She looked down at the floor and twisted the arm of her little doll somewhat nervously.  “I promise, I won’t do it again, Daddy.”

“But you’ve promised over and over and still you mess the house up with mud!  Why?”

“What do you think I should do to help you remember?”  I asked.  “Go to your room and no more television today!”

In tears she sulked down the hall to her room to begin her day of punishment.

I picked up my devotional book to read.  The words “. . . for he had a vow” fit well with the beginning of a new year.  I must make some resolutions, I thought.

With pad and pencil in hand I began to write:  I promise to spend more time in prayer and I will let nothing interfere with my time of devotion.

“But you’ve promised over and over and still . . .” My own words to my little girl somehow split the stillness.  I remembered that this resolution had been on my list for many years now.

Shaking the words off, I wrote again:  I resolve to give a tithe to the Lord even if I starve to death.

“But you’ve promised over and over and still . . .”  There were those words again.  Why didn’t they go away?

I promise to . . . but before I could even write anything down the words were filling the room again.  “But you’ve promised over and over and still . . . What do you think I should do to help you remember?”

On my knees I prayed, “O God, I forgot, I forgot.  Give me another chance, I promise this year . . .”