In Touch

Dear Young Disciples,

I put down my anthropology textbook and sighed. The day was gorgeous, and I wanted to be outside, enjoying it.

Just then the phone in my dorm room rang. “We have some kites, and the wind is blowing just right,” my friend told me. “Come and join us!”

I hadn’t flown a kite in years. “Sounds like fun,” I answered. “I’ll be right down.”

My conscience started pricking me even before I hung up the phone. You have a big report to present tomorrow in anthropology class. You don’t have time for this.


I shook my head. I’m the last one on the list for tomorrow, I reasoned. The other students will probably take too long, and there won’t be time for my report, anyway. Besides, I need a break.

I didn’t feel quite so confident in class the next day. The students breezed through their reports in record time. As my turn drew closer and closer, my palms began to sweat. Please, Lord, get me out of this. 

The hands on the clock moved excruciatingly slowly. Fifteen minutes before the end of class, Dr. Seibel gave me a nod. “Janet, you’re next.”

“I’m sorry,” I confessed. “I didn’t get to it.” The look on Dr. Seibel’s face made me feel like crawling under my chair.

My negligence cost me an A in the class. But it was worth it for the valuable spiritual lesson it taught me: I can’t expect God to work a miracle to make up for my own careless neglect.

God is calling us to prepare for His Kingdom today. Will we do it—before it’s too late?

Your friend,