"Longer, Daddy.. .Longer" by John Trent.
Recently, a woman grabbed my arm at a conference after I had finished speaking on the enormous need we all have for affirmation.
"Dr. Trent, may I tell you my story?" she asked. "Actually, it’s a story of something my son did with my granddaughter that illustrates what you’ve been talking about - the importance of affirmation.
"My son has two daughters, one who’s five and one who is in the ’terrible twos’." When a grandmother says this child is in the "terrible twos," believe me, she is!
"For several years, my son has taken the oldest girl out for a ’date’ time, but he had never taken the two-year-old until recently. On his first ’date’ with the younger one, he took her out to breakfast at a local fast food restaurant.
"They had just gotten their pancakes when my son decided it would be a good time to tell this child how much he loved and appreciated her."
"Jenny," her son had said, "I want you to know how much I love you, and how special you are to Mom and me. We prayed for you for years, and now that you’re here and growing up to be such a wonderful girl, we couldn’t be more proud of you."
Once he had said all this, he stopped talking and reached over for his fork to begin eating . . . but he never got the fork to his mouth.
His daughter reached out her little hand and laid it on her father’s hand. His eyes went to hers, and in a soft, pleading voice she said, "Longer, Daddy...longer."
He put down his fork and proceeded to tell her some more reasons
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