One Tough Cookie

Abby slid her lunch tray next to her best friend Everly. "Can you believe these cookies?" she complained, tapping a hard chocolate chip cookie against her front tooth. "A squirrel couldn't eat these!"Everly shrugged. "They're not so bad if you soak them first." She dunked her cookie in a glass of milk and took a bite. "See?""Oh yeah!" Abby said. "You're always full of good ideas.""I wish." Everly's expression soured. "Maybe then I'd know how to get Kenzie to quit pestering me. She's such a bully."Abby glanced across the cafeteria to where Kenzie sat alone. She'd started teasing Abby and her friends after learning they all went to the same church camp each summer. She called them dumb and stuck-up and claimed she'd never be caught dead in church, much less a summer camp for babies."Maybe we should invite her to eat with us," Abby suggested with a nervous nibble of her cookie. She knew it was the right thing to do even though she didn't like Kenzie very much, and the idea of eating lunch with her tied her stomach in knots. "Maybe then she'd get to know us better and we could tell her more about what we believe.""Yeah, I guess," Everly said. "She's asked me questions about my faith before, but I got the feeling she was just trying to pick a fight with me."As Abby thought it over, she had an idea. "Hey, what if Kenzie is like this cookie?"Everly wrinkled her nose. "You want to dunk her in milk? I could go along with that."Abby laughed. "No, I mean, what if Kenzie needs some softening too? Remember how I talked bad about God and the Bible before I knew Jesus loved me?" Everly tightened her lips, recalling some of the things Abby had said. "God had to change my heart," Abby continued. "Let's pray and ask God to soften Kenzie's heart and help us be kind to her." Everly considered her friend. "Okay, let's pray and then go ask Kenzie if she wants to join us for lunch." She dunked her cookie in her milk. "And can we pray for better cookies too?" Abby laughed and nodded. "Softer cookies and softer hearts."–Christa Hogan