Free Bumpy Ride Ahead! by Wanda E. Brunstetter Page B

bike had come to a complete stop. Mattie pumped her legs and pushed her feet hard against the pedals, but she couldn’t get them to move forward or back.
    “What’s going on?” Mark called over his shoulder. “The bike’s not moving. Did you stop pedaling, Mattie?”
    “No, I did not. My jump rope fell out, and I think it might be stuck in the chain.”
    Mark got off the bike and squatted down beside the chain. “Jah, that’s what happened, all right. Now we need to figure out how to get the jump rope loose.”
    Mattie got off, set the kickstand, and knelt on the ground next to Mark.
    First, Mark pulled on the jump rope, and then Mattie gave it a try. It was such a tangled mess she didn’t think they’d ever get it out.
    “Be careful, Mattie,” Mark said. “If we pull too hard, we might break the chain.”
    “What are we gonna do?” she asked, feeling a sense of panic.
    “Just keep trying to get it off.”
    They both twisted and pulled and twisted some more. Suddenly, the chain popped right off!
    “That’s just great,” Mark mumbled. “Now we’re gonna have to push the bike the rest of the way to school.”
    “If we do that, we’ll be late,” Mattie said. “Can’t we just leave the bike here and run the rest of the way?”
    Mark shook his head. “If we leave the bike, someone might steal it. Then we’ll be walking to school from now on instead of ridin’ our bike.”
    Mattie’s lips compressed as she gave Mark’s words some serious thought. “You’re right. It wouldn’t be good if someone stole our bicycle. Guess we’d better start pushing, even if it does make us late.”

    When the twins entered the schoolhouse, their teacher, Anna Ruth Stutzman, looked at Mark and Mattie and said, “You two are late.”
    “We’re sorry,” the twins both said.
    “We had a little problem with the chain on our bike,” Mark explained. “We ended up havin’ to push the bike the rest of the way to school.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that. Now please take your seats.”
    Mark’s face heated with embarrassment. Mattie’s cheeks were red, too. All the other scholars seemed to be looking at them.
    They’d just taken their seats when Anna Ruth took out her Bible. “This morning I’ll be reading from First Thessalonians 5:18: ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’”
    Mark sat at his desk, mulling things over. Was he supposed to feel thankful that their bike chain had fallen off and they’d been late for school? It was a lot easier to be thankful when things went well, but he did want to do what the Bible said.
    “I know it’s not always easy to be thankful when things don’t go as we’d like,” Anna Ruth said as though she knew what Mark was thinking. “But if we have an attitude of thankfulness, it helps us deal with things better. After all, it doesn’t do any good to get mad when things go wrong. When we go through hard times, it can actually help to strengthen our character.”
    Mark glanced over at Mattie to see her reaction, but she was whispering something to her friend Stella.
    Next the teacher told the children to stand and recite the Lord’s Prayer. Following that, everyone filed to the front of the room and sang a few songs.
    Mark didn’t feel much like singing today, but he forced himself to do it. He couldn’t stop thinking about the bike and wondering what Dad would say when they told him what had happened.
    After the singing, everyone took their seats, and Anna Ruth gave the arithmetic assignment. When that was done, she told the class that they had another assignment to do.
    “I’d like you to write an essay, either about something you’ve recently learned to do or something that’s taught you about becoming responsible. This assignment will be due by the end of the week, and everyone will get the chance to read what they wrote to the class.”
    I wonder what I should write about
, Mark thought.
Whatever topic I choose, I