Soggy Sandwiches & Snowy Forecasts

“What’s it supposed to be like tomorrow?” Justin’s mom looked over his dad’s shoulder at the computer.

“The forecast says it’ll be sunny and warm,” Dad informed her.

“Hurray!” said Mom. “We need to go on one last picnic before it gets too cold.”

Ellie, Justin’s little sister, clapped her hands. “I like picnics!” she said joyfully.

The next day, the weather was just as predicted—sunny and warm for that time of year.

“Is everything packed?” Dad asked.

“Just about,” Mom replied. “I have to add some pickles. You can’t have a picnic without pickles.”

“No picnic wiffout pickles,” Ellie repeated.

Soon the lunch was packed, and Justin’s family left the house.

“Wait for us!”

Jessie and her parents ran from their house next door to catch up. They all sauntered down the sidewalk toward the park.

“Let’s spread our blanket here,” said Jessie, pointing to a spot in the grass.

“I don’t know, Jessie,” said her mom, looking at the sky. “Those clouds over there are pretty dark. It might rain.”

“But I wanna eat here in the sunshine,” Jessie explained.

“Besides, my dad said the weather forecast is sunny,” Justin added.

“I wanna eat on the blankie,” Ellie whined.

“Okay. But we’re going to eat over there.”

Jessie’s mom and the other adults headed to some picnic tables with a roof over them to eat their lunch.

The kids spread their blanket on the ground and sat down. Justin picked up his huge sandwich and opened his mouth wide. But as he was eating, he felt something wet hit him on top of the head—splat!

Before they knew it, all three kids were being pelted by huge raindrops. Splot! Sploosh! Splat! Justin’s sandwich sagged as it soaked up the rain.

“Let’s get outta here!” Justin jumped up and sprinted toward the table where their parents sat.

He held tightly to Ellie with one hand and clutched his sandwich in the other. Jessie was right behind them hugging her lunch bag to keep it dry.

“I guess you were right, Mom,” said Jessie as she squeezed the water from her hair. “Those are rain clouds up there.”

“Oh dear,” said Justin’s mom. “I guess the weather forecast was a bit off today.”

Justin’s dad laughed. “You look as soggy as your sandwich!”

Justin looked down. “I forgot I still had my sandwich. But it’s kinda squooshy now. May I have a dry one, please?”

“Of course,” said his mom handing him a fresh sandwich.

“My sammich is soggy too,” said Ellie, climbing onto the picnic bench.

Mom gave her a new peanut butter sandwich.

“Thank you!”

The families finished their lunch as they listened to the pounding rain on the roof above them. When it finally cleared a bit, they all made a run for home.

Justin was still soaked when he walked through his front door.

“I don’t get it! How come the weather forecast is always wrong?”

“It isn’t always wrong,” said Dad.

“But why can’t the weather guys tell us what really will happen?”

“Weather forecasters make a prediction from studying the weather then figuring out what they think it will be like. But there’s no way for them to know exactly what will happen.”

“But what about the guys in the Bible? They knew stuff that happened later.”

“You mean prophets?” Dad replied. “God told the prophets what would happen. Since he knows everything, only he can tell the future and get it right.”

Justin shook his wet head. “Weather is crazy,” he said as he went to change clothes.

A few days later, Justin’s mom looked out the window.

“It seems awfully cold and cloudy out there. I wonder if it’ll snow.”

Justin and Jessie watched her take out her phone and click on the weather app.

“That would be so cool if it snowed!” Justin exclaimed.

“We wouldn’t have to go to school,” Jessie said. “We could play outside all day!”

The kids peered at the phone screen, which showed tiny snowflakes for the next day.

“Woo-hoo!” Justin ran through the house, whooping and hollering. “We’ll be playing in the snow for sure!” He stopped and turned toward Jessie. “Now we don’t have to do our homework.”

“I’m still going to do mine,” said Jessie. “Weather is too mixed up; you can never tell for sure what it’s gonna do.”

Justin shrugged. He was sure it would snow—he just knew it.

The next morning, Justin was awakened by bright sunlight shining into his room. He ran to the window.

“No way! Where’s the snow?”

Justin frowned; he was so disappointed. Then he remembered—he didn’t do his homework!

Justin threw on his clothes then grabbed his worksheet and quickly filled in all the boxes—just in time. He ran downstairs for breakfast and told his mom how he almost didn’t get his homework done because he was sure it would be snowy.

“Yep,” Mom replied. “A weather forecast can help us plan, but we still need to be wise—no matter what it says.” She got up and looked out the window. “Hmm. It’s sunny right now, but I think you might get your snow very soon.”

Sure enough, after he got home from school that day, Justin ran to the window. “Woo-hoo!” he cried, gazing out at the fluffy, white flakes falling down. “Guess what, Mom!” he shouted. “You’re a great weather forecaster!”

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