Wisdom From the Back Seat

The other day my 9-year-old granddaughter, Andrea, and I went to pick up her friend and bring her to our house. I had thought her younger brother and sister would be joining us on the play date, but when I arrived, the mother said the two younger ones wouldn't be able to come.

As soon as Andrea and Annika got settled in the back seat, their conversation began:

(Annika) It's really too bad my brother and sister couldn't come, but they weren't acting very nice.

(Andrea) My foster brother will be sad, because I told him we were bringing your brother.

(Annika) But Mom and Dad couldn't let them come, because we have a new rule that if we can't treat each other nice and be friends, then we can't go to a friend's house.

(Andrea) That's a good rule.

(Annika) Yes it is. My brother is usually the one that starts the problem, but then my sister makes it worse. She has the choice of whether she will do the right thing or not, and lots of times she chooses the wrong thing.

(Andrea) That's really too bad. We always have a choice to make.

(Annika) Yes, and that's something I'm really trying to work on. I used to make the wrong choice a lot. But one day at church as I was listening to my dad preach, he said that we all need to learn self-control. And that we can ask God to help us learn that. I've been doing that ever since then, and it has completely changed my life! (Yes, those were the words she used!)

(Andrea) That's great, Annika!

Their conversation segued into who would play with which Barbie, but I was lost in the simple honesty of what I'd just heard. These girls have been best friends their whole lives. There's a trust between them so they're able to share areas they're struggling with and testify to the Lord's power to "completely change" their weaknesses. Maybe we adults should be more like them.