Sorry is Not Enough

Kevin walked three blocks and then was sorry he told his mother he wanted to leave home.

He had worked several weeks on a model airplane his mother had taken to the fair and his little sister Stacey won a prize for her quilt designs.

When they returned home, they played a game of scrabble and Stacey won.He worked hard to get good grades and his sister got better grades.He wanted to leave home and find something he could do better than his sister, even if he had to live alone in the woods and eat with the squirrels.He told his mother he wanted to leave home and she packed his toothbrush, some soap, a towel, and change of clothes.He thought she would try to coax him not to leave but she didn't, and he took his travel kit, walked outside, and started to cry.

He returned home, but the door was locked.He waited an hour, and nobody showed up, not even his sister.It was Sunday morning and he thought his parents and sister would be in church so he walked in and heard the minister say that when we are sorry about something, it is not enough to say we are sorry, we need to do something extra to prove we are sorry and not make the same mistake again.

He wondered how to make a peace offering with his sister and then he thought of the scripture where it says in the Bible in St. Matthew to walk the extra mile and forgive those who have offended us.He realized his sister didn't intend to hurt his feelings. He decided to surprise her and asked the minister for a picture frame for his sister's quilt prize certificate, got some extra math tutoring to improve his grades, and found an instruction book on scrabble to give to his sister.

When Kevin returned home from church, the door was unlocked. He took the picture frame and instruction book to his sister's room and returned to the porch to begin his math homework.Just then, Stacey appeared and asked for his advice in working crossword puzzles, and he felt very proud his sister thought he was intelligent enough to work crossword puzzles.He walked into the kitchen where his Mom was setting the table for dinner.

His place was already set, and he was glad to be home.