, klaxons and Mars the god of war would descend upon me with great fury. I prefer the leave my head on my shoulders. Proxy indeed.
-PC
Mike said: “…the research she’s been doing for her thesis on the influence of the Civil War on the development of Jazz.”
Can I be your daughter, too? You can claim one more dependent before tomorrow.
My kids favorite stories were the made up one about how I saved the world when I was 3, or how I save the world when I was 4 etc. They would each night say, “Tell us how you saved the world when you were…” and then fill in with their age. Now at 13 and almost 15, each Friday night after 11, (when mom goes to bed) they go get a stack of their kids books we read a million times over and say, “Dad, can you read the real version?”
It is at this point in time I fill in the blanks with all the goofiness and weirdness my mind can muster. We laugh for about an hour or so and then watch TV till we all fall asleep. I have to tell you, this would not happen if I did not read to them, tell them stories and give them Bible stories. My daughter gave her heart to Christ as a small child because of how nice Jesus was to Blind Bart. My son quit thinking Jesus was yucky because he was so nice to the 10 guys with owies on their skin.
Michael, all this to say, of all the things you do in your life, very few match the heroism of reading to and telling stories to your kids. It is such a cool thing to do for them and makes your wife extremely happy too. Keep it up!
I’ll take all the dependents I can get, as long as you provide your own medical insurance.