Silent Treatment

Alex frowned as he poured some cereal and looked out the window. Joanna never quits talking! he thought as he saw his sister coming up the driveway. I wish she'd leave me alone. He snapped his fingers. I know what'll fix her. I'll give her the silent treatment. So when Joanna came into the house, Alex retreated to his room. She banged on his door and called his name, but he put on some music and turned up the volume so he couldn't hear her, and Joanna finally gave up and walked away.A little while later, Joanna started to tell Alex something, but he covered his ears with both his hands and began to hum. I'll teach her, he thought. All morning he refused to hear anything she said.At lunchtime, Alex noticed that Joanna had put on her swimsuit. "Are you going somewhere, Joanna?" asked Dad.She nodded. "I'm going to Water World with the Mannings.""Sounds like fun," said Dad. He looked at Alex. "You're not going?""I wasn't invited," Alex answered crossly."You were too!" said Joanna. "I tried to tell you all morning, but you wouldn't listen. They had two extra tickets and invited both of us, but now they've given the last ticket to someone else.""Oh no!" wailed Alex as the Mannings' car turned into the driveway.That evening, Alex asked his parents for help with something for church. "My small group leader wants each of us to share some thoughts on prayer during our group time this week," he said. "But what should I say?""Well, let's see," said Dad. "Maybe you could talk about the importance of talking to God and listening to Him.""You could tell about how you missed out on a fun outing today by refusing to talk with your sister," suggested Mom. "Then explain that we all miss out on the blessing of communicating with God when we fail to talk to Him."Dad nodded. "God loves us and wants us to pray about all the things that matter to us. Jesus died and rose again so we could have a relationship with Him, and that means we can talk to God whenever we want!""Good idea," said Alex. "I'll tell the kids in my group not to give God the silent treatment." –Nance E. Keyes