Thorny Hearts & Sleeping Brothers

“Ouch!” shouted Craig as he dug around in his mom’s flower bed. “I hate this job,” he grumbled.

“What’s wrong, Craig?” asked Matt, Craig’s younger brother.

“Nothin’,” Craig replied. “Except that I stabbed my thumb on this stupid thorn.”

“I can help if you want,” Matt offered.

Craig stopped scratching around in the dirt and turned to his little brother. “What?!”

Matt cleared his throat, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Craig wasn’t always very kind to him, but since Matt became a Christian, he had been trying to show love and kindness to his brother. “Uh, I said I could help you if you want me to.”

“Why?” Craig asked suspiciously. “What’s in it for you?”

Matt thought for a minute then answered. “Well, if I help you get the weeds and thorns out of the garden, then you promise to go to church with me tomorrow.”

Craig sat back on the grass, thinking. “Okay, it’s a deal. That way I can have time to play my new video game. At this rate, I’ll never get to play if I have to do this by myself. Here, start pulling weeds.” Craig tossed a small shovel toward Matt, who squatted down and began digging and pulling with all his might.

It wasn’t long before the flower bed was cleared of weeds and thorns. “That looks beautiful,” said Matt and Craig’s mom as she walked up from the car. “I had a terrible day at work but seeing you two helping each other— and a clean flower bed—has made my day. Thank you!” She gave each boy a hug and went indoors.

Matt grinned at Craig. “So, tomorrow morning you gotta go with me to church, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Craig replied. “We’ll see. I’m going to play my new game. See ya!” And off he went leaving his gloves and shovel behind.

Matt sighed and turned to pick up the gardening tools. “I sure hope Craig keeps his promise tomorrow.”

Craig stayed in his room all afternoon, playing his new adventure game. He came downstairs for dinner with his eyes glazed over from staring at the screen for hours. “Wow! This is a cool game. It’s got all kinds of treasures to find and creepy monsters to destroy,” he said excitedly. “I can’t wait to get to the boss level!”

“How far are you now?” asked Matt.

“I’m only halfway there, but I should get to the boss by morning if I keep playing all night.”

“What do you mean all night?” Mom questioned. “I don’t want you staying awake to play a game. You need your sleep.”

“And don’t forget, you promised to go to church tomorrow,” Matt reminded his brother.

“Yeah, well—maybe,” Craig replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’m going to church, too,” said Mom. “I finally got a Sunday off, and I would love to have both of you there.” She pointed her finger at Craig.

“Cool!” Matt said excitedly. “I really like church, but it’s even better with you, Mom—and Craig.”

The next morning, Matt woke up to the sun shining through the window. He jumped out of bed and went to the kitchen for breakfast, excited to take his family to church. “Good morning, Mom,” Matt said cheerfully.

“Good morning, Dear,” Mom replied, yawning. She set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Matt. “You’d better go wake your brother when you’re finished eating.”

After gobbling his breakfast, Matt ran back upstairs to Craig’s room and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he opened the door and peeked in. Craig’s video screen was flashing a bright red message: “Winner! You beat the boss!”

Matt peered toward the bed and saw Craig, who was fast asleep—still clutching the game controller in his hand. “Oh, so you did play all night,” Matt murmured. “But you still have to come to church like you promised.”

Matt tip-toed toward his brother. When Craig was awake, he acted like a tough guy, but while he was asleep, he looked kinda goofy. Matt slapped his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Then he had an idea.

Matt picked up an extra pillow and raised it up over Craig’s head, ready to strike. Suddenly, Craig let out a huge snore—ssnnoooor— shhhhoooo! Matt froze with the pillow above his head as Craig turned over and blinked. But when Craig saw Matt, it startled him. “Whaaa!” Craig shouted and rolled over—right off the edge of the bed onto the floor—clunk! Matt dropped the pillow, sprinted out of Craig’s room, and rushed down the stairs.

“You ready to go?” asked Mom.

“Yeah, but I don’t think Craig is,” Matt replied breathlessly.

“Hmm. I’ll go check on him.” Mom went up the stairs to Craig’s room but came right back. “Craig’s still sleeping. It’s kinda strange though, he’s lying on the floor. I have a feeling he stayed up all night, even though I told him not to.”

“Well, maybe he can come to church next Sunday,” Matt suggested.

“Yes. And I’ll make sure he does,” said Mom. “Since he didn’t listen to me, he can weed the backyard next Saturday.”

“Hey, that oughtta make him so tired, he’ll sleep all night—and be ready to go to church next Sunday morning,” Matt said, smiling.

“That’s exactly right,” said Mom. “Let’s go.”

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