Page 14 - Publishing Inspiration Christmas Card 2014

laughed again and then told me the story.

He said that when he was a small boy, he

was at church and grew bored with Sunday
School. He and some friends slipped out a back

door and made their way to a store called Joey’s

market that was a couple of blocks away.
Steve was a good boy, but church had gone

a long time, and he was hungry. But he didn’t

have any money, and the things in the store
were so tempting. He browsed up and down the

aisles, and then his eyes settled on some
chocolate covered graham cracker cookies.

Those were by far his favorite.

He looked around to see if anyone was
watching, and then, carefully, he took them and

tried to sneak out of the store.

But his actions had not gone unnoticed.
Joey had seen him. Joey caught Steve red-

handed, and Steve knew he was in trouble.
Joey could have called the police, but he was a

good man, and felt that a run-in with the law

could do more harm than good to a young boy.
He had devised his own way of dealing with the

waywardness of impish children. Joey had

become a master at using peer pressure for

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