Pedals and Promises

Okay, here we go!” She moved the throttle forward, and the engine purred as they pulled away from the dock. A wonderful smell of fish and fresh lake air hit their faces. The wind blew through Sister’s hair, and she didn’t mind a bit! The first stop was Glimmerglass Cove, where Mr. Adrift’s boat was broken down. “Ahoy, there!” They waved. They pulled alongside his boat very slowly and very carefully. Their aunt had been driving boats for years and was very good at it. They handed off the bundle full of replacement engine parts for his boat. The dogs wagged their tails and barked a couple of their own hellos and how do you dos. “When you plug those parts in, they should help you get back on track.” “Thanks so much. You’re a lifesaver!” said Mr. Adrift gratefully. “No problem,” their aunt replied. “We’re happy to help.” They wished each other good-day and said good-bye. Their aunt checked her GPS coordinates, and off they went to help another boat. A Global Positioning System is very helpful on oceans, lakes, or deltas. Even Brother agreed. When they rounded a bend, their aunt said, “Okay, kids. We’re going into open water now, so hold on.” The engine roared, and the wake behind their boat became very big. The dogs huddled down low on the floor of the boat, and they stayed there to keep from losing their balance. They were very smart dogs. As they sped on to their next stop, the front of the boat, the bow, bounded through the water like a golden retriever out an open gate. Miss Informed, an adventurous young adult, had run out of gas while waterskiing back and forth on the lake with her friends. She had thought they had plenty of gas, and plenty of time, but the gas gauge on the dash of their boat was broken and never gave them the right information. They had their distress flag up so other boats would see them. “They should be just a mile ahead.” Aunt Lisa shouted so the kids could hear her through the wind dancing in their ears and hair. Brother took the binoculars from the dashboard and scanned the water for any sight of them. Soon, they came into focus. “There they are!” he shouted, pointing at the stranded boat. Aunt Lisa slowed her boat down. Sister waved to the group, who waved back at her. Their aunt steered her boat very carefully up to Miss Informed’s speedboat, not wanting to rock it. The dogs barked and wagged their tails excitedly. “Hi, there. Is everyone okay?” asked their aunt. “Yup, we’re fine. It’s just this gas gauge. It seems to be broken. I know we haven’t officially met before, but we’ve been in your store, and we’ve seen how nice you are, so we knew you were the one to ask.” “Oh, I’m just so glad I could help!” Aunt Lisa replied kindly, and she carefully passed over a full gas can and a business card with her husband Dave’s name on it. “If putting some gas in the tank doesn’t fix it completely, give him a call. He can give you the extra help you need.” Everyone at Discovery Lake knew that their uncle Dave was great at fixing boats. “Okay, thanks!” they said, taking the gas and the card. Aunt Lisa waved good-bye, “Bye, now. Enjoy the rest of your day.” She looked out at the horizon and added, “Good thing there’s still enough time before the sun goes down.” “Yes. We’ll try not to waste the time we have left.” They thankfully filled their empty tank and waved good-bye. The dogs wagged their tails and barked a few good-byes of their own. Aunt Lisa left very slowly so as not to make too many waves. When they cleared the area, their aunt took the boat up to high speed again. They made many stops helping many people. The kids loved every minute of it. Once they were back at the store enjoying a free ice cream dessert out of their aunt’s store freezer, she said to them, “You know, we’re to take the Word of God out to the world, not just keep it to ourselves. What if I kept all these boat parts to myself? I would just end up with a storehouse packed full of boat parts—lots of useful things not getting used to help other people. You can’t just keep His Word all to yourself. You have to go out and share it with others, so they can grow and move forward too.” Sister paused from eating her ice cream cone and thought about how she might be able to share God’s Word with her friends. But she paused too long, and her ice cream melted a bit and started to drip. As soon as she could lick up one drip, another came tumbling down the other side. With all the grace of a ballerina, she twirled that ice cream cone around and got each and every drip just as it was falling. Her sibling and aunt burst out laughing as they gave her a round of applause. “Nicely done!” her brother complimented her. “I wanted to save each and every drop from hitting the ground.” Sister blushed. Aunt Lisa teased her. “Sometimes quick action is needed, yes?” Sister giggled. Auntie added with a wink, “Yes, we don’t want any drop to fall, do we? We should be ready to respond quickly to people who ask us about the hope we have in Jesus. We should share with them God’s plan of salvation and how it is open to them too, if they want it. The rest is up to God.”