Buckle Up

Layla and Benton ran to the car and jumped into the back seat. "Don't forget to buckle up!" said Benton."Way ahead of you!" Layla said as she buckled in. Mom turned around and looked at them. "You two sure are excited about buckling your seat belts today." Layla and Benton looked at each other and started laughing. "Well," said Layla, "we learned about seat belts in church today.""In church?" asked Mom."Yup," said Benton. "In our Sunday school class.""Did you know that trusting God is like wearing a seat belt?" asked Layla."That's a new one to me," said Dad. "Explain.""Mr. Perkins said we have seat belts in our cars to keep us safe--especially in case of an accident," said Benton. "He said that instead of bouncing all over the place when we go over bumpy roads, seat belts keep us secure. He said that's the way it is with trusting God too." "Yeah," said Layla. "These seat belts are always here, but if we never buckle up, it can really be dangerous and scary! God is always here with us too, and He promises to take care of us. But if we don't trust Him, we worry and don't feel secure and safe." "That's a good way of looking at it," said Mom. "Jesus died for us so we could have peace and eternal life with Him. He is always with us to guide and help us, but if we don't trust Him, then we can end up feeling very worried and afraid when times get hard.""Right," said Dad. "Life can be a bumpy road, and trusting Jesus doesn't mean we won't ever feel worried or insecure. It just means that when we do feel that way, we can look to Jesus for peace and remember that He is watching over us." Dad started the car. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for lunch," he said as he put the car in reverse. "Um, Dad," said Layla, "I think you forgot something." "What?" asked Dad. Layla and Benton burst out laughing. "Buckle up!" they shouted. –Ann La Comb