(From last time)
Just as Spark Plug was falling asleep, he remembered something important! What had happened to Flash and the lawnmower? He thought that she must still be in the small valley where they had met the Ankylosaurus, but where was that? He did not think it could be too far away, he would have to try to find her and…
In the morning, the people fed Spark Plug another great meal. After he finished eating, Spark Plug drew a picture in the dirt outside the cave. He drew the cliff with caves in them and then pointed to the caves that the people lived in. He hoped that they would understand that he was talking about their caves in the cliffs. Then he drew the river and tried to draw the whirlpool and the waterfall. The people with him looked like they kind of understood what he was drawing. Spark Plug then drew the cliffs where the dinosaurs had fought and then he drew the big field and the curvy path leading into the small valley. The people looked at each other and began to talk in their language. They were very excited and talked very fast. Finally, they grabbed some bags and put some food into them and grabbed some spears and began to walk away. Spark Plug went with them, hoping that they had understood his pictures and that they were going to the small valley so that he could find Flash and the lawnmower.
Meanwhile Flash was not having a good time. She had spent the previous day waiting for Spark Plug and the father Ankylosaurus to come back. The father Ankylosaurus came back to the small valley just before sundown. He was breathing very hard and looked very pleased with himself. There were no T-Rexes following the Ankylosaurus, so he must have either killed them or chased them away. But Spark Plug was not with the Ankylosaurus, Flash could not see him or find him anywhere! Flash made up her mind that in the morning she would take the lawnmower and leave the small valley and look for Spark Plug. She knew that it was almost hopeless, and she was very scared, but she had to do something! Flash spent a miserable night with the dinosaurs, she lay down on some soft grass and tried to fall asleep, but all the baby Ankylosaurus tried to cuddle up to her because she was warm. Those baby dinosaurs were not warm (dinosaurs, like other reptiles, are cold-blooded) as the night got colder, the baby Ankylosaurus got colder and colder, and Flash was shivering before morning came.
As soon as it was morning Flash ate some fruit that she had found then she carefully started up the lawnmower. The Ankylosaurus were scared by the noise of the lawnmower, but before she left the valley Flash turned on the lawnmower blades and mowed a big breakfast for the dinosaurs. They began munching on the freshly cut grass and plants, and while they were eating Flash drove the lawnmower slowly out of the valley onto the curvy path. Flash went slowly for two reasons: she knew if she went fast and went past any trees, she would leave that place and go somewhere else, then she would never find Spark Plug and he would be trapped in the land of the dinosaurs for the rest of his life, the other reason Flash went slow was because she was afraid. If she met any T-Rexes or other meat-eating dinosaurs she would be killed and eaten! As she went around one of the sharp curves in the path, she saw something! Off to the side of the path there was a pile of old bones. They were big bones; they must have come from a full-grown dinosaur. They had not noticed the bones yesterday because they were going so fast when they entered the small valley. In that pile of bones there were three long straight horns. Flash had an idea! She got those three horns and used some vines to tie those horns onto the lawnmower. She tied one on each side of the lawnmower and the third one was on the floor right between her feet! The three horns were all pointing straight ahead and extended about three feet in front of the lawnmower. Flash had a weapon! If any dinosaur tried to attack her, she could run the lawnmower right at that dinosaur and those horns would injure or kill the dinosaur! Flash did not feel so afraid and she went forward a little faster, but still was careful not to go too fast!
Meanwhile, Spark Plug was following the people, and they were getting closer to Flash, but the people did not really understand everything that Spark Plug had tried to tell them with his pictures. The people did not know what to do, so their plan was to take Spark Plug to the oldest person in the world, perhaps he had great enough wisdom to know how to help Spark Plug. When the group of people and Spark Plug got to the top of a cliff they stopped for a moment and all of them together yelled as loud as they could, “Noooo-aaaah”. The sound of their yell echoed off all the cliffs, then they continued walking. Every so often they stopped and again all of them would yell, “Noooo-aaaah”! Spark Plug even helped them yell, even though he did not know that language.
One of the times that the group of people yelled, Flash heard the yell and the echoes, and she drove the lawnmower toward the area where she thought that the yells had come from.
As they were walking along, Spark Plug heard something. He listened carefully and realized that it was the sound of the lawnmower. He looked ahead and there was Flash driving the lawnmower toward them. Spark Plug yelled for joy and the group of people yelled for joy too! Spark Plug wondered why the people were so happy to see Flash, after all, they had never even met her before. But then Spark Plug noticed that the people were not looking at Flash, they were looking off to the left. On a small hill under some trees an old man was standing!
The people all ran to the old man and hugged him and began to speak to him very excitedly in their language! Flash and Spark Plug hugged too, but there was no time to talk about their adventures. They both got on the lawnmower and drove it up the small hill and turned off the lawnmower and listened. The people kept calling the old man Noooo-aaaah and kept pointing to Spark Plug and talking very excitedly. Apparently, they were telling the old man the story about how they had rescued this strange young boy from the river. Spark Plug noticed something kind of strange, all the people he had seen at the cave city had been young parents or children. There had been no old people at the cave city, this old man was the first older person that he had seen in this land, and this old man looked older than anyone Spark Plug had ever seen in our world. Spark Plug remembered that the people had yelled, “Noooo-aaaah” and he had an idea. He whispered to Flash, “Could this old man be Noah from the Bible?” Flash immediately turned on the tablet and looked up the story of Noah.
The old man looked straight at Flash and Spark Plug and began to tell them his story. They could not understand the words he said, but he used hand gestures that gave them a clue to what he was saying. Noah pointed to the sky and then pointed to his ears while he was talking, and the kids knew that Noah was telling them about how God had chosen him and told him to build the ark. Noah acted out hammering nails and the kids knew he was telling about the 120 years it took him and his three sons to build the ark. Noah acted like he was speaking to a large group and then covered his ears, and the kids knew that he was telling them of how he pleaded with the other people to turn to God, but they would not listen. Noah used his fingers to show creatures walking, and the kids knew that he was telling them about how God brought two of each kind of animal to the ark. Noah then acted out the bad storm and the kids knew exactly what he was talking about. Noah then talked in a very excited voice, but did not use any hand gestures, the kids did not know what he was talking about, but when Noah finished what he was saying he turned and pointed to a mountain across the valley and right at the top of that mountain Flash and Spark Plug could see a huge boat! They were looking at Noah’s ark! Noah then used his hand to make a big half-circle in the air, and they knew that he was telling them of the rainbow and God’s promise not to destroy the earth again with a flood!
Flash and Spark Plug could not believe what was happening! They were seeing Noah himself and listening to his words. Noah did not care that they were different, he did not care about the lawnmower, he just wanted to tell them about how God had helped him all through his long life! Flash and Spark Plug wished so much that they knew Noah’s language, they had so many things that they wanted to ask him. Flash quietly lifted the tablet and took a quick picture of Noah. Noah now turned and began walking down the hill and all the people followed him. Flash turned on the lawnmower so that she and Spark Plug could follow Noah too.
Noah heard the noise of the lawnmower’s motor and turned around and came back to investigate. Noah looked carefully at the lawnmower and was very careful to not get stabbed by the sharp horns that Flash had attached to the lawnmower. Noah was very curious, and he reached down to touch the lawnmower. Unfortunately, he touched the throttle and pushed it all the way to full speed! The lawnmower took off through the trees! Smoke began pouring out of the lawn mower’s motor, the lawn mower began to shake like a marshmallow roasting on an open fire, Flash began to scream, and the turbo charger began to make a noise like an ostrich singing in the rain. And…
Application:
In this story we are focused on God’s faithfulness. In the story we saw that the most important thing to Noah was to try to tell Flash and Spark Plug about how God had been faithful and provided everything that he needed during his long life (he lived 950 years altogether, he was 600 years old when the flood came and then lived another 350 years after the flood).
God showed Noah His faithfulness:
- God provided a way to save Noah, his family, and the animals because Noah followed God.
- God gave Noah a detailed plan on how to build the ark.
- God gave Noah the wisdom and skill to build the ark.
- God gave Noah and his family the strength and endurance to build the ark for 120 years.
- God protected Noah and his family from hostile humans during the 120 years.
- God brought the animals to Noah.
- God shut the door of the ark before the storm began.
- God was with Noah and his family and watched over them for a year on the ark.
- God landed them safely.
- God let the earth grow food again quickly.
- God promised with a rainbow that He would never destroy the entire earth again with a flood.
The Bible has many verses that tell of God’s faithfulness. Here are a few of them:
In the book of II Timothy chapter 2 verse 13 it says:
If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.
In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 9 it says:
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands
In the book of Psalms chapter 33 verse 4 it says
For the word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all He does.
In the book of Psalms chapter 145 verse 13b (the second half of the verse) it says;
The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.
In the book of Psalms chapter 146 verse 5 it says:
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, who remains faithful forever.
God is just as faithful with us as He was with Noah, He will not leave us and will bring us through whatever comes our way in this life. This does not mean that we will never have problems (Noah had lots of problems), but God will go through the problems with us.
And never forget that God will always love you! No matter what! He is always faithful!