Chapter 37

“Get everyone together. Time to eat.” The four of us gathered at our rectangle dinner table. Ned sat to my right. Eva sat across from me with Eileen to her left.

“Daddy, what is it?” asked Ned, his small body radiating with excitement.

“Yeah, Dad,” seconded an unemotional Eva. “Mom said for us to come out of our rooms as soon as we heard the garage door open. Did you get a promotion or something?”

“You are about to find out. Let’s thank God for our food,” I answered.

We all held hands and bowed our heads as I prayed, “Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for all You provide for us—our home, this warm food, our clothes, but most of all, each other. We live for You and because of You. May we use the blessings You have given us to be blessings for others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“This morning, I arranged for our family to have an expense-paid trip to Orlando this summer!” I announced.

“Woohoo! Where’s Orlando?” hollered Ned.

“Yeah! Disney World?” shouted Eva with wide eyes.

“Yes, I believe a trip to Disney World will be part of our trip.” I grinned. Eva and Ned both celebrated this news by thrusting their arms in the air with huge smiles.

“Whoa, how did you pull that off?” asked Eileen.

“Well, there is a catch.” I tilted my head and glanced at Eileen.

She rolled her eyes. “Ah, I should have known. Here we go, kids.”

Ned and Eva’s heads fell forward in disappointment. “You’re going to have to work, aren’t you?”

“It’s a working trip for all of us. Bob, the owner of my company, has agreed to pay for the hotel and meals, even put us in a suite at an Orlando hotel. In exchange, we will get to attend the nation’s largest marine trade show. When I say working, I mean we have work to do between now and the show.”

“Daddy, I don’t get it,” moaned Eva.

“Yeah, clue me in, too, Dalton.” Eileen patted my arm supportively.

All three of them looked puzzled, as we heaped Chinese food onto our plates.

“All of you were instrumental in getting Johnny Bruce restored, and we are taking him with us to Orlando as part of Rocket City Tech’s display and presentation. Our company is launching a new product line of parts to restore the used boat industry. Eva, remember that new part you and your mom installed on our outboard?”

“Yeah, the little computer chip valve box.” Eva’s interest piqued as she looked up from her plate.

“At the trade show, we will introduce this to the marine industry.” I grinned, my food untouched.

“How does Johnny Bruce fit into this?” asked Eva before taking another bite of spring roll.

“He will be our example of how a family can enjoy a low-cost restoration project of used marine equipment,” I continued. “Most of the electronic and mechanical things made today aren’t built to last. Our boat and outboard motor will last. All we had to do was change some worn or rusty parts. A family shouldn’t be burdened with the rising cost of recreation, such as boating. It cost us less than two thousand dollars to get the parts to restore Johnny Bruce. I want y’all to tell folks how much fun it was. Do y’all want us to sell our boat and get a brand new one?”

“No, not at all. Johnny Bruce forever!” shouted Ned.

“Yeah, I love that boat,” piped up Eva. “I love it as much, if not more, than my car.”

“Exactly!” I said. “Eva, you drive an old car that has 150,000 miles on it, but it’s yours and still runs, right?”

“Yeah, it’s old, but I’m going to keep it as long as I can,” Eva said. “It’s still in pretty good shape. The seats are comfortable. We put in a new stereo, and it needs new tires. But other than that, I love it! I even got to paint it my favorite color—candy apple red.”

“You customized it and restored it to make it your own,” mused Eileen as she caught onto the idea. “You probably wouldn’t have done that to a brand-new car.”

“Absolutely not,” insisted Eva.

I peered into each of their eyes and inhaled. “We need to do a better job of preserving God’s world. Stop being a throwaway society. That’s what we are working on at my company to work within the marine industry. This vision came to me, and we—the team at Rocket City Tech joining forces with Team Russell—are taking action and making it happen.” I beamed, placing my right arm on Ned’s shoulder and reaching across to grab Eva’s hand.

“Way to go, Daddy!” Ned clapped in celebration as he reached across the table to grab Eileen’s hand.

“I’m in, Daddy!” cried Eva, placing her left hand on Eileen’s shoulder.

“Dalton . . . ” Eileen sighed with a look of concern. “I’m uneasy that you didn’t talk to me about this before committing our family to such an audacious task.” She exhaled. “But this is such a bold move that I haven’t seen in years.” All eyes at the table were fixed on Eileen. She shook her head and laughed. “However, you got us a free trip to Disney World, so why should I complain?”

Eileen peered into my eyes. “I have one question. Was this caused by what He said to us?”

I smiled, showing my teeth, tilted my head, and nodded. “Absolutely.”

Eileen nodded at me and grinned. “Okay, count me in, too. I trust Him.” She pointed upward.

I exhaled, dropped my head toward Ned’s shoulder and exhaled in relief. “Thanks for your support, Team Russell. Now, before we get to work, let’s enjoy our meal.”

“Ooh, sesame chicken is my favorite,” approved Ned.

“Please pass me the broccoli beef,” requested Eva.

“Beef?” Eileen glanced up in surprise. “I haven’t seen you eat meat in quite some time. What’s got into you, girl?”

“Mom.” Eva rolled her eyes. “I haven’t been this active in a while.”

Eileen glanced into Eva’s eyes. “It looks good on you.” Eva leaned her head onto her mom’s shoulder.

Our dinner chatter continued as Team Russell made the first action step to fulfill the Carpenter’s mission.