Boiling Over

"Lydia yelled at everybody today--Luis, Norah, Paul--and everyone else we were playing with," Ruby told her mother after school one day. "I'm her best friend, and she even yelled at me!"

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Mom.

"Yeah," said Ruby. "When Lydia gets mad, it makes such a mess of things. Luis and Norah said they didn't ever want to play with Lydia again!"

When Ruby came into the kitchen the next morning, Mom was stirring oatmeal in a pot on the stove. She stopped stirring to pour some juice for Ruby. A moment later, the oatmeal boiled over. "Oh no!" said Mom. She rushed over to the stove and moved the pan to another burner, but that only spread the gooey mess that was erupting from the pot.

"What a mess!" said Ruby, getting a sponge. "Here--I'll help you clean it up."

Mom smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I'm glad to have help." She wiped the bottom of the pot. "You know, this reminds me of what you told me yesterday--about Lydia, remember? The Bible often describes anger as ho