“What can Andrew and I do today? The zoo costs too much.”

It was the most delightful text I have read in a long time. The thought of Hope and Andrew, brother and sister, trying to figure out what to do for part of an afternoon made me smile.

Andrew needed extra credit. Somehow, going to the zoo counted. He asked Hope to go along. For two kids, 23 and 19, one soon to be married, this was a pretty cool thing for a dad to overhear.

It is, perhaps,  a little like Malachi described:

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.

Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. Most of the book is pretty depressing, talking about how religious people have abused their position, assumed God’s blessing.

And in the middle of pointing out the issues come these sentences.

Here’s my rephrasing from God’s side:

“You wonder about praying, about what counts. I’ll tell you what counts. When you talk with each other. Sometimes you talk about Me,  and that is nice. Sometimes you talk about each other, strengthening, encouraging. But even if you talk without starting with “Dear God” and ending with “amen”, I still listen.

And I take notes.

I mean, you are always assuming that I’m making a list and checking it twice, writing down every awful thing you do. But you know what? I’m writing down the good things. I want to remember them. They matter.”

As it turned out, the zoo would have cost them $13 each and would have only been worth 10 extra points. So they didn’t go. But I still noticed.

And wrote this scroll.