Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Ephesians 6:1

Mom and Dad helped Jimmy paint his room a nice light blue with a dark blue and white border. Now Jimmy could arrange it any way he liked. He picked up his favorite poster and looked around.

'I think it would be best on the wall opposite the window. It gets all the light there and you can see it from your bed,' Mom suggested. 'Also, we left that picture hanger in the wall so you wouldn't have to mark up the paint.'

'It's my room,' Jimmy thought. 'I'll put the poster where I want to.' Out loud he said, 'No, Mom, I'll put it over here, opposite the door.'

'Okay. You could use double-sided tape to stick it to the wall,' Mom said.

'No, Mom. I'll use a thumb-tack.' Jimmy stuck the thumb-tack through the poster into the wall. The poster was too heavy for the thumb-tack. It fell to the floor, leaving a little hole on the freshly-painted wall.

Mom sighed and left the room. Jimmy got his stapler and stapled the poster on each corner. It was a bit wavy in the middle so he stuck in a few more staples there too.

Lying in bed that night, Jimmy felt strangely troubled. 'I can't see my poster from here,' he thought. 'In the morning, I'll move it where Mom said.'

Next morning, Jimmy pulled out all the staples and hung the poster in its new spot. When he turned he saw the holes and scratches the staples had left on his newly-painted wall. It was a mess. 'Oh,' Jimmy thought. 'I wish I'd listened to Mom.'

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for our parents. Help us to heed their good advice. Amen.

Jake Peters. Winnipeg, Canada.