“Walk a little plainer, Daddy,”
said a little boy so frail.
“I’m following in your footsteps
And I don’t want to fail.

Sometimes your steps are very plain,
Sometimes they’re hard to see.
So walk a little plainer, Daddy,
For you are leading me.
I know that you once walked this way
Many years ago.
And what you did along the way
I’d really like to know.
For sometimes when I’m tempted
I don’t know what to do.
So, walk a little plainer, Daddy,
For I must follow you.

Someday when I am grown up,
You are like I want to be,
Then I will have a little boy,
Who will want to follow me.
And I would want to lead him right
And help him to be true.
So, walk a little plainer, Daddy,
For we must follow you.

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See the Video “I am watching you Dad”

The father, a well digger, strong was he,
And as loving and kind as a father could be.
And Mary his daughter, Just five years old,
Was very much dearer than millions in gold.
To Mary her father was big, grand and nice,
So each had a treasure, beyond any price.

One day to the well, little Mary was sent
To take daddy’s lunch, how gladly she went.
But when she looked down, not a thing could be seen.
The well, like a pocket, was dark as could be.
The father saw Mary and heard her voice, too,
But made not a sound, just to see what she’d do.

She dropped to her knees, the dear little soul,
And called down, “Oh, Daddy, are you down this hole?”
“Why, yes Mary darling, I’m here at your feet,
Just drop my lunch for I’m ready to eat.
Just let it go easy, I’ll catch it all right.”
She did and she saw it fall out of sight.

“Why Mary,” said father, “There’s enough here for two,
Now this is the thing I would like you to do.
You jump down here to me and we’ll eat it together,
Down here in the cool and away from the weather.”
“Oh, daddy, I’m afraid, I can’t see you at all,
Be sure now you catch me and don’t let me fall.”

‘Twas just for a moment she wavered in doubt,
Then closing her dear little eyes she jumped out.
In the darkness, yes, that was the test,
She trusted in faith At her father’s request.
And both were so happy he kissed her and smiled
Because of the sweet trusting faith of his child.

“Oh, sweet little Mary, you put me to shame,
How often my Father Has called me the same,
But because it was dark I turned back in doubt.
Refusing the call, though his arms were stretched out.”

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox.

The lad dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very huge.) When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall.

Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved — but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration.

All this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy’s father.

Gently but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had available?”

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!”

“No, son,” corrected the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t ask me.”

With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.

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Do you have “rocks” in your life that need to be removed? Are you discovering that you don’t have what it takes to lift them? There is One who is always available to us and willing to give us the strength we need. When the apostle Paul faced times of a broken spirit and sapped strength, he proclaimed to the Corinthian church, “My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, then my power is made perfect in you” (2 Corinthians 12:9b NCV).

When we are broken in spirit and our strength is spent, we can turn to our Savior Jesus.