MADDIE AND THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
"Ok, class time to go", said Mr. Greene, Maddie's Sunday School teacher. "And remember, everyone who can say their memory verse next week will go with me after church to the ice cream shop for a double-decker cone of your choice."
The class erupted from their seats running for the door in a burst of excited energy, anxious to tell their parents about next week's treat. Maddie was no exception. Ice cream was her all-time favorite food. And a double-decker! Mommy usually only let her have one scoop at a time. What a treat! Maddie was determined to learn her verse and learn it well.
When Maddie got in the car to go home, she asked Mommy, "Is God really going to bomb the nation?"
"Maddie! Wherever did you hear that?" a surprised Mommy answered.
"It's our memory verse", Maddie explained. "Proverbs 12:22. Lying lips are a bomb the nation to the Lord."
Mommy chuckled. "The word is a-bom-i-na-tion, Maddie. It means something God hates so much it makes Him sick to His stomach."
Maddie remembered a time when she was sick to her stomach. She ate the one scoop of ice cream Mommy allowed her after dinner and then when Mommy went into the bathroom, she went into the freezer and got more. A lot more. And she ate it all before Mommy got out of the bathroom. She spent the rest of the night throwing up. "If I lie, will it make God throw up?" Maddie asked Mommy."Well, yes, in a manner of speaking", she replied.
Maddie didn't want God to feel the way she had felt the night she ate all that ice cream. She said a quiet little prayer to herself. God, please help me not to lie. I don't want to make you sick to your stomach.
That evening Aunt Edna came over for dinner. She brought her "casserole surprise". It was called that because you never knew what was going to be in it. It would be a surprise if it ever tasted good, Maddie thought to herself. When she saw Aunt Edna with the food in her hands, she groaned.
Mommy forced a smile on her face and said, "Edna, how good to see you and you brought your lovely casserole surprise! It's our favorite!" Maddie gave Mommy a wide-eyed look which was returned with Mommy's "not now" look. Mommy seated Aunt Edna and started serving the casserole surprise. It was no surprise. It was awful as ever, and Maddie was pretty sure she had seen the mushy green stuff move all by itself! Right after dinner, Maddie excused herself and went to her room. She left Mommy talking with Aunt Edna as they cleared the table and did the dishes.When Mommy came in to check on Maddie after Aunt Edna had left, Maddie pounced on her. "Mommy, you lied! You told Aunt Edna her yucky casserole was our favorite! It's gross and it jiggles when you try to eat it!"
"Maddie", Mommy sat on the bed, motioning for Maddie to join her, "that was a 'little white lie'. We tell 'little white lies' sometimes to avoid hurting someone's feelings."
"But it wasn't TRUE, Mommy. That makes it a lie, doesn't it? Did it make God sick to His stomach, Mommy?"
Mommy thought a moment. "Yes, it probably did", she answered slowly. "But what could I say to Edna? It would break her heart if I told her we hated her casserole surprise."
"I love her spaghetti!" Maddie exclaimed. "Why don't we just tell her that we love her spaghetti and would like her to bring it for a change?"
"What a good idea, Maddie!" Mommy said. "You're right. We can avoid hurting someone's feelings without telling even 'little white lies' if we give it some thought. I'm going to call Edna. You go to sleep." She kissed Maddie and left the room. Maddie went to sleep and dreamed of Aunt Edna's spaghetti and double-decker ice cream cones.
The next morning Maddie woke up to Mommy shaking her arm and nearly pushing her out of bed. "Get up, Maddie, it's almost 7:30! We're running late." Maddie slowly sat up and started to stretch as Mommy began throwing clothes out of her dresser drawer onto her bed. "Come on, get dressed, let's go! I've got a million things to do before I gave to take you to school in less than an hour!" A million things! Maddie thought. Poor Mommy! She will never get them all done. No wonder she is running around so fast. Maddie had never seen Mommy in such a hurry.
Maddie dressed and went into the kitchen. Mommy quickly poured some cereal into a bowl, splashing the milk onto the table in her haste."Great, another thing to do", Mommy complained as she started to clean up the mess she had made. Maddie just ate her cereal quietly and tried to stay out of Mommy's way.
At 8:15, Mommy rushed Maddie into the car to drive her to the bus stop. It was several blocks away and Mommy didn't like Maddie to walk that far alone. Mommy went over her list of things to do. "Drop off Maddie, drop off the dry cleaning, pick up the film, and be home by 8:30 for the cable man to arrive. I'll never make it!" she huffed.
"But Mommy, that's only four things to do, not a million", Maddie said.
Mommy answered a little impatiently, "I was exaggerating Maddie. It might as well be a million. I still will never get it all done in time."
"But Mommy", Maddie insisted, "four isn't a million. Wasn't that a lie? Did it make God sick to His stomach, Mommy?"
Mommy sighed, "Yes, Maddie, it probably did. People exaggerate all the time and don't think about it being a lie. But you are right. Four isn't a million, even if it feels like it is. I'm going to try not to exaggerate any more, ok?"
"Ok!" Maddie agreed with a smile. They both felt better as Mommy let Maddie out of the car at the bus stop.
When Maddie got home from school, she asked Mommy if she'd gotten everything she needed to done in time. "Yes, Maddie. I just had to slow down and plan my time better. You were a big help. Is there anything special you'd like to do tonight?"Maddie's eyes lit up. "Could Ginny come spend the night?" Maddie asked.
"Why not?" answered Mommy. "We three girls could do something fun together." Maddie squealed with excitement and ran off to call Ginny. They could all make ice cream sundaes and dance in the living room to Ginny's new Newsboys cd. She could hardly wait!
As Maddie was letting Ginny in the front door, Mommy was digging through the hall closet. "Here it is!" she exclaimed, dragging out an old movie projector. Oh no! thought Maddie. Not home movies! They were in black and white and Maddie didn't know any of the "relatives" in them. They were boring. This was not what she had in mind when Mommy said they could all do something fun together. What should she do?
"What?" asked Ginny.
"Nothing." Maddie answered.
It was her moment of truth! "Mommy", Maddie called, getting her mother's attention as she was attempting to put up the screen. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but the TRUTH is...", she paused taking a deep breath before rushing on. "I don't like the home movies. They are boring and I don't know anyone in them. We have about 15 minutes of homework to do and then I was hoping we could make ice cream sundaes and dance in the living room." There. The truth was out. What would Mommy say?
Mommy began putting the movie equipment back into the closet. "That sounds like fun, Maddie. My feelings aren't hurt. You'll enjoy the movies more when you are older. Why don't you girls go do your homework while I make the sundaes? " Mommy suggested. "Then we'll roll back the living room rug and give The Newsboys a run for their money!"
"Great, Mrs. Miller!" said Ginny.
"Thanks, Mom", said Maddie as they left the room. Mommy gave her a wink and went into the kitchen.
That Sunday, Maddie knew her memory verse very well, even though she hadn't spent much time actually studying it. At the ice cream shop, Maddie eyed all of her choices eagerly. She finally chose one scoop of a green ice cream that kind of looked like Aunt Edna's casserole surprise, but tasted much, much better and didn't move."Only one scoop, Maddie?" asked Mr. Greene.
"Yes," answered Maddie. "Too much ice cream makes me sick to my stomach. Ice cream is too good to be an a-bom-i-na-tion, Mr. Green." Mr. Greene gave Maddie a funny look. Maddie just smiled and ate her ice cream.
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