Resources - Children's Ministry

July 2000

KIDS’ PAGE

Back home at last...!

Mrs. Anne Groenenboom

Back at last! Mum heaved a sigh of relief as the plane landed. It seemed as if they had been away from home for ages. The family collected their cabin bag and headed for the lounge area, where they found their neighbour, Mr Jackson, waiting to drive them home. Chris went to collect the heavy luggage with Dad and Mr Jackson, while Amy stayed with Mum to help look after Carla. Soon they were in Mr Jackson’s minibus, heading for home. Chris and Amy were also looking forward to getting home once more, even though they’d had a great time on their holidays. It had been lots of fun meeting up with all Mum’s family and visiting Auntie Jill and Uncle Rob on their dairy farm but it would be good to be back home again.

Mr Jackson had some disturbing news, however. He told Mum and Dad that someone had tried to break in to the house, while they were away. Chris and Amy listened anxiously, as Mr Jackson continued. “Fortunately, they only got into the garage,” he told them. “Our dog started barking and that must have scared them away. We went to investigate, but by the time we got there, they were gone. We called the police, but it was too late, of course.”

Mum looked very upset. “I hope they didn’t do much damage,” she exclaimed. “There are some big scratches on the back door and a couple of the windows, where they tried to force them open, but they didn’t get in, so all that is damaged is the garage door... and Chris’s bike.” Chris gasped in horror as Mr Jackson continued. “There were quite a few things stacked up outside the garage door, ready to take, but the robbers took off in too much of a hurry to pack them into their car. It looks as if they backed over the bike as they left.”

As soon as they were home, Mum fed Joel and got him ready for his nap, while everyone else headed for the garage to see if anything had been stolen. Chris stared miserably at his damaged bike... the back wheel had been crushed and the frame was all bent out of shape, where the car had passed over it. Dad put his arm around Chris’s shoulders and Amy gave him a hug too. Chris was unable to speak as he gazed at the wreckage. “I don’t think we’ll be able to fix it, Chris,” Dad commented. “It’s too badly damaged. We’ll save up for a new one, but that’ll take a while, because we’ve already spent a lot of money on our holidays.” Chris nodded glumly.

After a quick inspection to make sure that nothing was missing, they all trooped back inside to tell Mum the bad news about Chris’s bike. ”Perhaps it will be covered by our insurance,” Mum suggested, but Dad wasn’t sure. ”We’ll lose our no-claim bonus so it may be cheaper just to pay for the damage ourselves,” he replied. Chris didn’t know what that meant, but Mum nodded as if she understood. He realised however, that he didn’t have much chance of having his bike replaced too quickly.

Chris moped around miserably all afternoon, thinking about his bike. It wasn’t fair! He knew Mum didn’t like them saying things weren’t fair, but this time she didn’t say anything when he complained. “I know it isn’t fair, but it can’t be helped, Chris,” she said, giving him a hug. “We’ll just have to wait and see what we can do, so please be patient. Why don’t we pray about it? ”Chris wasn’t sure that praying would help, but he joined with the rest of the family as they all prayed.

Just before dinner, Mr Jackson was back again, with the news that he had an old bike that Chris could have, if he was willing to put some effort into fixing it up. He told Chris that it would need a coat of paint and some new tyres... and possibly a new seat as well.

Chris wasn’t sure what to say because he knew Mum and Dad didn’t have any spare money at present for paint and new tyres. However, his parents both thought it was a great idea and they thanked their neighbour for his offer. After Mr Jackson had gone home, Chris was still looking miserable and Mum asked him what was wrong. When Chris replied that they couldn’t afford any paint or tyres, Mum reminded him about the birthday money he had received from his grandparents.

“That won’t be enough,” Chris grumbled. “The tyres will cost lots more than that!” “Well, you can make a start with the money you have already and when you’ve finished the painting, we’ll see about the tyres,” Dad said. “We can buy some paint tomorrow and then you can get started.” Chris felt a bit happier, especially when Amy and Carla offered him the money out of their moneyboxes. He decided that sisters weren’t so bad after all.

The next morning, before he went to work, Mr Jackson brought the old bike in from his garage. As soon as he saw it, Chris’s hopes were dashed. It was such an old bike and it looked really horrible. He was sure he’d never be able to make it look any good. Most of the paint had peeled off and it looked very rusty. As soon as Mr Jackson had gone, Dad asked Chris what was wrong.

“It’s such a mess!” Chris replied. “It looks as if it will fall to pieces, if we start fixing it.” “It certainly doesn’t look very good now, but a coat of paint will make all the difference, just wait and see,” Dad reassured Chris. “Of course, we’ll have to do some hard work on it before we paint it, but I think it will be worth the effort. We’ll need some sandpaper to clean off the old paint and the rust... and also some special paint to stop the rust.” Chris thought it sounded like a lot of hard work indeed... but Dad still had a few days left before he had to go back to work and he would help him.

Dad and Chris worked hard, sanding and preparing the bike frame, then they painted it bright red. Chris had to admit that it was beginning to look good. He knew that it would be a while before he could get the new tyres and he wished he had some way of making some money for himself, so that his parents didn’t have to pay for everything. However, Mr Jackson called in and asked Chris if he’d like to earn some money for himself. “I’m going to be fairly busy for the next few weeks and it would help me a lot if you could cut the lawn each week and do a few odd jobs for me,” he explained. Dad thought it was a good idea, so Chris accepted the offer straight away, because that meant that Mum and Dad wouldn’t have to pay so much for his tyres. Each Saturday Chris cut the Jackson’s grass and did a few odd jobs, so it only took him a few weeks to save enough for his tyres.
When the bike was finally finished, all the family came to admire it. Chris let Amy have a ride on it, then he lifted Carla onto the seat and told her to hang on to him tightly while he wheeled her around the yard. Everyone laughed when Dad, who hadn’t ridden a bike for years, went wobbling around the yard with his knees up near his ears. The Jacksons came to see what was happening and Chris thanked Mr Jackson for helping him to get a new bike.
“You’ve done a good job, Chris,” Dad said later. “Fixing that bike was a hard job and I thought you might give up half way through, but you kept on until you’d finished. That shows us that you’re growing up and learning to take responsibility.” Chris nodded thoughtfully. He had been quite surprised when he realised that God had answered his prayers, even though he hadn’t really believed it would happen. He also realised that even though it had been a hard job, he had enjoyed doing it. From now on, he’d make sure he put his trust in God, in everything that he did.

SOMETHING TO DO

1. Read Psalm 100 together with your family and think about what it means for you.

2. Talk about the way God answers prayers. See how often it happens in your life and remember to thank Him for His faithfulness.

3. Make a list of all the things God has done for you and write your own psalm of thankfulness
    

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