is anyone out there???

Honesty is the best policy

We went to visit my sister-in-law Molly and she reminded me of one of her favorite "McKibben Kids" stories. It was one that I had forgotten! I am writing it down so it will live on forever.

Several years ago, my husband gave a talk in church. He was giving an example about being honest in our everyday dealings. We had rented a car when we went to the Caribbean. It was a small island and we ended up walking almost everywhere we went. In order to catch our early morning flight home, we returned our rental car, key, and paperwork into a drop box before the office opened. There weren't any gas stations open yet either but as we checked the mileage on the car we saw that we had driven less than 10 miles and the tank was still on the full mark. I wasn't bothered at all by checking the box saying we had filled the car with gas. My husband, however, was not as easily convinced to leave the car, but in the end we didn't want to miss our flight. Finally to ease his guilty conscience, he paid for another day rental for the car and let it sit unused in the parking lot in exchange for not topping off the gas tank.

Anyway, during this talk, Anna, our youngest daughter, who was about 5 at the time, turned to her older, wiser brother Nicholas and asked in a loud whisper, "What exactly did dad do?"

Nicholas at age 8, was definitely wise beyond his years and didn't disappoint. He said loud enough for me to hear on the other side of the bench, "Dad stole a car and he feels really bad about it."

So, this one is for you Molly! I hope your baby will have many brilliant, insightful interpretations and revelations during church and that they will be loud enough for all to hear!