A Popped Tire & Spilled Oatmeal

“Pencils, erasers, crayons, and don’t forget your dinosaur folder. That’s it!” said Justin’s mom as she helped Justin zip up his backpack.

“Wow! This is super full,” said Justin as he tugged on the zipper. Today was the first day of school, and he couldn’t wait to meet his new teacher and classmates.

It was a short ride to school down a busy, narrow road. Cars swooshed past them on the other side of the road. Justin looked out the window. This road scared him a little because it was so skinny with a big ditch on either side.

Justin shuddered at the thought of sliding off the road into the ditch. Then he remembered his dad’s prayer at breakfast that morning. He had asked God to protect him. “Whew!” Justin thought, “God is here with me.”

Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Ka-thunk, ka-thunk! Justin looked up at his mom, who was struggling with the steering wheel.

“Oh, no!” Justin shouted as he felt the car swerve toward the ditch.

“It’s all right! We had a tire blow out. But look, we can pull over at this gas station. Thank you, Lord!” Mom exclaimed. She slowed and turned the car into the gas station’s parking lot. She got out of the car and looked at the tire. It was completely flat. There was no way she could drive on it without ruining the wheel.

“I wonder if Jessie is already at school,” Justin said through his open window.

“Hey! That’s a good idea, Justin. I’ll call Auntie Bev. Maybe she hasn’t left home yet and can pick you up,” Mom said as she fished her phone out of her purse.

Meanwhile, at Jessie’s house that same morning . . .

Jessie woke up feeling a little groggy. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. Then she heard her mom calling, “Jessie, you need to get up! We slept later than we should, and we have to get you to school. You’ll be late!”

It was the first day of school! Jessie leaped out from under the covers. She raced around grabbing her clothes, brushing her hair, and washing her face. Soon she was all dressed—except for her socks. But where were they? Jessie was sure her mom had laid everything out the night before.

“Mom! I can’t find my socks!” she shouted from her room. Jessie got down on her hands and knees and peered under the bed. “Oh! Where could they be?” Jessie sat back on her heels, thinking. “I know!”

She jumped up and raced down the stairs and into the laundry room. She lifted Freckles, her cat, out of his warm, soft bed. “Ah ha! You did take my socks, you little thief,” Jessie exclaimed as she grabbed her socks and pulled them on. She gave Freckles a quick hug and set him back in his bed where he promptly closed his eyes again.

“You better sit down and eat, Jessie. It’s almost time to leave,” her mom said as she set a bowl of oatmeal on the table.

Jessie sat down and said a quick prayer, thanking God for the food. She picked up a big spoonful of oatmeal and opened her mouth wide. But the oatmeal oozed off the spoon and fell—splot—right on her lap! Jessie looked down at her skirt. “Oh no!”

“Uh oh,” her mom said as she helped her wipe up the mess. “Finish eating, then go change into your blue pants.”

Jessie gobbled down the rest of her breakfast and ran back upstairs to find her blue pants and put on her shoes. While she was up there, she heard the phone ring. “Hi, Kristi. Are you okay?” she heard her mom say.

Finally, Jessie was ready to go. After grabbing her backpack full of school supplies and her new lunch bag, she ran out to the car.

“Okay, let’s go rescue Justin!” said Jessie’s mom as she backed out of the driveway. As she drove, Jessie’s mom explained that they needed to pick up Justin along the way. It didn’t take long before they pulled into the gas station where a mechanic was already changing the tire for Justin’s mom.

“Hurray! You’re here!” cried Justin as he climbed into Jessie’s car for a ride to school. “Wow! That was scary.”

“What happened?” asked Jessie.

Justin explained how the tire popped on the narrow road. “I thought the car was going to fall in the ditch and we’d roll over and over!”

“Well, God protected you, didn’t he?” said Jessie’s mom as she drove toward the school.

“Yeah, Auntie Bev. I guess he did,” Justin replied.

“And your tire popped at just the right place,” Jessie’s mom added. “There aren’t very many spots on this road to safely pull over, but you were right by the gas station when it happened. We were late today, too. So we were able to come and pick you up.”

“Yeah, I got up late, and Freckles stole my socks, and then I spilled oatmeal on my skirt, so I had to change my clothes,” Jessie explained.

“God made sure we were still at home at just the right time,” laughed Jessie’s mom.

“Wow! That’s really cool how God can make everything work out just right,” Justin replied.

“And we can still be on time for school!” Jessie said as they pulled into the school parking lot. It had been an exciting day already!