In His Hands

Aiden ran as fast as he could, trying to catch the piece of paper he dropped as it was carried by the wind all around the parking lot. He finally retrieved it from underneath a car. "Why is that piece of paper so important?" his younger sister Alexa asked. "It's my permission slip for my class field trip. If I don't bring it back signed tomorrow, I won't be able to go," Aiden said as they continued their walk home from school."Didn't your teacher hand those out over a month ago?" Alexa asked. "Well, yeah, and I brought it home but kept forgetting to ask Mom to sign it, and then eventually I forgot all about it and lost it." Aiden tightened his grip on the new permission slip as another gust of wind started blowing, and this time it didn't get out of his hand. "Come on, I don't want to lose this one too!" he said, and the two took off running. "What's the big hurry?" Mom asked when Aiden and Alexa got home. "I didn't want to lose this." Aiden handed his mom the wrinkled permission slip. "Aiden, this is dated for a month ago. Why am I just getting it now?" Mom asked. "'Cause he lost the first one," Alexa chimed in. Mom just shook her head, then fished out a pen from her pants pocket and began to fill out the permission slip. "Aiden, you're lucky you don't need a permission slip to go to heaven, because you would lose that too!" Alexa teased. "I would not!" Aiden protested. "Well, neither one of you needs to worry, because getting into heaven doesn't depend on anything we do," Mom said. "It depends on Jesus. He died to save us from sin and rose again, and He's the one who forgives our wrongs and gives us eternal life. Because we trust in Him, He will hold us securely forever--the Bible says none of us will ever slip out of His hand. Eternal life with Jesus is one thing you can never lose." Mom tucked the piece of paper into Aiden's backpack. "Now, make sure you don't lose this permission slip!"Aiden nodded, and as he headed for his room, he said a silent prayer thanking Jesus for holding him securely in His hands. -Melissa Yeagle