Page 6 of Echoes of Eternity
He shook his head. “Not really . . .”
“It means we can’t rely on our own way of thinking, but instead we need to trust God. The more we bring God into our lives, the more He can and will guide our path. Make sense?”
“Kind of . . .”
Pondering for a moment, Frank smiled and said, “Okay. Look at it this way, son. Let’s say there was a boy named Max who finds a magical compass deep in a forest. There’s a note on it that says use the compass and follow it completely to discover a treasure. Now Max starts to follow it, but the path gets really difficult. He’s climbing over large rocks and going through deep waters. Eventually, it guides him across a log bridge and to an awesome waterfall. Inside the waterfall is a treasure chest full of gold. As the forest became dark, the magical compass began to glow and Max was able to use it to guide him back out of the forest safely. Just like Max relied on the compass to guide him on the adventure, we need to rely on God and His Word to navigate us through life’s adventure.”
“Ohhhhh . . . I get it now! The Bible is like the compass!”
“Exactly.”
A moment passed, then Ryan asked, “When do we leave?”
Peering at his watch, Frank said, “We can leave soon. Maybe an hour? Go get ready.”
On the road, they listened to music for a while, then his dad turned the volume down.
“How’s your summer going so far, Ryan?”
“It’s going okay.”
“Your mom tells me you’re not getting along with Jason.”
“He’s just so young and dumb, Dad. You don’t get it. He follows me around and bugs me all the time!” Folding his arms, Ryan looked out the window.
“He looks up to you. That’s your little brother, Ryan. I know it’s hard to understand right now at your age, but one day he will be like a friend.”
Ryan huffed. “Doubt it.”
“I don’t doubt it. Brothers are like built-in best friends for later in life for a man. Never take it for granted.”
Ryan didn’t respond.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“What?” Ryan looked over at him.
“Just be nice to your brother. Can you do that for me?”
“Yeah. I’ll try.”
Stopping at a busy truck stop just across the Washington-Idaho border, they got out and Frank showed Ryan how to pump gas. Holding the handle with him, Frank guided him each step of the way.
“This is fun!”
Frank laughed. “Sure, son. Fun.”
After pumping the gas, they crossed the parking lot to go inside the truck stop. The place was packed with travelers.
“Let’s use the restroom.” Frank extended a hand toward Ryan.
He shook his head. “I don’t need to go right now. I’ll just look around.”
“Find yourself a treat and after I get air in the tire, we can buy it.”
Finding the candy aisles, Ryan started his hunt for the perfect treat. Settling on a sour candy, he turned around and looked for his dad. He checked the nearby aisles but found no signs of his father.
Uneasiness began to build as he saw countless adults and no dad.