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remembered this time when Pastor Tony preached about how we shouldn’t come to church if we were mad at someone. The Bible says that we’re supposed to go take care of our problems with our brothers and sisters and then come to worship. So I decided to take that piece of advice seriously, and I got up early and rode my bike over to Laura’s (fortunately the weather had improved).
    And as I rode, I practiced what I thought I would say to her. Still, I must admit feeling rather self-conscious as I stood on her front porch so early on Sunday morning when it looked as though the rest of the civilized world was still sleeping in. But thankfully her mom was up, in a lime green bathrobe and with a cup of coffee in her hand. She acted as if she wasn’t all thatsurprised to see me, although I suspect she was. “You’re up early today, Chloe.” “Is Laura here?”
    She nodded. “I think she’s still in bed, but you can go get her up if you want. You know where her room is.”
    So I tiptoed down the hall to Laura’s room and quietly tapped on her door. I heard her sleepily say, “Come in.” So I did.
    Laura’s head popped up from her pillow. “What are you—?”
    “Sorry to wake you up.” I glanced around her tidy room. Laura is a total neat freak. “Can I sit on your bed?”
    She nodded with wide eyes.
    “I—uh—I just wanted to talk to you,” I began slowly. “I feel really bad about what happened on Friday, and I wanted to say I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” Mow I must confess that I still felt like this was as much her fault as mine, maybe even more, but then I can only be responsible for my own actions—not hers. So this is where I started. Besides, this idea had occurred to me on the way over—if you really love someone, even though you believe she’s wronged you, maybe the kindest thing is for you to do everything possible to make it easier for her to say she’s sorry too.
    I could see that Laura was holding back tears now. She pressed her lips together as if she wasthinking about what to say and then simply burst out, “I’m sorry too, Chloe. I don’t know why I was being so—so—”
    I hugged her. “It doesn’t matter now. The important thing is we’re still friends.”
    She nodded and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t know if you’d ever want to speak to me again. I thought about calling, but I didn’t even know what to say, where to begin.”
    “I’ve thought about the whole thing a lot. And maybe we should just agree to disagree about some things.”
    “Maybe so.”
    “I mean, God made us all different for a reason, didn’t He?”
    “I guess so.”
    “And just because you feel one way about something doesn’t mean I have to feel the same way, right?”
    “Maybe not.” She still looked troubled though.
    “So are we okay then?”
    She sighed. “Yeah. I think so.”
    I glanced around her tidy room again, wondering, not for the first time, how she managed to keep everything in place. She even had an outfit all laid out for church. I’d probably just go in the jeans I was already wearing. “I guess I should probably go and let you get ready for church.”
    She glanced at her alarm clock. “Maybe so.”
    So I said good-bye to her mom, hopped on my bike, and headed home. I felt better, but I still felt like something wasn’t quite right. Maybe I was still just obsessing over that stupid little episode with Marissa and worried that Laura would find out and think Allie and I were nuts for hanging with her in the first place. Or maybe I sensed something wasn’t quite right with Laura. I’m still not sure. But I’m praying for Laura—that God will make her into the person He wants her to be. And me too!
    MORE LIKE YOU
mold us into Your image
make us look like You
form us into Your likeness
fill our hearts anew
shape us into people
who reflect Your sweet light
grow us up and stretch us
and teach us what is right
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Wednesday, April 16
    Today Marissa told Allie and me that she