KEYWORDS: right, way, love, god, children, lot

Dad on Discipline

David Berg

DO 1705 '82-'83 Ages: David: 7-8, Davida: 6-7, Techi: 3-4

1. OKAY, TECHI WANTS TO DO THINGS IN HER OWN TIME & WAY. For awhile I think maybe we can tolerate that, but if it becomes too much a little later we can deal with it when it gets important. Right now when it's not important, why‚ we'll put up with it. I think she likes a little extra attention & needs it, being different. OK! PTL!

2. SUCH A GOOD GIRL! "YES, SIR'" SHE SAYS. ISN'T THAT A GOOD GIRL? I bet the people in the restaurants are amazed to hear our kids say, "Yes, Sir." (Sara: Oh Yes! They always say 'Thank you!' Their little voices chime in every time the waiters put something on the table. They always say "Thank you, thank you," like a little chorus.)

3. NOW THE BRITISH CHILDREN, AT LEAST THE UPPER-CLASS CHILDREN, WERE REALLY TAUGHT TO BE VERY POLITE & COURTEOUS & they still bear those marks even when they grow up. You notice the British are quite courteous & polite & say all the right things like that, & it's very nice to hear!

4. BE REAL GENTLEMEN & REAL LADIES & BE VERY COURTEOUS & POLITE, because that's love to be a gentleman & a lady & be courteous & polite, to say "Please" & "Thank you" & "Yes Sir" & "Yes Ma'am" & all those things—that's love! That shows you're considerate & you're thankful & you're courteous & that's love.

5. I NEVER SPANK YOU FOR AN ACCIDENT‚ EVER!

6. ALWAYS TAKE A PLATE IN YOUR HANDS, HONEY. It's impolite not to take the plate when they offer you a plate with food on it. You should take the plate‚ not just grab something off the plate. That's what my Mama taught me & I think that's the right thing to do because it's considerate of the person who's handing you a big heavy plate. It was so heavy it was wobbling & I was afraid the cook was gonna drop it, see? So it's polite to take the plate.

7. (TECHI: DADDY‚ I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT TO.) WELL, NOW WAIT A MINUTE! No‚ you can't do whatever you want to. You want to do what pleases Jesus, right? And Dora & Daddy & Mama & the Family, right? You want to do what makes everybody happy, right? You want to do what's loving, right? Do you love Jesus? Amen. So, we want to do what Jesus wants us to do‚ right? I said you could have some bread‚ but now we are going to have Communion. (To Family:) She loves Communion so much I think the Devil really tries to bother her.

8. MY DAD WOULD REPROVE US IF WE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE FOOD & WENT 'AW' OR SOMETHING AT THE TABLE, he'd knock on the table & say: "Eat what's set before you, giving thanks‚ asking no questions for conscience's sake. For every creature of God is good & nothing to be refused if it be received with the word of thanksgiving & prayer." (Lk.10:8, 1Cor.10:27, 1Tim.4:4-5) He was a stern disciplinarian. So here we are receiving it & thankful for it!

9. TECHI SAYS HER TUMMY HURTS AGAIN. (Prays:) "Lord‚ bless & rebuke the hurt, in Jesus' name. Touch & heal her tummy, Lord, & help it to feel better, in Jesus' name." XXX! Amen. TYL! Remember, don't ever tell Daddy your tummy hurts if it doesn't hurt, because if you tell a story to Daddy then the Lord might just let your tummy hurt. Okay? I prayed for you & I know the Lord's gonna heal it. Okay?

10. (RE: THE STORY OF THE LITTLE BOY & THE WORM) He got what Paddy gave the drum! What did Paddy give the drum?—A beatin'! He got what he should've had in the first place because nothing satisfied him no matter what he asked for. They tried to give him everything he asked for & he just did nothing but cry & whimper. He got a whack & a smack & a crack & a whackity-whackity-whack 'cause he was a naughty little boy for not ever being thankful or pleased, no matter if everybody tried to please him & everybody tried to do everything he asked.

11. WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO BE VERY GOOD TO YOU & GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU ASK FOR & TRY TO PLEASE YOU, & you still won't be happy or satisfied, & nothing satisfies & nothing pleases you, & people just cannot make you happy, well, then they get pretty tired of trying to make you happy, so then they just quit! You better be real thankful you don't get what Paddy gave the drum & Mama gave Johnny—whackity-whackity-whackity-whack!

12. (DAD TO DAVID:) THE REASON I CORRECTED YOU A MINUTE AGO WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE SO QUICK TO CORRECT DORA, one of your elders, & you shouldn't be quick to correct your elders unless you're sure you're right. Now see, you thought she said one thing or you thought I said one thing & she answered & she understood me, see, but you didn't. Then you contradicted her. So always be careful, don't quickly contradict an elder. You may not have heard right, see? In this case you didn't hear it right & you quickly contradicted Dora & that wasn't respectful. You must remember to be respectful of your elders, Honey, even when they make mistakes. The best way to have done that, even if she was wrong or mistaken, would be, "Excuse me, but I think you're mistaken. It didn't happen like that." Be a little bit more respectful when you correct elders. It's not good to correct elders unless you're sure you're right & unless you do it very respectfully. See? Good boy.

13. ELDERS ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE OLDER. "Elders" is the same as saying "olders". The older folks, the grownups, the adults, the mamas & the papas, & the aunts & the uncles & all the older folks, all these big folks‚ they're elders. (Techi: Not the little ones.) No‚ not the little ones. That's the way Techi learns, she's got to ask questions & that's the way you learn, David, is by making mistakes sometimes. You thought I said one thing but I said something else. So we always have to be careful that we don't jump to conclusions. That means jumping too quickly to thinking something which wasn't just right. You know what jump is...To jump to a conclusion means to jump to the end too quick before you should get there, when you're not really sure about what was said.

14. (DAD TO DAVID:) YOU SHOULDN'T CONTRADICT ADULTS. When they say it's so, it's probably so!

15. SOMETIMES IN THE PAST WITH MY CHILDREN WHEN I LAID DOWN STERN STRICT RULES OR I SAID SOMETHING, forbade too strictly, I was sorry afterwards that I said or made that rule. But once I had done it, I didn't dare back down on it‚ I had to stick to it! I had to enforce it, otherwise if I didn't, then made another rule that they had to obey, they'd think I'd back down on that too! So sometimes you're sorry you made too strict a rule, you're sorry for what you said.

16. THE TIMES WHEN I'VE BEEN SORRY THAT I ENFORCED RULES IS WHEN I WAS SORRY THAT I HAD MADE THE RULE, because I realised it wasn't that important. But I had to stick to it anyhow because otherwise the child wouldn't respect me & would think they could get away with it again, or that the next time I wouldn't enforce another rule. You have got to decide on what rules must be obeyed without fail, & without exception, & what rules can be sometimes relaxed & exceptions made. But you have to have the wisdom of God to know the difference‚ which is which: Which ones you must enforce without fail & on which you can be merciful. Even God does that.

17. GOD HAS LOTS OF RULES. HE MADE LOTS OF RULES IN HIS FIRST STANDARD OF THE MOSAIC LAW, which was His original standard. But under the Law of Love He has even more rigidly enforced some rules, & under Love He has relaxed some others so they're not as tough. We just have to have the Wisdom of the Lord to know the difference, just when to stick to your guns & when to sometimes encourage them & agree to do things their way.

18. TEENS: YOU JUST HAVE TO LET TEENAGERS MAKE MANY OF THEIR OWN DECISIONS. If you've trained them right‚ they'll almost invariably‚ maybe not right away, but as the Scriptures says, they will eventually make the right decision, because they know you're right, they know the Lord's right & they know they're wrong & they'll eventually make the right decision, either just through obedience or through bitter experience.

19. I CAN REMEMBER WHEN I WAS A CHILD WHEN MY FATHER LET ME GET AWAY WITH SOMETHING, I was really kind of surprised & disappointed in him. I lost a little respect for him because I expected to really get clobbered for something because I felt like I deserved it & should have, but he didn't! And I think my respect went down a little bit because he either didn't catch me or didn't enforce it. He let me get away with things. I didn't think I should have been allowed to get away with it!

20. WHEN I WAS A BOY I KNEW WHAT I SHOULD DO, & THEN WHEN I DIDN'T DO IT OR DISOBEYED, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SCOLDED OR PUNISHED for it, even if they didn't catch me. Sometimes I thought they were pretty dumb. They must have known I'd gone out at night‚ how come they didn't check up on me to find out if I was in my room? How come they let me walk two miles to the movie which I wasn't supposed to go to?—And two miles home in the dark, just a boy! How come they didn't catch me! How come they didn't come in & see if I was still asleep in my room? I was kinda disappointed that they didn't check up on me more! I was really sort of disappointed that they didn't catch me. I was kinda having fun getting away with it, but I had a terrible guilty conscience all the time. I couldn't really enjoy it because I was miserably guilty & afraid I was gonna get caught. I had a nice private little room with an outside door, but then when I'd come home & sneak back in my room & my room was still dark & there was no fuss, I was a little disappointed that they hadn't paid any more attention to me than that, that they weren't checking up on me! They hadn't even noticed I was gone, they hadn't called the Police or anything, so I just crawled back into bed!

21. EACH CHILD HAS A PERSONALITY ALL THEIR OWN & each one has to be dealt with according to their own particular characteristics & personality. So God's just gotta give you wisdom, Honey, to know what to insist on & what to demand. My advice would be, don't make any rules you don't have to. The fewer strict rules you have the better, as far as hard & fast rules that are going to merit punishment & they're gonna get spanked for it if disobeyed! The fewer tough rules there are the better.—Just like the Lord has relaxed the Old Law & put us under Love, where we obey voluntarily under love. God's given us an example & we should try to persuade the children to do the best thing. God has us make our own decisions. That's what He's done with us! He's put us here to teach us to learn to make the right decision!

22. WHAT'S GOD'S EXAMPLE? HE HAS PUT US HERE ON THIS EARTH & GIVEN US FREE WILL‚ the right of choice what to do or what not to do. He allowed Adam & Eve to go ahead & disobey, to learn by bitter experience what they wouldn't learn by teaching, by the Word or by being told. They wouldn't learn it that way, so they had to learn it the hard way. So using God's example, you have to do it much in the same way. We teach & train the children & finally say, "Well‚ if you don't, you're gonna suffer so-&-so" & then you have to follow through! And then on the other hand, a lot of things we have to be able to persuade them to do it because it's right & because of love, & have them make the decision themselves! So now, when folks are no longer under the Old Law, they don't do it just because they have to, but because they want to. This is what God's been working on all the time, to persuade us to do things through the right loving motivation, because we want to do what's right, because we love Him & we love others. Therefore, we want to do what's right! And not just because we're made to, enforced to, because of fear of punishment. That's the Old Law!

23. A HORSE THAT IS GENTLED THROUGH LOVE‚ TAKES A LOT MORE TIME & PATIENCE TO TRAIN, but they'll be a far better horse & much more obedient‚ if they are persuaded to do it through love, believe it or not, rather than just breaking their will & forcing them to do it for fear of punishment!

24. JUST LIKE A HORSE WE USED TO HAVE‚ HE'D STILL TRY TO GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING HE COULD GET AWAY WITH as long as he thought he could get away with it! He didn't have the right motivation, he was still trying to have his own way! Whereas if you gentle a horse & you teach that horse to love you & want to obey you & want to follow instructions & every little leading, he'll be the best mount you could ever ride because he almost becomes like a part of you! The horse just almost becomes a part of the expert rider who has gentled that horse & taught & trained it. He'll become like a pet who wants to obey your every will & has the right & loving desire to please you, whereas the horse that's just had to be broken because he was stubborn & refused, & you just insisted & made it obey, he'll continue to want to break the rules whenever he gets a chance!

25. WE KNEW SOME PARENTS WHO'D REALLY BEEN TOUGH ON THEIR KIDS‚ hard & cruel & mean, & even if they were right, the kids never felt any love, no real concern‚ no reasoning, no rationalisation, no explaining, no motivation, no love. Therefore they never learned love—love of God, love of parents, love of others. They just never learned the right motivation. Whereas love is really the stricter law in the long run because it really goes further than anything else. The Old Law was only obeyed because they had to & they were made to & they would only do as much as they were made to do, whereas love goes all the way! It'll go to the death & die for someone else to do the right thing, & that's in a way how it is with training children.

26. SOME PARENTS BREAK THEIR CHILDREN & JUST BREAK THEIR STUBBORN WILL BY FORCE, but that child will always be stubborn anyhow whenever he gets a chance. He'll only obey the law as long as the law enforcer is there, & like a lot of those Holiness kids, the minute they got out of sight of their parents, & got away at College, they went wild! They just absolutely went wild! They were worse than the kids whose parents were not so spiritual & had been more lenient & at least a little more understanding & allowed them a lot more liberty. When they got away from home & all, there wasn't that much difference, they still had a certain amount of freedom & choice. But the kids who had been under the clamp‚ the vice of the Holiness, "You've gotta do it or else you're gonna get whacked!" & all kinds of horrible punishment, the minute they got out from under that parental restriction & away at school, they were the worst kids at school! They went wild! Because they didn't know how to handle freedom, they didn't know how to handle choice! All they knew was a cage!—And they were like wild animals let out of a cage! They were like wild animals, they'd never been domesticated, they'd never been loved & petted & trained to be a domestic animal, so to speak, & do things willingly for love & for the right reasons, because they wanted to. They were only made to, & the minute the maker wasn't there anymore to make'm, they just went wild! So you've gotta know the difference. I can't show you.—Only God can show you, Who's always with you.

27. WHEN I WAS BAD MY PARENTS USED TO MAKE ME STAND WITH MY NOSE AGAINST THE WALL & RECITE ALL THE SCRIPTURES THAT I KNEW! Yes, in the corner! I had to begin with the first Psalm & recite every Psalm I knew all the way through the 103rd, & that's a lot of Psalms because I knew a lot of them! Every time I was bad I had to learn a Psalm‚ so I knew a lot of Psalms! Ha! And then when I was bad again they made me stand in a corner & recite them all! I can remember my parents doing that to me many a time when I was naughty & did something they didn't like.

28. USUALLY THEY STOOD ME WITH MY NOSE IN THE CORNER & A BIBLE IN MY HAND & I HAD TO LEARN A CHAPTER OUT OF THE BIBLE WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE. I didn't get to leave the corner until I knew the whole chapter. Good idea, huh? Well, I sure learned a lot of Scripture that way. Maybe you think that's a bad testimony, ha! But I learned so much Scripture that way by being naughty. You wouldn't ever think Grandpa would've been a naughty boy, would you? Huh? Well, you've read my stories, so you know I have been! I was naughty sometimes but I learned a lot of lessons that way, & I learned a lot of Scripture that way too. It's like getting your hands dirty & then having to go wash them. You've been naughty so you go wash in the Word.

29. THAT WAS ONE OF MY DAD'S FAVOURITE METHODS, although one of his favourite quickies if I was doing something I'd been told not to do many times, was he'd just pick up anything that was handy & sock me with it, really swat me with it. I'll never forget when he picked up a two-by-four board & smacked me on the hiney. I remembered that one for awhile! It was the only thing handy. I was supposed to be in church but instead I was standing out behind the church in the dark with some of the boys, having a little chat & horsing around. I was older than you, I was about 11 or 12, almost a teenager, & I knew better! They had just finished some construction there on the church & so my Dad snuck up on us in the dark, & suddenly he was there & he said, "Hi, Son!"—WANG! Ha! Well I wouldn't recommend that punishment for everybody!

30. I THINK I WOULD HAVE BEEN EMBARRASSED ENOUGH JUST TO HAVE BEEN CAUGHT OUT THERE when I knew I was supposed to be in church, but he just picked up the nearest board, the nearest thing he could find handy & just walloped me on the rear–end. It didn't injure me, David, it didn't really seriously hurt me, but it hurt! But I'll tell you, I high-tailed it back into the church as fast as I could go‚ even though it was a little hard to sit down! So you can be thankful, Honey, you're such a good boy that you never have to have any spankings like that!

31. WHEN MY LITTLE CHILDREN WERE SMALL I'D TEACH'M THEY SHOULD NEVER SCREAM UNLESS THEY WERE HURT & NEEDED HELP, 'cause then if I heard'm scream I knew they really needed help! Otherwise little neighbour's children were screaming just for fun, just to play & scream, & you could never tell when they were really hurt. So it's good never to cry "wolf, wolf‚" or scream for help unless you really need help‚ right?

32. CHILDREN DON'T UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON, BUT THEY TRUST YOU THAT YOU UNDERSTAND, & that what you say goes & what you say is true & they believe you. You can teach a child the truth in almost anything if you just teach'm, because they trust you & believe you & they'll believe it. PG!—And that's the way we have to do with the Lord. We just have to believe it because God said so. Just like sometimes I say, "You do it because Daddy said so!" You don't have to always understand why, right? But you just do it because Daddy said so. Right? (Techi: Yes sir!) Yes sir, that's right & that's the way we should do with the Lord, say, "Yes sir!" We just do it & believe it because He said so.

33. (RE: TECHI'S STRONG WILL:) SHE HAS A STRONG WILL, I'M ACTUALLY AMAZED! I'm not really appalled & it doesn't bother me, because I've been through a lot of children & know how they grow out of all of these little sort of fads they get into.

34. JUST LIKE WHEN THEY FIRST START TALKING ALMOST THE FIRST WORD THEY LEARN IS "NO!" & they love to use it when they find out all of a sudden they can say "NO". It's amazing how early God has given that self-will & the right of choice. People begin to exercise it when they're absolute babies!—When they find out they can say no & if they don't want to, then they don't have to unless you make them! Is Techi at that stage now? (Maria: She's a teenager now. We'd better have some classes on how to deal with teenagers & not toddlers, ha!)

35. DR. SPOCK WAS THE WORLD'S AUTHORITY ON CHILDREN & HE ABSOLUTELY WRECKED A WHOLE GENERATION, just let them be absolute little monsters!: "Never force them‚ never compel them, never lay down the law—just let them be little wild indians!"

36. I SPEND SO LITTLE TIME WITH TECHI, IN THE LITTLE TIME I'M WITH HER I HATE TO ALWAYS BE SAYING "NO", & she's not going to do anything wrong, you know‚ she just wants to spend a little more time with us. There's nothing wrong with that & there's nothing bad or evil about that, it's a good thing. Why should I deny it? Why should I refuse her even though her dear mother sometimes thinks she's taking too much of my time. Well, I don't think she ever takes too much of my time because I never have enough to give her! I spend less time with her than perhaps most fathers do with their children. (Maria: But you spend concentrated time, & all day long they spend with you & your Words. Most fathers don't spend even as much personal time with their kids.)

37. I'M TRYING TO SAY A FEW THINGS THAT MIGHT HELP YOU TO DEAL WITH TECHI because I think she is extremely advanced, & as her mother keeps pointing out‚ she's a lot like a teenager, because she already feels like she knows what's right & wrong. You've told her enough & she should be able to decide for herself. Well, if you notice how I handle her‚ I just feel like if something is not seriously wrong, or really genuinely bad for her & really would not be bad for her, then I don't like to deny that.—She has a certain opinion of her own about things. I'll do like I do with Maria: If she is pretty decided in her opinion about what she thinks we should do or what she thinks is right, I just say, "Well‚ I told you what I think, & you told me what you think. Now we'll just let it ride & see what happens‚ we'll let the Lord decide." Or often I'll say, "Well, OK, maybe you're right, maybe we'd better do that instead of what I thought." And whenever I do that, she almost immediately switches sides because she's afraid not to do what I said. She's just been testing me & my faith‚ to see if I'll stick to my opinion!

38. A LOT OF TIMES KIDS ACT THAT WAY JUST TO GET ATTENTION. And the more big fuss you make about it, the better they like it! You know, if you keep on talking about it & making a fuss about it & trying to cram it down their throat & all the rest‚ they're enjoying it! They're enjoying all this extra attention that they're getting for being naughty! If they can't get it being good, they can get it by being naughty!

39. THIS IS ONE REASON WHY A LOT OF KIDS ARE SO BAD, EVEN TEENAGERS. If no one is paying any attention to them, & if they can't be famous, then they want to be infamous! And if they can't attract your attention any other way, they attract it by just being ornery & naughty & a nuisance! I think that's one reason why a lot of these motorcyclists make a lot of noise. After all, who cares about teenagers & who pays any attention to their opinion or anything‚ so they just go around through life, steppin' on the gas & roarin' the motor! If they can't influence the World any other way, at least they can make the World mad & angry at'm! At least they get some attention. At least the World knows they're there & they exist.

40. OH BOY‚ OUR KIDS USED TO CRY & BAWL WHEN MOMMY & DADDY WERE GOING TO GO SOMEPLACE or go out & they had to stay home! But the minute we were in the car, out the driveway, & around the corner out of sight, the babysitters would tell us afterwards that they stopped crying immediately & forgot all about us! They see then there's no more hopes & they quit throwing their tantrums & they quit their whining & crying. There comes a time when you just have to lay down the law & be firm, that's it, & there's no use for them trying to persuade any longer, they're not going to get their way! There are times when you have to be firm!

41. BUT I MUST SAY THAT, ACCORDING TO GOD'S OWN EXAMPLE, THE BEST WAY IS THE LOVE WAY! The best way is the gentle way & not the breaking way & the force way or the legal way of the Old Law! The best law is Love, & along with Love comes reasoning‚ persuasion, explaining, teaching, the Word & all the rest, so that they can make their own decisions, because they'll stick to it far better if they decide to do it themselves because they want to do right! They want to do the right thing & want to do right, & that'll go a lot further than only doing right because you're there to make'm! If the gentling & the persuading & the love & the reasoning & the leading, the teaching doesn't work & they're still stubbornly wilfully disobedient, then you've got to apply the rod!

42. WHEN ADAM & EVE WENT AHEAD & ATE THE APPLE, GOD HAD TO APPLY THE ROD & WE'VE SUFFERED FOR IT EVER SINCE! But through it all, the bitter experience of Adam & Eve & all their descendants including us, we have learned by comparison the difference between disobedience & obedience. We have learned the judgements & the horrors of disobedience & we have learned the rewards of obedience.

43. THAT'S ANOTHER THING—REWARDS—GOD USES REWARDS A LOT. It's a great thing for children! Some parents are so strict about punishment, but they forget when the kids are good to reward them! God has a definite system of rewards, even in Heaven—both here & hereafter! The rewards are important!

44. (TO TECHI: ) YOU'RE REALLY LEARNING SO WELL!—And memorising so well all those good Scriptures that'll be a great blessing to you all your life, & encourage your faith & stick with you through thick & thin all the days of your life, as you think about God's Word & the Lord & His care for you, how He al-ways cares for you! He'll always take care of you & He loves you & cares for you, & He not only takes care of you when you're good, He loves you just like Grandpa does & like all the Family & He'll take care of you even when you're naughty! He still loves you, He'll take care of you & sometimes He'll take care of you with a spanking, like we do to try to make you be good.

45. GOD LOVES YOU ALWAYS, GOOD OR BAD, BUT OF COURSE, YOU MAKE HIM HAPPIER & YOU PLEASE HIM BETTER IF YOU'RE A GOOD GIRL & memorise His Word & obey your elders & teachers & caretakers. He'll love you & bless you much more & reward you & give you all kinds of nice gifts & things, just like we do, Grandpa & Mommy & your teachers do, when you're a good girl. We like to give you extra special good blessings & gifts & surprises, don't we?

46. BUT EVEN IF SOMETIMES YOU'RE NAUGHTY‚ WE STILL LOVE YOU & WE'LL STILL TAKE CARE OF YOU & hope that you'll right away be better & be sorry that you were naughty. Right? So don't forget, God always loves you! Jesus always loves you. Mommy & Grandpa have always loved you & all your teachers & caretakers always love you!—Especially when you're good. But they even love you when you're bad & they're sorry you make them sad when you're bad. But they love you enough to correct you & scold you & sometimes even spank or punish you to try to make you be a good girl.

47. I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU'RE USUALLY A GOOD GIRL! You're hardly ever bad, you just seem to me like you're always good & never bad! I've hardly ever known you to be bad. You're always so good & sweet & obedient & kind & loving & affectionate & thoughtful of other people, & generous & unselfish & sharing, so I just hardly remember the times you've ever been bad. It's been so long ago.

48. JESUS LOVES YOU! AND WHOM THE LORD LOVETH HE CHASTENETH & SCOURGETH EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVETH—DAUGHTERS TOO!—Because He loves you & He wants you to be a good girl. So if sometimes He should spank us a little bit or correct us or scold us, it's for our own good & it's because He loves us & wants us to obey & be good so we can have all of His wonderful blessings.

49. (TECHI AT FIRST DISAGREES WITH SOMETHING SHE'S TOLD TO DO, THEN CHANGES HER MIND:) You can come right back & tell Daddy night-night. Oh, she repented, bless her little heart. They're so much like us! Ha, ha, ha! I can see myself in them so much & how we have to treat'm like God treats us. We're such children!

50. HOW DO YOU EXPECT THE CHILDREN TO OBEY YOU WHEN YOU DON'T EVEN OBEY ME? How are you going to tell these children what to do & give them commandments & orders when sometimes you don't obey your orders or your superior? Huh? What kind of an example is that to our children?