Children

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“Donna!!"

There goes my naggy brother Chris again. He must think I’m his slave, just because he’s one year older than me.

"WHAAT??" See, I know how to yell loud, too.

"Come 'ere! Hurry!"

"Why?"

“Because."

If he would explain, then I could decide better.

"I want to show you something."

Mom doesn't like to see us fight. But we do. Then after awhile we're friends again. Sometimes brothers can be such a pain.

"Coming," I say. My brother needs me a lot since my dad moved far away. When he left, it made us sad. But I still love him, even if he won't be with us this Christmas.

My Sunday school teacher says I should learn to love everybody. "Even my brother?" I asked.

"Yes." Then she opened up my bible and showed me John 3:16 --
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”

I like reading my bible. I think he gave it to me for grading. It’s a nice gift. At first I thought it was because he felt sorry for me. "How come he did, mom?" I asked.

"Maybe because we're new in church and..."

"And?" I interrupted. Sometimes I can be a pest.

"He said you have such cute freckles for a little girl!"

"I'm not a little girl mom," I said. “I’ll be eight soon. Pastor should know that."

"Are you coming or not?" said a loud voice tumbling down the stairs, and into my thoughts.

I finally went up to my brother's room. I made sure my feet stomped all the way.

"Well what do you want now?" I scolded.

Chris has more freckles than me. At school they tease him all the time. He said they call him 'freckle puss.' "Nobody better call me that," I said back.

"Lookit what I built for you," My brother said.

Suddenly I became very quiet. "For me?" It was a blue and white cross, made out of Lego. He knew I like to go to Sunday school. Sometimes my brother can be very nice. I think this must be one of those times.

We played with his Lego for a while. And I made a house with a funny roof. With a barn in back, and some animals drinking from a pond.

I thought about Christmas coming soon. And baby Jesus. So I made a new house. This time it was not a funny house. It wasn't even a castle, just a small stable for a little boy. He would even grow up to be our Savior.

"Thank you," I said to my brother, "for letting me play with your Lego." Then I gave him a big hug. "This Christmas won't be so bad," I said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you're my special brother. And I love you."

He was so surprised, he couldn't say any words. So I rushed to get my Bible. Then I sat on the floor beside Chris and read John 15:11-12.

Jesus said, "This is my commandment. That you love one another, as I have loved you."

"That goes for me too," Chris said with a big grin.

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© Richard & Esther Provencher 2008

Richard & Esther live in Truro, Nova Scotia. They have four children and five grandchildren. Their novel FOOTPRINTS is available from www.synergebooks.com. Both are busy in church work and community outreach. They welcome (adult only) feedback regarding their writing at: [email protected].

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