Our Family History with Goliath

This picture of Oliver and his "slingshot" was taken back in July. Now he's back on another David-and-Goliath kick once again. Lately he's taken to running around with a slingshot, making me pretend to be Goliath so he can conquer me. "You fight me with sharp spear heavy sword Goliath I fight you in name of God!"

Ollie's giant-killing serves to remind me that our family has a long and storied history with the antagonist from Gath. When Lincoln was barely three years old, he was in Hobby Lobby one day with his mother. He had been bitten and his eye was quite swollen, and the cashier innocently asked, "Is mommy going to make your eye all better?" Lincoln's response: "No, Jesus makes my eye feel better. God loves Goliath, even though Goliath is mean. The Devil wants me to not obey but God helps me to obey."

What's classic is that only in Hobby Lobby would this conversation not seem out of place.

When sweet Lillie was two-and-a-half, we were riding in the car one day and she asked: "When is Bee-guy-wuf [Goliath] and the mean king gonna get nice?" Susie and I tried to explain to the little peacemaker that they weren't ever going to get nice. But Lillie would have none of it. She was determined that they were going to get nice, and she kept asking when. Five-year-old Lincoln, who had been quietly listening to all this, finally had enough. "Lillie, listen to me!" he said. "Goliath and the mean king are mean. They are never going to get nice. They are in hell and are never getting nice and they will never get another chance. That's the end." Yowch.

When we got home, Lillie went to the playroom and Susie heard her playing with her little pretend telephone but didn't know exactly what she was doing. She came in a few minutes later and announced: "Mommy, dat was Bee-guy-wuf. He said he is going to get nice in just a minute. Okay?"

A month later poor little Lil still had the giant on the brain. She asked, "Is David going to get a spanking for killing Bee-guy-wuf?"