This is a continuation of the story posted 10/4/17
By pure instinct, Alec ducked as the heavy 2×4 let loose, dropping within inches of his head.
“Wow! That was close,” said Alec after realizing he could have been seriously hurt. The treehouse roof was giving the three friends a lot of trouble. They could not seem to get the supports to fit correctly, and now one came loose completely.
Two weeks earlier, they laid down the floor with some effort. After learning to drive nails in without bending them over, the floor took shape, giving them a flat place to work. They took pride in the trap door that served as the entrance at the top of the steep wooden ladder.
Although the work was difficult, the walls went up without a problem. Their carpentry skills were improving every day. Three of the walls were built with a single square window in each, while the back wall was left solid. Up to that point, the little structure was coming together, but the roof was another story.
“We should keep it simple,” said Tina. “A flat roof will be fine.”
“I like the idea of a pitched roof,” Ross countered. “Like the one in the video.”
Alec agreed with Ross. “Me too. A pitched roof will leave room for us to build a loft.”
After a bit of back and forth, Tina gave in. “Okay, we can do it your way, but it won’t be easy.”
Although the boys were slow to admit it, Tina had been right. The skilled man in the video made the construction look easy, but the three friends struggled with the complicated angles of the pitched roof. Even after several attempts, boards were cut wrong, and refused to fit together like the one that almost took off Alec’s head.
Tina sat on the top of the narrow wall holding a rafter in place. “Ross, put the other one against this one, and nail it down.”
Ross climbed to the top of the stepladder, but he could not reach the peak of the roof, so he hopped up onto the top of the narrow wall with his hammer in hand, and a pocket full of nails.
As he fished out a nail, tragedy struck. Ross’s foot slipped off the wall, and his body followed. Before he knew what happened, he dropped nearly two stories to the hard ground below.
Alec and Tina gasped. Frantically, they rushed down to their friend lying in a heap on the lawn.
“Don’t move!” Tina warned Ross, who was clearly dazed by the accident.
Alec stood with is mouth opened, staring at Ross’s leg, which lay twisted at an odd angle.
“Go get help!” Tina shouted.
“Oh, my leg,” Ross groaned. “Is it broken?”
“It might be,” Tina didn’t mean to lie to her friend, but she didn’t want to upset him if she could help it. “Don’t worry. Help is on the way.”
A few minutes later the sound of a siren could be heard in the distance. It started out faint, but grew incredibly loud as the ambulance raced up the street, until the flashing emergency lights appeared between the houses.
Tina breathed a sigh of relief when Alec led the paramedics into the backyard. She was impressed with Alec ability to stay calm and act quickly during the emergency.
Later that evening, a friendly nurse entered the room were Ross laid in his hospital bed. His parents stood by the bed, hovering over him. The nurse examined his leg, now wrapped in a heavy cast that ran from his toes all the way to his hip.
“How are you feeling?” the nurse asked.
“It hurts a little, but I’m okay,” said Ross.
Completing her routine, the nurse turned to Ross’s parents, “the doctor will probably want him to stay overnight, just to be sure there are no complications.” Then she disappeared into the hallway. Seconds later an elderly man with a cane shuffled in.
“Hello Ross,” he said cheerfully.
“Hi Grandpa,” Ross said.
“How did you manage to break your leg into pieces?” said Grandpa with a chuckle.
“I fell from the treehouse,” Ross answered. He appreciated his grandfather’s attempt to cheer him up, but he wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “I’m not going to be able to swim this year. My team is depending on me.”
“Now, don’t worry about that. Just take care of yourself until your leg heals up,” Grandpa said.
“Your grandfather is right,” said Ross’s mother.
Ross frowned as his Grandpa gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He didn’t feel like talking, so he remained silent as his parents and grandfather chatted.
As the hour grew late, Ross’s grandfather said good night, followed by his parents.
“Get some rest, dear. We will be back first thing in the morning,” Ross’s mom said as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.
A minute later he was alone. Even though it was the end of a long day, sleep was out of the question. All kinds of thoughts flooded his mind, like the sensation he felt when he fell from the treehouse, the ride in the ambulance, and the intense pain when the doctor straightened his broken leg.
Next, his mind drifted to school, and the fear that he might fall behind in his classes, along with the fact that he would miss an entire season of swimming.
“God, why did this have to happen?” he asked with more than a little anger, accusing God of allowing the accident. He waited for an answer, but only heard the sounds of the hospital ward outside of his room. Again, he repeated the question, and again waited, to see if God was listening. After a while, the stress and excitement of the day took over, and Ross drifted off to sleep.
A week later, he sat in the living room with is leg propped up, to rest his swollen leg. Ross had adjusted to life with a cast, and learned to hobble around on crutches.
Although the pain in his leg was mostly gone, today was extra difficult. It was the first swim meet of the season. Ross pictured his fellow swimmers on their way to the meet, and lamented the fact that he was not with them.
Of course, his good friends Alec and Tina had visited him several times since the accident, to cheer him up. Ross also laughed out loud when his swim coach stopped by Thursday evening to show him a silly video that the whole team created. In it, all his teammates cheered, made funny faces, and wished him a quick recovery.
All throughout the week, countless friends and class mates offered words of encouragements by way of social media. Still, missing the swim meet was extremely frustrating to Ross. He tried playing one of his favorite video games, but found it difficult to concentrate. He dropped the game controller and sat quietly, letting his mind wander. The sound of the doorbell brought him back to reality. He called upstairs to his sister to answer the door, but got no response.
“She must have her headphones on,” he sighed. Grabbing his crutches, he lumbered his way to the front door.
“Hey Ross!” It was Howard, the church youth leader. Behind him, on the front lawn, waited the entire youth group!
Ross was confused. “Why is everyone here?” he stuttered.
“We decided to come over to say ‘hi’, and to finish your treehouse for you. With Bill supervising the work, we can get it done in no time, and keep everyone safe.”
Ross knew that Bill owned a small construction business. The carpenter attended the church for as long as Ross could remember, and he was one of the friendliest people he knew.
Before Ross could get his shoe and sock on, and hobble out into the backyard, Bill had the team hard at work, hauling scaffolding from his flatbed truck. Leaning on his crutches, Ross watched the workers go at it. In less than two hours, the treehouse roof was complete. In what must have been record time, the workers put a coat of paint on the entire tree house. Bill finished the job by added a few extra touches, like trim around the windows, which gave it a unique look.
“I hope you like it,” said Bill.
“It’s great! Thank you,” Ross responded with a firm handshake.
The team of workers filed out, each wishing Ross well. After everyone left, Ross went back inside to rest his throbbing leg. All afternoon on his crutches, chatting with his youth group friends took its toll on his injury.
Dropping himself into the sofa, Ross thought about all the love and support that he received from his friends and family since the accident. This time his pray was one of thanks to God for the people in his life, he was truly blessed.
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Read James 1:2-4
What does the passage say about the testing of our faith?
Did James say “if you face trials” or “when you face trials”? What is the
difference?
How does verse 2 begin?
In the story, did Ross consider his accident pure joy?
What are some things we can do when we face trials, so that we act in a way that is pleasing to God?