Kate
Page 43
“An old-fashioned letter?” Kate grinned. “That sounds like fun.”
Her mom chuckled. “Yes, that’s how we used to do it…back in the old days. We didn’t have email when I was your age, you know. In fact, we didn’t even have the internet.”
Kate shook her head. She could hardly believe it! What did people do without the internet?
Up ahead of their car, a black Amish buggy plodded along. This time Kate took a close look inside. The man wore a dark suit and hat. He looked their way with a nod.
“You know,” Kate said, “I’ve been thinking about something, Mom. At our house we have all sorts of technology. Computers. Cell phones. GPS tracking systems. A robotic vacuum cleaner. All of my gadgets and gizmos. You name it, we have it. But here in the Amish community, they don’t have any of those things and they are as happy as can be.”
Her mother smiled. “You’re right about that.”
“Here’s a project for you kids,” her father said. “Today, as we drive home, close the computer and pay attention to your surroundings. Don’t use the phone. Don’t text your friends. Just look around you and see what you notice.”
Kate wasn’t sure she could do it! She thought about Sydney’s nickname for her: Inspector Gadget. Could she really do without her stuff for a little while?
“I’ll try,” she said at last. Kate looked out the window, noticing the green fields to her right. “Oh wow. That’s really pretty.”
“Yes, of all the things that man has invented—and they are many—they can’t even compare to the beauty of God’s creation.” Her mother smiled. “All of your gadgets and gizmos are great, honey. And so is your Turbo Heat-Freeze. But the greatest inventions of all aren’t the ones we’ve made…they’re the ones God has made.”
Kate looked out the car window, suddenly realizing just how green the fields were and how blue the sky was.
“Wow,” she whispered. “I never noticed it before. And look at that barn, Mom. It’s so white. She pointed at a tall round thing she didn’t recognize. “And what is that?”
“That’s a silo,” her father explained. “Grain is stored there.”
“I wonder what it would be like to be Amish for a day,” Kate said. “Just one day without television or the internet.”
“Or cars or cell phones,” her mother added.
“Or video games,” her father added.
Dexter looked shocked at that one! “Really? No video games? What do they do for fun?”
Their mother laughed. “They talk to each other, silly. And play games. Real games. In other words, they enjoy each other’s company.”
Dexter looked out the window, shrugging as he saw several dairy cows. “It would be hard to live without video games.”
“What about electricity?” Kate asked. That would be even harder! Can you imagine?” She wrinkled her nose. “How would you blow-dry your hair?”
“If you were Amish for a day, you wouldn’t pay much attention to your hair,” her mother said. “In fact, the Amish care very little about trying to outdo one another with their clothes or hair styles. They’re not competitive people at all.”
“They don’t believe in comparing one person to another,” her father said.
“Is that why they dress alike?” Kate said.
“Yes.” Her mother nodded. “You know, being competitive isn’t all bad. It’s fun to be involved in sports and competitions. But when you get to the point where you’re always competing with others—to look better, to get better grades, to get into better schools—then something is wrong. It’s especially wrong for Christians to act that way. We’re all one body, the body of Christ. We should be building each other up, not trying to outdo each other.”
“I’ve definitely learned that lesson this week!” Kate said.
She started to reach for her bag so that she could read that scripture on her text reader, but suddenly remembered she wasn’t using any of her gadgets for the rest of the day. Hmm. She would have to work hard to remember it. Or…Suddenly she had a great idea.
“Mom, can I borrow your Bible?”
“Sure, honey.” Her mother passed the Bible back to Kate and she looked up the verse. Kate couldn’t help but smile as she read Romans 12:3: “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.“
Yes, she had certainly learned that lesson.
Leaning back against the seat, she whispered a prayer of thanks to God for showing her that, in His eyes, all of His children are equal.
Working Together!
About three months after the Young Inventors’ Festival, Kate received a letter—the old-fashioned kind—from Emma. She grinned as she read the words.
Dear Kate,
Rachel and I had so much fun with you! It was great to meet you. Thank you for being so nice to us. I’m so glad you and Phillip won the competition. I forgot to ask my mamm to bring you a slice of shoo-fly pie on the last day of the competition, so I thought you might like the recipe. You will find it at the end of this letter. I am so happy to be your friend.
Emma
“Wow.” Kate glanced at the bottom of the letter and read the recipe for the shoo-fly pie. She could hardly wait to show it to her mother. Maybe she would make it soon!
Right now, she needed to write back! Kate scribbled out a quick letter and put it in an envelope. “Mom, do you have a stamp?”
“I think so.” Her mother looked in the drawer and came out with a stamp. “Are you writing to your friends?”
“Yes.” Kate nodded. “And I need to write to Penny and Candy too. It’s been ages since I heard from them!”
She went to the computer and signed online. Ironically, she found a note from the Twisted Twins in her email box! Kate opened it and smiled when she read it.
Dear Kate,
We’ve retired! Candy and I are writing this email from aboard a cruise ship. We are headed to Cozumel with our brothers and their families. We just wanted you to know that Donald and Steve are working hard on the large-scale version of the Turbo Heat-Freeze and it should be ready to go by the time we get back. Just wanted you to know that we’ve given it a nickname. We’re calling it Kate’s Kitchen. Since you really invented it, all of the credit will go to you. Maybe you’ll be famous one day! We hope you were able to have a little bit of fun with the amount of money we were able to pay you for the plans. We know, though, that your dad is putting most of it in a college fund for you.
We have talked about this at length and would like to make you an offer. We would like to hire you as a consultant for our new company, which we are calling Family Twist Pretzels. Your ideas are so original and clever. Would you consider working for us? Pray about it and let us know!
All our love, Penny and Candy
Kate giggled as she read that. How flattering! And how funny that they’d named their new machine Kate’s Kitchen. Both of these things made her feel so special! Still, there was one thing she needed to clear up, something she must share.
Kate quickly typed her response.
Dear Penny and Candy,
I’m so excited to hear things are going great with your brothers and their families. I will pray about being a consultant for your new company (and congratulations on the great name)! Thanks for your sweet words about my invention. However, I don’t think I ever really want to be famous. I’m learning not to think too highly of myself. I want to live by the words found in Romans 12:3: “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” God is good, and He has blessed all of us with gifts, which He wants us to use for Him. I hope you have a great time on your cruise.
All my love, Kate
As she finished the letter, Kate paused to think about what she’d written. She realized how true those words were, esp
ecially the ones about using your gifts for the Lord. Over the past year she and the other Camp Club Girls had solved a lot of mysteries and they had all learned a lot from each other. They didn’t have to compete with each other to prove who was the better—or more important—person. No, they all learned from each other.
She grinned as she remembered her conversation with Elizabeth, who had learned a lot about the internet from Kate. And then there was Sydney! She had done all of that research on the web about the Bender brothers. And Kate had learned a lot from them too. From Bailey, she’d learned to be more excited about each case. From Sydney, she’d learned physical endurance. From McKenzie, she’d learned to dig through all of the clues until she discovered answers. From Elizabeth, of course, she had learned to trust God more and to pray and read her Bible. From Alex …
Kate smiled as she thought of Alex and what a blast they’d had together in Hershey. From Alex, she’d learned how to just be herself. She didn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
At once, Kate’s thoughts went to Phillip. She had to smile as she thought about the changes in their relationship over the past few weeks. They were actually friends now, not competitors.
“Finally!” she whispered.
Kate’s eyes grew heavy and she drifted off for a moment. As she did, a delicious dream began. She saw herself standing on a stage in front of a room full of cheering, adoring fans. Standing on the stage with her were all of the people she loved so much—her parents, the Camp Club Girls, Emma, Rachel, and even Phillip. They all grabbed each other’s hands and lifted them to the sky, then—as one big group—took a bow. Together.
Kate’s eyes popped open and she grinned as she thought about that scripture in Romans one more time.
“Yep,” she said to herself. “That’s truly the best way to live!”
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