I watched a re-run of the Andy Griffith show, where a new kid in town showed Opie how to get out of working for his allowance, and even get a new bike, just by throwing a little fit. But it seemed only to work for spoiled kids with forceless fathers. It reminded me again of why God says “no” at times.

Although I had become a Christian at eleven, I remember praying for a bike for several years, and it seemed like God wasn’t listening. Finally, a friend who had a paper route said he was giving it up, and I got the route and bought his bike with my earnings. From there, and when World War Two came, I became the first paperboy at the airbase near our town.

That led to being busboy at a fancy restaurant, then a sales person at the new, first air-conditioned department store in our town, then to working at a pharmacy, then a track scholarship at college, then a Navy school for electronics, followed by a drone squadron, and to broadcasting after four years in service. And I got that job because of the engineering training I got in the Navy. As I recall, I got home from service on a Friday and went to work at the area radio station the next Monday.

You see…God had things planned out, about the bike, which was a stair-step to the rest of His Plan. Don’t get in a hurry. Father knows best;

Our Heavenly Father, that is.