I rushed my three kids out the door on the first day of school. Not only did I need to get my kids to school on time, but I needed make an extra stop to pick up two more girls. After turning into the housing complex where the girls lived I needed to stop at three bus stops before arriving to their house. When I stopped at the third bus stop the kids erupted into a mass of moving arms and legs, running out in front of my van and making rude hand gestures. I fumed unable to do anything about it, but ignore it.
A few morning later I decided I absolutely could not put up with such horribly rude children. How dare they treat me with such disrespect every school morning. I dreaded picking up the kids and didn’t want to spend the rest of the year facing those kids every morning.
I considered several options and since I preferred to live my life on the outside of a jail cell I decided to go with my safest albeit least appealing idea.  I would heap coals of burning fire upon their heads.  The next day when I stopped at their bus stop and they ran out in front of me, I did the next to impossible.  I managed to lift my nearly paralyzed hand off the steering wheel and wave.  I also managed to move the muscles of my face, which suddenly felt like stone, into a very fake smile.  It was worth it! Those kids didn’t know what to do, smile and wave or make obscene hand gestures. Now I wasn’t just smiling,  I was laughing and it was real! This was fun. The next day was a repeat of the same thing.  And then day three arrived!  I pulled up to the bus stop and those horrible rude children stood quietly next to the road. I smiled and waved and they smiled and waved back at me.  Instead of dreading every morning I eagerly looked forward to seeing them.

At the end of the school year I mentioned to my carpool kiddies how nice “those kids” were and how they had changed since the beginning of the school year.  Their faces looked confused and said, “They still run out in front of all the other cars and annoy people”.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:21

Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  Romans 12:20