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Key Bible Verse: "Oh, that I had someone to hear me!" (Job 31:35). Bonus Reading: Isaiah 59:1; 65:24

John and Cindy's once effervescent little girl had been replaced by a sullen, silent 13-year-old. Then the troubled parents got an idea. One evening John knocked on Elizabeth's door. She wordlessly admitted him but sat back down at her desk, her back to her father. John sat on the bed. "When I was a kid," he began, "I had a stuffed animal named 'Big Bunny.'" Elizabeth turned to look at him blankly.

"Whenever I was frustrated or scared or mad or nervous about something, I'd talk to him," John continued. "And you know what?" Elizabeth slowly shook her head. "Big Bunny always listened to me. I know you're growing up, but I'd like to give you a Big Bunny of your own."

"Dad, you're not serious!" Elizabeth protested.

"Don't worry, I know you're too old for an actual stuffed toy," John said. Then he told her that whenever she wanted someone to talk to who wouldn't be critical, who'd listen and not give advice, he'd be her Big Bunny. All she had to say was, "Can I talk to Big Bunny?"

"Elizabeth finally has a 'place' to unload her frustrations and fears," John reports. "Our relationship is on the mend."

—Robert Wolgemuth in Daddy@Work

• How can you use your power to make your children feel safe?

Thought to Apply: The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.

— PETER DRUCKER (management consultant)

Credits: Adapted from— Thursday: Daddy@Work (Zondervan, 1999)

Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity. For reprint information click here.

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