“Don’t touch a thing until you visit the sink, young man. What is that on your hands anyway?”
Caden sighed. “Grease. My chain broke again, and I can’t fix it this time. I wish I could get a new bike.”
Mrs. Gilbert backed away from the doorway to let her somewhat dejected son through.
“Well, your father and I told you that you’re old enough to start earning some of your own spending money. You could start saving toward a bike.” She paused, and then went on, “By the way, how did your ‘Most Admired Person’ speech go today in English class?”
“Oh, pretty good. But I don’t think my new teacher, Miss Hansen, liked it very well. She said my delivery was fine but the subject matter was a little unrealistic.”
“She doesn’t believe in the Abraham of Bible history?”
“No, I don’t mean that. I mean the part where I talked about the traits he had that I wanted to apply to my own life. I guess she doesn’t think obedience in following God is worth much. She asked me after class if God had really ever led me to do anything specific, but the only thing I could think of was when I got saved two years ago. Maybe she doesn’t like Christians.”
Caden’s mother offered him some chocolate chip cookies as she said, “Well, I know it was a little hard for you to make that speech, but I believe the Lord will bless you for being a witness at school. We’ll just have to pray that Miss Hansen will learn to know and trust God like we do.”
The next day was Saturday, and Caden decided he’d head over to the park since he couldn’t go bike riding. As he walked, his thoughts went back to the events of the day before. I don’t care, he thought to himself, I still want to be like Abraham. I know God will lead me through life if I obey Him, even if Miss Hansen does think I’m crazy. I wish God would lead me to a job so I could earn enough money for a bike. Then I could tell Miss Hansen that God did it.
Climbing onto a low limb of a tree at the edge of the park, Caden scrambled up to a high vantage point. As he was looking over the area, the sun’s reflection on a small glass building in the backyard of the nearby community center caught his eye. He squinted as he looked at the building and wondered what it was. After climbing down the tree, he headed across the street to investigate. With the sun’s reflection now gone, he could see that it was a greenhouse. As he stood there, a voice called to him.
“Young man, do you have a moment?” An older woman with a pleasant face stood in the doorway of the community center.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Caden answered hesitantly.
The woman pointed to a gate that led to the backyard. She said, “I saw you looking at our community greenhouse. Would you like to see it? Maybe if you’ve got a little time you could help with a few things in it.”
Caden instantly liked the woman’s cheery tone of voice and was interested in seeing what grew in the greenhouse.
“Sure, I’d be glad to!”
Caden entered the yard. As they went into the greenhouse, he was surprised by the beauty of the hundreds of plants, many of which were in bloom.
“What do you do with all these plants?”
“Oh, once a year we plant most of them in different places around the neighborhood. Then we sell what is left to some of the florists in the area. It helps to offset the expenses.
The two of them walked between the rows, talking about the various plants and finding out a little about each other. “My husband and family are gone,” said the woman. “My granddaughter was living with me and going to college, but she graduated and recently started teaching. She used to help me with some of the harder tasks like watering the hanging plants, but she has an apartment now and is too busy.”
Back at the door the woman paused and looked at Caden. “How would you like to work with me for an hour or so each weekday? We have a job opening and would be able to pay you . . . or do you already have a job of some sort?”
“No, but if it’s all right with my parents, I’d love to work with you! I’ve been wishing I could find a way to earn some money for a bike.”
“Well, good. I’ve been praying that the Lord would lead a nice young man like you to help. You know, I’ll have to tell my granddaughter about this. She isn’t a Christian yet and doesn’t want to believe that praying does any good. Come to think of it, you may know her. She’s the new English teacher at the junior high school. Have you heard of a Miss Hansen?”
Caden smiled, “Yes, I’ve heard of her. As a matter of fact, she’s my teacher.”
As Caden turned toward home to tell his folks all about this, he looked up into the sky. “Thank You, Lord,” he whispered.
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