A New Way to Walk

Diego watched as Lucas walked around the picnic table on stilts and then jumped to the ground. "Wanna try?" asked Lucas. He held the stilts while his cousin climbed up on the picnic table to get on them. "You have to use your arms to help your legs take steps," said Lucas. "Kinda like you're a puppet pulling your own strings."When Lucas let go of the stilts, they went flying from under Diego's feet. One crashed sideways, smacking Lucas on the side of the head. Mean, angry words exploded from his mouth as he winced in pain and grabbed his head with his hands. Diego stared at his cousin in surprise. "I didn't mean to hit you with the stilts. I'm sorry."Lucas sighed. "It's okay. I shouldn't have lost my temper and called you that. I'm sorry too. Here, I'll help you get started again."Diego wobbled dangerously when Lucas let go of the stilts, but before long he was able to keep his balance for quite a few steps at a time. "Look, Mom!" he said proudly when she came out to watch. "I'm walking on stilts!"After Lucas left to go home, Diego turned to his mom. "Do you think Lucas really meant it when he said he trusted Jesus to forgive him and save him at church last month? When I fell and one of the stilts hit him, he got mad and called me a mean name just like he used to.""Well, think about walking on stilts, Diego," said Mom. "You had to go carefully and think about each step, otherwise you'd fall. That's what we all have to do as Christians. We need to go carefully and think about the steps we take in life. When we're not careful, it's easy for us to fall back into old habits instead of walking the new way Jesus teaches us to walk.""Well, Lucas did apologize," said Diego. "That's new for him.""We all fall in our Christian lives sometimes," said Mom. "But Jesus forgives us and helps us back up. We need to remind each other of that and help each other. You can encourage Lucas in his Christian walk by being patient and forgiving.""Okay," said Diego. "I'll do what I can to help him in his walk with Jesus."-Catherine Runyon