And meet Johnny....

We had an hour long wait at the Red Bar (yummy restaurant at the beach), so I took the kids in the Zoo Gallery store across the street. We were busy looking at all the interesting artwork and little dodads (actually I was busy trying to make sure that six little hands didn't touch every breakable thing in the store) when we came across a huge basket full of over thirty blabla dolls/ stuffed animals. Bruce immediately starting kicking his legs and waving his arms in anticipation and excitement. Mae and Whitt both have one; Mae, the flower girl and Whitt, the polka dot lion, so I decided it was time for Bruce to bring one home. I put him in front of the basket, so he could crawl over and pick one for himself. Much to my surprise, he beelined to "Johnny." It was love at first sight; he had absolutely zero interest in any of the others. He grabbed hold and wouldn't let go, shrieking in delight, so Johnny was the pick. At dinner, we received a few, "that's an interesting doll" (personally I think Bruce was offended when anyone called Johnny a doll). As I was laughing at Bruce's taste in "buddies" and thinking to myself what does this say about my child, I started thinking about a story Tim Kimmel told at his grace-based parenting conference. His son had asked Kimmel if he could give himself a mohawk. At first, Kimmel was taken aback, but then he realized his son came to him with respect and love asking his permission. His son's heart was in the right place; God longs for our heart, not our hair. As Kimmel said, "Our hair is just a toy God gave us on top of our head." So that is it! Johnny is a model of a sweet, loving, respectful little dude with a heart for God (hence his heart-shaped tattoo) who loves serving others or at least serving Bruce who at this point won't sleep without him. By the way, the man is going to read this and say I think way to much!