by JonAre
“Thanks, Eleanor,” Phillip said. “I know you care about Henry, too. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Phillip was relieved Henry was still alive. He said a quick prayer of thanks, and went to feed him.
Phillip spent most of the day doing school work and watching over Henry. He was so nervous about Caleb coming home that he didn’t even feel like going outside to fly his planes. He was also worried about tomorrow—he was going to spend the day with Ethan and Adam. Would Henry be okay if he was left all alone?
As if she could read his mind, Phillip’s mom said, “Phillip, I talked to Mrs. Lewis. She said you are welcome to bring Henry for the day tomorrow. I explained the situation and she said she would be happy to have an extra guest.”
“Oh, Mom,” Phillip sighed, “you didn’t tell her I made Henry sick, did you?” Phillip was very embarrassed.
“No, I just told her you were keeping Henry and that you were nervous about leaving him alone.”
“Thanks,” Phillip sighed again—this time in relief.
As the day went on, Henry seemed to be getting better all the time. He walked around his cage quite a bit and ate most of his food. He even started to crawl up Phillip’s arm when he was holding him. Phillip had never been happier about anything in his life…ever.
By the time the Carson’s picked the children (and Henry) up from the Lewis’ after spending the day in Bella Vista, Henry was almost back to normal. He still didn’t run around a lot, but he did seem to enjoy being in his ball Saturday evening.
Just before Phillip and his sisters started getting ready for bed, the phone rang—it was Caleb’s mom. They had gotten home a few hours earlier than planned and she was wondering if they could come pick Henry up.
“Caleb has missed that little guy and I’m sure you are just as ready to give him back,” Mrs. Peters laughed.
“That would be fine,” Mrs. Carson said.
When Caleb and his mom arrived, Mrs. Carson invited them in and then asked Phillip to tell them what had happened. At first Caleb was not happy with his friend. He did not understand why Phillip would be so careless with Henry—especially since he knew how important Henry was to him.
Phillip apologized and asked Caleb to forgive him. He was almost in tears he was so nervous and upset. When Caleb saw how bad Phillip felt, he forgave him, but said he thought it would be best if Phillip stuck with flying his planes and he took care of Henry. Everyone agreed and when the Caleb, Henry and Mrs. Peters left a few minutes later, everyone was relieved that everything had turned out okay.
Later, as Phillip’s dad was tucking him into bed, he asked, “Phillip, what did you learn from everything that has happened over the last few days?”
“Well,” Phillip said, “I’ve learned being responsible is important and that I’m not any good at it. I also learned that I have to own up to my mistakes and ask forgiveness instead of trying to hide them.”
“That’s right, son. Jesus died for our sins so we don’t have to pay the price for them, but we do have to admit them, ask forgiveness and learn from them so we can do better.”
“I will, Dad, I really will. But Dad…I don’t think I ever want a hamster.”
“That’s fine,” Phillip’s dad laughed and hugged his son, “that’s fine.”
Questions for discussion:
1.Why do you think Phillip had trouble being responsible?
2.What are some of the things Phillip did wrong while keeping Henry at his house?
3.How would you feel if you were Caleb?
4.Have you ever been irresponsible? What happened?
5.What have you learned from this book about being responsible?
Memorize: Romans 3:23