Once upon a time, when she was about two years old, Annalie was scared of our friend Bernie. We never could figure out any reason for her to be afraid of him. He’s not an intimidating guy at all, he doesn’t have an especially loud voice, and he’s not in the habit of kicking puppies or anything. He has two daughters of his own, Annalie’s friends Morgan and Dylan, so he’s not weird around little girls. But despite all those things, when we were going to Bible study or over to their house Annalie would ask in a quavery voice, “Will Mr. Bernie be there?” Then she would cling tightly to me or Troy and hide her face, .

After a while, Bernie decided the best thing to do in response to Annalie’s fear would be to act as though it didn’t exist. Annalie would see him and exclaim, “I don’t like Mr. Bernie!” and Bernie would talk to her in a friendly way, ask her questions, tease her and make her laugh. Usually within a minute or two Annalie had forgotten she wasn’t supposed to like him and was totally fine. The funny thing is, her I-don’t-like-Mr.-Bernie routine continued on well after it was clear that she did like him and wasn’t afraid of him any more. It was like it was just a habit she couldn’t break.

I think she’s finally broken the habit.

Bernie, we’re glad you were able to finish your work early and spend the afternoon and evening with us yesterday. Come see us again next time you’re in town on business…and bring the rest of your family sometime!