1 WEEK Choosing to do what you should even when you don't want to Proverbs 25:28 MEMORY VERSE 2 Peter 1:3a As Zoe lugged a duffel bag down the stairs, her father shook his head. I don t know if this is a good idea, he said. Zoe rolled her eyes and grabbed her jacket and car keys. It s just for the weekend, she pointed out. All I have to do is stay at Ms. Jensen s house while she s gone and put out food for the llama. Sixty bucks for doing nothing. Do you know anything about llamas? asked Dad. I dog-sit all the time, said Zoe. What s the difference? Dad raised an eyebrow. About 300 pounds. And ten thousand dollars. I gotta go, said Zoe, and opened the front door. Did you pack warm clothes? her dad asked. The weather report said we could get some serious snow. Dad! Zoe rolled her eyes. I got this. When Zoe hopped out of her car at Ms. Jensen s house, she found the older lady already on the porch with her luggage. Thanks for doing this, Ms. Jensen said. I ve left all the instructions on the kitchen table. After Ms. Jensen bustled off, Zoe took the list of instructions and stepped out onto the back porch. Put out food and water for Llama Llama by 7 o clock in the morning, she read. 1
Zoe glanced up at the llama, who was ranging near the back fence. Your name is Llama Llama? she exclaimed. That s like naming a puppy Dog Dog. Even from a distance, the llama glared... and then spit. Zoe wrinkled her nose. Ew. Remind me not to get close to you. She continued with the list. Check weather at midnight and three a.m. If it snows, put Llama Llama in the shed. What else... Eat anything in the fridge... wifi password. Nice. After feeding Llama Llama, Zoe popped a pizza in the oven and settled down with a show on Netflix. It s not that late, she noted after the first episode. Just one more... When midnight rolled around, Zoe knew she should check on the llama, but she just had to find out what happened next. I ll check on Llama Llama in a couple minutes. But when Zoe finished the episode, eyes glued to the screen, she couldn t help playing another one... and another... and another... until she was so tired she conked out on the sofa. It s not that late, Zoe noted after the first episode. Just one more... Zoe slept soundly until her phone woke her in the morning light. She sat up suddenly, adrenaline racing through her veins. Huh? What time is it? she mumbled, fishing for her phone. Hello? Zoe? said Dad s voice. Just wanted to check in and see if everything is okay. Zoe stumbled up off the sofa, heading for the window. Uh, everything is fine... But as she caught a glimpse out the window, she saw nearly a foot of snow had fallen. 2
Llama Llama! she cried. Zoe tugged on her light jacket and shivered as she opened the door, phone still at her ear. Zoe! her dad exclaimed. Are you okay? Outside, everything was white and still... but the heavy snow had collapsed a section of fence. Hoof prints showed the llama had made his escape. Zoe s heart sank. The fence broke! she cried. Llama Llama got out! Zoe raced back inside, juggling the phone as she tugged on her boots and grabbed her car keys. Weren t you supposed to put the llama inside the shed? Dad wondered. I, um... kinda got carried away with my show... Zoe confessed. Stay put, Dad told her. Call Animal Control and check with the neighbors. I ll put on the snow chains and be there in twenty minutes. Dad hung up. Zoe opened the front door as icy wind hit her face. This is my fault. I can t lose time, she told herself. I ll just follow the tracks. Teeth chattering, Zoe slipped her way down the front steps to her car. The wind had whipped the snow off her windshield, so she hopped inside. As the engine made a sluggish start, the radio clicked on and an announcer droned,... this is 95.3 WURF with a traffic advisory to stay off the roads as temperatures continue to plunge... Zoe switched off the radio to focus on driving. She crept along, following llama tracks...... down the street...... around an icy corner...... onto the empty main road. Then the tracks seemed to disappear. Where did they go?! Oh... there! Zoe spied the marks of llama hooves where the sidewalk would be. She hauled on the steering wheel to make a quick turn. But her tires lost their grip, and she felt her car spinning. The world swam in a blur of frosty white until her car stuck nose-first in a snow bank! Zoe took a deep breath and made a quick assessment. She seemed to be okay. And through her window, she spotted the llama tracks, heading down a side street. Quickly, she turned off the car s engine and squeezed out her door into the drift. 3
She slogged through the snow after the missing llama. But in minutes, she could hardly feel her fingers or toes. Llama Llama? she called, straining her eyes to find the light-colored llama against the white snow. Llama Llama! Zoe was freezing and miserable. And Ms. Jensen s ten-thousand-dollar llama was still missing. I just want... to be... home! she moaned. Then she heard the sound of a car engine and glanced up as a squad car stopped beside her. You left that car stuck on Main? growled the officer at the wheel. Yeah, said Zoe sheepishly. Get in, ordered the officer. You re lucky if you don t have hypothermia already. Zoe slid into the warm back seat of the car, teeth chattering. Why d you get outta your car? asked the officer. Animal Control just picked up a llama, said the policeman. I, er... had to find a llama, Zoe tried to explain. Animal Control just picked up a llama, said the policeman. He was stickin his head in the SuperBurger drive-through window, spittin at the workers. Zoe leaned back with a sigh of relief. She felt foolish, but she was thankful to know the llama was safe. Later, Zoe slowly warmed up as her dad wrapped her in blankets and handed her a mug of hot cocoa. Thanks for calling Animal Control, she told him. And putting the fence back up. 4
You could stand to work on your own fences, her dad told her dryly. Me? Her dad nodded. Proverbs says it really well: A person without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken through. Zoe nodded. If I d just taken a break from my show, I would ve seen the snow. And put Llama Llama in the shed. When you can t control yourself, you can get into a whole world of hurt, her dad agreed. And... frozen toes. And a busted car. Zoe wriggled her toes as they began to warm and prickle. She d spent the whole morning paying for her lack of self-control. Next time, she d make wiser choices. Let s Talk! Does your family have any special rules? List several of them right now. Sometimes rules can be frustrating and hard to understand. What might happen if you broke a family rule once? What might happen if you broke it over and over again? The reason that your parents set rules is to keep you safe now and to help you develop the control that will help you make wise choices as you get older. Ask God to give each of you the power to control yourself so you can better show love to Him and to others. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER S VERSION 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. 2018 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. 5