Every Other Weekend

"Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." Phillippians 4:11

"I don't feel like going home today," Tim told his friend Brett. He kicked a stone on the pavement. "Nothing's going my way. I want to live with my dad, but it's been decided that we kids have to stay with Mom."

"So that's the problem," said Brett.

"Problem? It's a crisis!" cried Tim. "Dad always took time to do stuff with me. Y'know, guy stuff. Now I'll get to be with him only every other weekend."

"Well, you can talk to him on the phone, too, can't you?" asked Brett. "You still have a lot to be thankful for." Tim noticed Brett's eyes were bright - were those tears? Suddenly he remembered that ever since he met Brett at the beginning of the school year, he had never seen or heard anything about Brett's father. "Does your dad live with you?" Tim asked.

Brett shook his head. "My dad died," he said softly.

"Oh," said Tim, not sure what else to say "Sorry." Tim and Brett walked quietly. "How do you survive without ever seeing your dad?" Tim asked finally.

"It's not easy," Brett said, "but one day when I was trying to make a guitar with rubber bands and a long box, Mom helped me understand how she deals with it. Some rubber bands stretched and fit over my box easily, but others were tight and pulled out thin in order to get around the cardboard. A few even snapped," added Brett. He was still silent, remembering.

"What does that have to do with making it without your dad?' Tim asked.

"The ones that fit super-tight made the best music on my new guitar. And Mom said that as things happened in life, we're stretched, too - like those smaller rubber bands," explained Brett. "We may be uncomfortable, but we can choose to be content and make music, even during the hard times of our lives; or we can give up and snap and be useless. Mom and I decided to trust God to use this hard part of our lives for his good." N.E.K.

Taken from "The One Year Book of Devotions for Kids"