The Master Prankster

Logan loved pranking his big sister Natalie. Today, he'd sneaked into her room while she was at soccer practice and turned everything upside down. When she got home, he hid in his room, waiting for her reaction. After several minutes, her scream echoed down the hallway. "Logan!"Logan fell onto his bed laughing as Natalie stomped in. "Why would you do that to me?" she demanded.Logan shrugged. "What's the big deal? It's funny!""Grrrr!" Natalie balled up her fists. Mom stepped in. "What's going on?""Logan pranked me again. I'm tired of it! Just look at my room!"Mom shook her head. "Come on, Logan. Let's fix this."Logan sighed and followed Mom into Natalie's room. Couldn't Natalie take a joke?Mom watched while Logan flipped Natalie's belongings so they were back to normal. It wasn't so fun this time. No wonder Natalie had been upset--if she was tired after practice, fixing her room would've been a big project.A knot formed in Logan's stomach. "Mom…I haven't been a good brother.""Why's that?" asked Mom.Logan swallowed. "I prank Natalie all the time. It's funny, and it makes me feel popular when I tell stories about it at school. But Natalie and I used to be friends--and now I've ruined it.""Friendship is powerful," Mom said. "Jesus told His disciples that the best kind of love is when we lay down our lives for our friends."Logan's eyes widened. "That's what Jesus did. He died so we could live.""Exactly. If we want to love like Jesus, we can lay down our desires for the sake of our friends."Logan nodded. He knew he had to lay down his desire to prank Natalie in order to love her better.When he finished with Natalie's room, he found her in the kitchen. "Natalie… I'm sorry."She turned. "You are?""Yeah. And I want to be friends again. What would you think about that?"When a joyful smile spread across Natalie's face, Logan knew her answer. -Becca Wierwille