Even Better

On the way home from church, Joanna noticed her brother quietly staring out the window. "What's wrong, Derek?" she asked. "You've hardly said a word since we got in the car."

Derek sighed. "I was just thinking about what Pastor Hill said about Jesus coming again."

Joanna frowned. "Don't you want Him to come?"

"Sure
someday," Derek replied.

"Sometimes I wish He'd come right away," said Joanna, "like before my math test tomorrow."

"If you'd study, you wouldn't have to wish that," Derek said.

"Wishing for Him to come soon is a good thing," said Joanna. "Grandma always ends her prayers with 'Lord, come quickly,' remember?"

"That's easy for her to pray--she's old!" Derek said. "I want a dog first, but if Jesus comes too soon, I'll never get to have one."

Dad smiled. "Remember the camping trip we took last summer? I promised we'd go, but we couldn't set an exact date because I didn't know when I'd be able to get off work. So we got all our camping stuff ready and then went on with