The Gift of Follow-Through

Every Easter, my husband tells me the same story. It was a story that dates back to when he was a kid, probably around eight or nine years old.

Andy had four brothers, all three years apart. He and his older brother were mischievieous little guys and were constantly pushing their dad to the limit. He was a quiet man. Firm. But he was always consistent, always followed through. He'd tell the subsequent consequence, give three warnings and then deliver. Every.single.time.

The night before this particular Easter, Andy and his brother were making a lot of noise upstairs before bed, running into the mattresses they had pushed against the wall. Their dad became frustrated with their uncooperation and said, "If you don't stop playing, you can either have five bare-bottom spankings or not get your Easter basket tomorrow." The boys thought they were being pretty clever. "Alright Dad," they said, "we won't get our Easter baskets." No matter how tough their dad was, there's no way he wouldn't give them their Easter baskets. Right? They continued to play to their hearts' content and then went to sleep, dreaming of what their morning would bring them.

They woke up on Easter morning and began searching for their beloved baskets. Ymm... big chocolate bunny, Cadbury Egg... they could even taste it. His two younger brothers found theirs. Andy and his brother kept searching. "Wow," they said to eachother, "Dad really hid them GOOD this year!"

After a while, they began to get discouraged. "Okay, we give up. We can't find them anywhere."

"What are you looking for?" their dad asked, barely looking up from his morning paper.

The boys became confused. "Our Easter baskets. Where are they?"

"Don't you remember? You decided to disobey instead."

Ouch.

That's when they realized how much bigger their two other brothers' baskets were. The Easter Bunny simply dumped the contents from theirs into their brothers'. 

I don't know that Andy and his brother stopped disobeying at that point - I mean, missing out on your Easter basket is a big deal - but I can attest to what a difference this lesson made in my husband's life. Andy learned that his dad meant business. You could trust his word. You could count on him to follow through. Say what you mean, mean what you say. What a valuable concept to pass on to your children. This is one of the many lessons Andy learned from his dad more than twenty years ago, a lesson that has helped shaped my husband into the man of character that he is today.

And every Easter, he is reminded of a gift his dad was strong enough to give.

Even though my boys will never meet their grandfather on this side of heaven (he died ten years ago,) they will benefit from his legacy of love for eternity. And that gift lasts a lot longer than a few pieces of chocolate. Thanks, dad.