Storm Read Free Page A

his pocket!” Holly bit her lip too. Then, unable to stop herself, she added, “What’s up with that?”
    Sarah nodded thoughtfully. “First thing I want to say is that it’s cool you two are asking questions. Second thing is, God always answers—even his silence can be an answer.”
    Bethany figured she and Holly must have had some strange looks on their faces, because Sarah looked at them and laughed.
    “Remember the book we read about the woman who was in the concentration camp with her sister?”
    “Corrie ten Boom?” Bethany said.
    Sarah nodded. “Yeah, that’s her. There were many times when she felt like God was silent. But she eventually learned that if she just kept trusting him, kept marching forward, he would see her through and provide what she needed—exactly when she needed it.
    “She liked to tell the story about her father putting her on the train to visit her grandparents as a little girl — how she was so scared to make the journey alone. She said her dad would walk her to the train, help her get seated, and then silently wait to make sure she was really ready—that she could handle the trip —then he would finally hand her the ticket for her journey.
    “After she was released from the concentration camp, she lived the rest of her life that way; believingthat if it was God’s will, he would provide. You see, Corrie learned that when we are weak, God works through us. He is strong
in
us.”
    “That’s pretty cool,” Bethany said.
    “Must’ve been pretty hard too,” Holly added.
    “You never know how or when he’s going to work it all out,” Sarah said. “But that’s the fun part.”
    “Fun?” Bethany and Holly said at the same time, and they all laughed.
    “Yeah, fun!” Sarah said. “Think of it as an awesome mystery, and God leaves you clues to follow along the way.” Sarah chuckled. “Sometimes you don’t even realize they are clues until the end of the mystery.”
    With the parking lot now empty, the girls helped Sarah pack up her car. Sarah offered to treat the girls to smoothies and then give them a ride home.
    Bethany was strapping herself into the front passenger seat, thinking hard about their conversation, when an idea suddenly popped into her head.
Thanks, Liam!
    “Sarah, do you think we could maybe do something other than a car wash?”
    “I suppose so. What do you have in mind?”
    “It may be a dumb idea.”
    “Try me!”
    “Well, do you know what a jog-a-thon is?”
    Holly let out an audible groan from the backseat, causing Bethany to grin.
    “Yep,” Sarah nodded. “You get sponsors to pledge money for every mile you run.”
    “Well, I was thinking that maybe we could have a
surf-a-thon.
Kind of like a jog-a-thon, but where people commit money to every wave ridden to the beach.”
    “Hmmm.” Sarah cocked her head to one side, thinking. “It has possibilities. But don’t you think it would be hard to get people to pledge for something that is so much fun? And what about the kids in our youth group who don’t surf?”
    “I was just thinking about that,” Bethany said, trying to contain her excitement. “Maybe this is stupid, but what if we had a surf-a-thon with inflatable pool toys? You know, those big blow-up animals, air mattresses, and inner tubes.”
    Sarah’s eyes danced at the idea.
    “Sounds crazy,” Holly said from the backseat. But when Bethany turned around, she could see Holly was just teasing her.
    “If it was crazy
enough,
people might be interested in supporting it!” Bethany rushed on. “And you don’t need to know how to surf to ride one of those things to the beach; all you have to do is to hang on!”
    “You know, I think you might be on to something,” Sarah said.
    “It would be a lot more fun than another car wash,” Holly added, catching the excitement.
    “Well, I think we may have a few more of those in our future. But the surf-a-thon sounds like a really unique way to have fun
and
to help us raise