A Sister's Revenge

I Thessalonians 5:15. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else

Snow in central Arkansas is a rare occurance. Snow in central Arkansas in March, is even rarer. We've had it twice this week! We go inches of feathery white powder that looked so pretty on the grass and the trees, but didn't stick to the roads to cause accidents.

Tuesday, when the first wave hit, we jumped out of bed early, and waited expectantly for schools to be called off. Our long, dirt driveway was frozen over at first, but by 9:00 it was apparent that we were going to be able to get out after all.

The girls went out and loaded their things into our SUV, and started it to warm up. I locked up the house and joined them in the truck and we started off. As I got to the edge of the road, I realized that there was still several inches of snow piled up on the side windows and I couldn't see to pull onto the highway. I hit the button to roll down the windows, thinking it would knock the snow off onto the ground. Instead it left a wall of snow about a foot high, which perched there for a minute and then tumbled down...not out onto the driveway, but directly into my lap and that of my eighteen year old daughter!

Kristen screamed, threw open the door and jumped out, stomping to try and get rid of the cold mess. I put the Explorer into park and opened my own door. As I tried in vain to brush the snow from my clothes, I realized that the entire time we were standing on the side of the road, jumping around and looking like total idiots: Lauren was in the back seat rolling with laughter. Kristen looked at me and without saying a word, we each reached for the hood of the truck and grabbed a handful of snow. Before she knew what we were about to do, Lauren had snow down the back of her hoodie. The disadvantage to a two door SUV? You can't get out of the back seat quickly. Especially when your sister is blocking the handle to raise the front seat up.

I know those driving down the highway and seeing us had to have thought we were crazy. When Kristen finally felt sorry for Lauren and let her out of the truck, she stood there hopping up and down trying to get the snow balls out of her shirt. Kristen and I were both soaked and all three of us were laughing so hard we could barely stand up straight. We got back in and started to town, and Lauren, still laughing said "That wasn't nice!"

"Revenge is sweet!" Kristen shot back. "You shouldn't have laughed at us."

The bible is clear about revenge...don't do it. Unfortunately for Lauren, Paul's words in Thessalonians were the furthest thing from my mind when I shoved that snowball down her shirt! As I read these words this afternoon, I felt a little guilty about my reactions. It is in our human nature to want to retaliate when we feel like we've been wronged. Turning the other cheek is hard to do when your pride is at stake. But imagine a time where revenge didn't exist...what a wonderful world.