"Hurt little girls
in grown-up bodies"
Recently, I observed a man at a local store angrily reprimanding his 4-year-old daughter as he pushed her along in a cart. With a face of fury, he reproached her: "You've ruined everything! How could you do that? You're so stupid! You can't do anything right!" And he repeated these harsh rebukes over and over again. I had to wonder what heinous crime a 4-year-old could have committed to merit such treatment, and if he really understood the long-term impact of his words.
Unfortunately, this father is not an isolated case, and even more sadly, there are many other categories of dads who severely wound their daughters. For example, Margot's dad had been indicted on a 10th DWI charge and was possibly facing lengthy imprisonment. She said to the judge, with tears: "Your honor, please don't send my daddy to prison. I love him so much. I know that he has a problem. When he's drunk, he gets all mean and says bad things to us. But he's such a neat dad.if you only knew him. When he's sober, I'm always proud to have my friends over. He's so cool and tells funny jokes. Please, give him another chance. I believe in him. I promise we'll help him." Her dad, knowing he did not deserve such devotion, buried his face in his hands and wept before the court. But God knew what the judge did not: when drunk, this "neat dad" often beat Margot and her mom...
In another store, months later, I heard a loud crash and turned to see a large display fallen over. Hundreds of small bottles of a dozen different colors were rolling everywhere. In the middle of the mess was another 4-year-old girl standing stiff with a stricken look, her pretty, dark eyes as big as saucers. The look on her face communicated a certainty that the wrath of God would fall on her at any moment. But instead, several store employees came and began the clean up, smiling and reassuring her that it was not her fault. Most importantly, her dad came along, swept her off her feet, hugged her, and kissed her. The most important man in her life had just gently squeezed a small portion of Amazing Grace into her heart...
