One spring morning at breakfast Joe said to Haley, “This would be a perfect day to take the kayaks out on the Black River and go exploring.” Haley was so excited to hear this that she accidentally dropped her bowl of Fruit Loops on the floor! Then she accidentally stepped on the Fruit Loops, and they rolled under her feet, and she fell with a loud crunch! The crunch was the noise made by all the Fruit Loops being crushed to powder when her body landed on them. After the mess was cleaned up, they finished eating breakfast, then Joe got his crutches and went out to the barn. He hooked a trailer behind their four-wheeler and loaded their two kayaks, paddles, and life jackets onto the trailer. He used bungee cords to strap his crutches to the side of the four-wheeler. Haley and Daniel came out to the barn, got on the four-wheeler, and they left for the river.
The river was calm and peaceful this morning. Once Joe got into his kayak, he had Haley put his crutches on the 4-wheeler, he would not need his crutches while he was in the kayak. Daniel watched Haley getting into her kayak, and then he decided! Daniel ran over to Joe’s kayak and got in with Joe! Daniel had seen how clumsy Haley could be, and he did not want to get dumped into the river! Joe’s kayak was much safer for the raccoon! They paddled side-by side for a while, then the river got a little narrower just before a curve. Joe said to Haley, “We need to go single file here. I will go in front. Joe paddled faster and took the lead, but Haley decided to try to pass him! She paddled extremely fast and caught up to Joe and tried to go around him! To get past Joe she had to go under a low tree branch that was hanging over the river. All at once her hair got caught in the tree branch! Haley did not want her hair to get pulled out, so she grabbed onto the tree branch, and her kayak slipped out from under her! Haley was left holding onto that tree branch with her feet hanging down in the river. She was holding on with one hand and trying to untangle her hair with the other hand when it happened! The branch broke and Haley screamed and fell into deep water! Since she was wearing her life jacket, she popped right up to the surface of the river and began swimming after her kayak. Joe encouraged Haley, “Get back in your kayak!”
Haley swam to the kayak, got her leg up on top of the kayak, and tried to roll up onto the kayak! Of course, the kayak just rolled over and Haley rolled with it and ended up in the water on the other side of the kayak. Next Haley decided to jump onto the kayak! She got the kayak close to shore and then she got on the bank, backed up about 10 feet, and ran as fast as she could and jumped belly-first onto the kayak. Haley forgot just one thing! The river had a current, and the kayak started drifting with the current! When Haley was in the air with her arms and legs spread out, she looked down and saw that the kayak had moved! It was no longer underneath her! She landed with a gigantic bellyflop! Water flew everywhere! Of course, the river was only about 3 feet deep in this spot, so she hit the muddy bottom of the river! When she stood up, she was covered with mud and there were weeds in her hair! Joe laughed so hard he almost fell out of his kayak! Joe said to Haley, “After you rinse yourself off, why don’t you just pull the kayak to the edge of the river and just gently get into it, just like you did at the beginning of the trip. Haley finally got into her kayak, but she still had mud and weeds in her hair, and the mud did not smell too good! Haley said, “Let’s go home! I need to take a shower with hot water and soap! I cannot stand the way I look and smell!” Joe agreed that they would go home and another day they would come back and try once again to explore the river.
Later after Haley had taken a shower she said to Joe, “I sorry I messed up our trip today. We did not get a chance to explore and learn anything new.” Joe replied, “Well we did not get too far, but I think we can learn something very important from our short trip. It looked so funny when I saw you flying through the air with your arms and legs all spread out, trying to land on the kayak. But that is exactly how we are supposed to come to God when we have a problem or are worried about something! We should not be timid or shy to go to God with any worry or problem, but we should be bold and jump right into His loving arms.
The Bible says in I Peter 5:7
“Cast all your worries on Him because He cares for you.
Haley, we need to jump whole-heartedly into God’s arms in the same way that you jumped whole-heartedly toward your kayak! The big difference is that God will always be there to catch you, He will never drift away!”
Application:
There are many worries and cares in this life on earth. Some of them that you might be facing are:
- You feel that your parents do not understand you.
- Not getting along with brothers or sisters.
- Having a bully at school or in your neighborhood.
- Feeling that you are not loved or accepted.
- Not having enough money.
- Being afraid
There are many more worries and cares in this life, but no matter what is bothering you, if you have Jesus in your heart, you can ‘throw’ all those worries and cares on God. He will never leave you and will help you through any situation! He loves you!!