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Changing Rodney

Album: 34: In Your Wildest Dreams

Episode: 443

Lesson/Theme: Believing in people

Bible Verse: Ephesians 4:32

Characters: Mandy, Wooton, Connie, Eugene, Rodney

Writer:

Sound Designer: Jonathan Crowe

Original Air Date: April 22, 2000

Last Air Date: September 24, 2009

Description:
Mandy is taking a high school class with Rodney Rathbone and notices how mean he is to everyone else, including her. She heads to Whit’s End after school to find that Connie is trying to be a world famous chef to impress her dad. She tells Eugene about Rodney and he agrees to help her. He first suggests that Mandy show kindness to Rodney, which doesn’t quite seem to work. Then Eugene begins to dish out advice from a psychology textbook that he’s been reading, but nothing seems to work. Finally, Rodney suddenly asks Mandy for help on an algebra test. Mandy helps him study and things seem to be taking a turn for the better as Rodney actually starts being polite to people. Then Rodney comes to her with a big problem. He has stolen the answer sheet for the test, he says, and feels guilty about it. He and Mandy go to the school to return it. Just as Mandy is returning the answer key, Rodney disappears and Miss Hamer shows up. Mandy gets in big trouble for stealing the answer key and Rodney doesn’t even seem to show any real remorse. Whit explains to her that only God can truly change someone.

Questions:
Why did Mandy want to change Rodney? How did Rodney respond? Why? How can you best respond to people who are mean to you?