I know. I should never have tried to feed our little granddaughter while sitting on the lounge, but I thought it might work. Besides, her dinner was yummy spaghetti Bolognese—she was bound to like it. I tried to pop that first spoonful into her mouth, but she knocked it flying. I got the message. She was not interested—at all.
I decided to play a game with her. I picked up one long strand and dangled it into her mouth, but she was still unhappy. What she wanted, I realised, was to put her hands right in the middle of that spaghetti Bolognese and shovel it all in herself! She refused every other tricky manoeuvre I could think of to feed her and stubbornly hung out for what she really wanted to do.
Yes, you’ve guessed it. Her Nanna caved in! And a few strands did make it to her mouth. But lots more ended up on us both—as well as the lounge and carpet!
Not long after, it was story time. Our three year old grandson Zain picked out two books and was soon seated on the lounge listening intently as Granddad read the first one. I thought Maxine would happily play by herself for a while, but no. With an affronted yell, she grabbed the other book and, after glancing at me as if to say, ‘Ha! I’ve got a book too now!’, she ensconced herself beside her brother and howled. No, she was not happy sharing Zain’s storybook. She wanted Nanna to read her one of her own. And she stubbornly hung in there till Nanna once again caved in.
Now one might well say I should have let Maxine know at that point who was really in charge and not indulge her. After all, she needs to know she can’t always get her own way. Yet for some strange, perverse reason, I admired her strong determination to go for what she wanted and to persevere, despite my best efforts to deter or distract her. Part of me cheered her along—You go for it, girl! Make it clear to us what’s going on inside that little head of yours so we understand. Grow and learn!
You see, such thinking at certain times in my life has enabled me to overcome so many obstacles, return to study twice and get those necessary qualifications, as well as persevere in my writing journey of recent years. I know I could not have achieved all this apart from God. I would have fallen in a heap many times over, had God’s Spirit not strengthened me to stay focussed on what I believed I had been called to do. Yet I had a choice as well—to give in to the enemy’s lies and taunts or to stubbornly stand firm and resist, as the Apostle Paul urges us to do:
Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Ephesians 6:13-14
Hmm—I think stubbornness has its place at times, don’t you?
Jo-Anne Berthelsen's Blog 
I loved this post on ‘stubbornness’ Jo. Thanks. I remember my first poem I wrote being ‘published’ in a primary school ‘magazine’ put together by the students. I very strongly resisted the student editors’ attempts to edit it. It was my poem! Back then, I think I was fighting to express creative ‘me’ and be heard. It was a poem about freedom, a wild horse unbound.Now, I’m sure I wouldn’t so strongly oppose an editor! Maybe behind most bouts of stubbornness, in kids or adults, is a fight to hold onto something precious, values, ideas, sense of worth, self…
Leanne
Thanks so much for those comments, Leanne. You have expressed exactly what I was thinking in that last sentence of yours–and I’m sure that’s what you were doing back at school there with your poem. And here you are, still writing! You have persevered in so many ways over all these years–well done to you!
A great example Jo-Anne! God bless, ”
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2015 21:18:23 +0000 To: theresecondron@hotmail.com
Hi Therese–lovely to hear from you! And yes, I learn lots of lessons from my grandchildren, as I’m sure you do too.