# Be Obedient Children’s Corner Language: en Author: by Steven Lapp Pine Grove, PA Original issue: The Heartbeat of the Remnant, Winter 2021, Number 4 Source pages: 18–19 Read article: Original PDF: Winter\-2021\-Remnant\(3\)\.pdf [The Heartbeat of the Remnant, Winter 2021]() The grinding sound of truck tires driving in the gravel lane filled the air as I sat in the house reading an encyclopedia\. Leaping to my feet, I peered out the window\. Mom had just returned from the produce auction in Lewisburg with some peaches\. Slamming the door behind me, I raced across the thick green grass and leaped onto the bed of our truck\. On the back of the pickup sat four boxes of peaches\. Grinning triumphantly, I reached into a box searching until I found a ripe one\. Just before I bit into it, Mom said, “Steven, don’t eat any peaches; it will ruin your supper\.” Sadly, I tossed the peach back into the box and then slowly walked away\. ![A crate of peaches on weathered wood]() Several hours later, Dad called from the veal barn\. “Steven, go pick the radishes for our Friday market produce stand\.” After picking, washing, and banding the radishes, I carried them into the old cooler which was inside the red bank barn\. The cooler door squeaked as I yanked it open\. There along the cooler walls sat the four boxes of the tantalizing peaches\. I stared at the peaches, my mouth watering\. I quickly set the radishes down\. Oh, how good they looked\. Surely a little peach wouldn’t ruin a starving ten\-year\-old’s supper\. Mom wouldn’t know if I only took one peach\. Deep in my heart, a battle between right and wrong started to develop\. I knew that sneaking was wrong, but those peaches looked way too good\. After devouring the peach, I scanned the dark interior of the barn for a good hiding place to put the peach stone\. I looked across the onions, laying on drying racks, to the open hay bale\. The only problem was that if I put the stone under the hay someone could find it\. Then I spied the holes in the barn siding boards on the west side of the barn\. If I pushed the stone through one of those holes it would land beside the road\. Then, if someone saw it, they would think that it came from a passing vehicle\. I jammed the stone through the hole, peering out as it fell beside the road\. At that split second, I felt a searing pain on my forehead\. Frantically, I sprang back\. There above the hole hung a yellow jacket nest\. Then I saw the culprit as it hovered over me trying to sting me again\. I sprinted out the barn door, slamming the door into the yellow jacket’s face\. That evening my forehead swelled like a balloon, making it difficult to look out of my eyes\. A few hours later, everyone else went to bed\. I laid on the couch so that Mom could occasionally check up on me during the night\. But I just couldn’t fall asleep\. My face was inflamed and itchy, but all that I could think about was the guilt and remorse of what I had done\. After several agonizing hours, I gathered the courage to slide off the couch and tiptoed over to my parent’s bedroom\. Awakening my parents, I told them the whole story… how I ate the peach, then tried to hide the stone, and how I had gotten stung\. My parents forgave me, deciding that this was one lesson that I wouldn’t soon forget\. Walking back to the couch with a light heart, I laid down, and quickly fell into a peaceful sleep\. ## Magazine citation - [A crate of peaches on weathered wood](): Adobestock\.com