TLC

"What happened to Ezra?" Laura asked as she worked with her brother in the garden. "Why doesn't he come over anymore?" "I don't know," said Orson. He settled back on his heels. "Ezra changed a lot when his parents got divorced. He started hanging with another group of kids, so I don't see him that much anymore.""But you still see him at church, right?" asked Laura."Not really," said Orson. "He hasn't come in a long time." He sighed and started pulling weeds again. "Whatever. I'm not going to go out of my way to be friends with him if he's not interested.""Watch what you're doing!" Laura exclaimed. "That's one of Mom's lavender plants you're trying to pull up.""But it's dead," said Orson. "And stuck too. I can't get it out."Laura knelt beside him. "Look. It's not really dead. There's a little green on it down here." She pointed to a little sprout. "And it's stuck because lavender plants put their roots down deep.""Well, if it isn't dead, then why does it look like this?" said Orson.Laura shrugged. "It had a hard winter, I guess. We'll just have to take special care of it now." She grinned. "Mom would say it needs TLC--tender, loving care."Orson sat and stared at the plant until Laura finally nudged him. "Hey, get back to work!"Orson wiped his forehead. "I was just thinking--maybe Ezra needs TLC too. He's had a rough time lately, so maybe I should be taking special care of him.""I think you're right," said Laura. "It sounds like he needs a friend to stick with him through everything he's going through." She yanked a weed out of the ground. "One of the ways God shows His love to us is through our friends, remember? Pastor Jennings talked about that. He said Jesus is the most faithful friend of all, and since we know Him and have His Spirit in us, we can be faithful friends too." "Yeah," said Orson. "I'll tell Ezra I miss seeing him around. Maybe I'll see if he wants to come over after school tomorrow." He repacked dirt around the base of the lavender plant, taking care to be mindful of the little green sprout. "And I'll pray for him too."–Barbara J. Westberg