Timmy was a little 5-year-old boy that his mom loved very much. Being a worrier, she was concerned about him walking to school when he started kindergarten. She walked him to school for the next couple of days, but when he came home one day, he told his mom that he did not want her walking him to school everyday. He wanted to be like the big boys. He protested loudly, so she had an idea how to handle it.
She asked a neighbor, Mrs. Goodnest, if she would secretly follow her son to school, at a distance behind him so he would not notice, but close enough to keep a watch on him. Mrs. Goodnest said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise, so she gladly agreed.
The next school day, Mrs. Goodnest and her little girl Marcy, set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another little neighbor boy. She did this for a whole week, as the boys walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs along the way. Timmy’s friend noticed that this same lady seemed to be following them each day, all week long.
Finally, he said to Timmy, “Have you noticed that lady following us all week? Do you know her?”
Timmy nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, I know who she is.”
The little friend asked, “Well, who is she then?”
“That’s Shirley Goodnest,” Timmy said.
“Shirley Goodnest? Who in the world is she and why is she following us?”
“Well”, Timmy explained, “every night my mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers ‘cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm it says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life’, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!”