Which Path to Choose?

By Abbey F., age 11, Virginia, USA

Every day, Hannah had something mean to say.

It was the first day at my new school. I loved making new friends and was pretty good at it. I got to my classroom and saw all of the people. I thought I was going to have a great year. During lunch with my new friends, we all sat down next to a girl from another class. Her name was Hannah. When I sat down, Hannah said, “Wow, your shoes really stink. I wondered if it was the garbage can or your fashion sense.”

I was really surprised when she said that, and so were the others. So I got up and moved to another table by another new friend.

The next day at recess, Hannah had something else mean to say. This went on and on each day, but every time, I would not say something rude back because my Sunday School teacher, Brother Lawson, said that you should treat others the way you want to be treated. When I thought of that, I asked Hannah politely to please stop or please tell me why she was acting like this to me.

Then I went home and told my mom about all of the things Hannah had said. I felt like exploding! My mom said, “Abbey, just try not to be rude back. Sometimes people act the way they do because something hard is going on at home.”

So I went to school thinking about what my mom and Brother Lawson said. That day at school, Hannah finally told me that hard things were going on at home and she said mean things because she was mad. I forgave her, and this year she is in my class and we are really good friends!

I learned that following Jesus is the best path.