Excerpts

From chapter 3 "The Rusty Planet--Mars"

Silence reigned in the van as the little trail twisted around. Dad made a left turn and continued on. Danielle quietly played with Collin and the others watched the forest scenes they passed.
Several minutes later Mom said, “Uh, Honey, where are we now?”
“To tell the truth,” Dad said with a deep sigh, “I have no idea.”
Brian frowned. “We’ll never get to the observatory this way,” he muttered. Danielle, who heard him, gave him a look, which he pretended to ignore.
As Dad stopped the van, Chris sucked in his breath. Danielle patted Collin’s hand and said everything would be okay (though he was not in the least concerned). Brian wanted to get to business, “Now what?” he asked.
“I’m not sure where to turn the van, but I do know where to turn,” Dad said.
“What do you mean? Where?” the children asked.
“To God!” said Dad.
“Dad, do you really think that will help? I mean, how could God get us out of here? Will He drop a map on us or something?” Andy asked incredulously.
“Son, what happens when you’re climbing a tree and can’t figure out how to get down?” Dad asked.
Andy turned a little pink. That occurrence happened often enough he knew just what happened. “Uh... well, I usually end up yelling for you and you come get me out or show me where to put me feet to get out myself.”
“So, Andy, just like you call for me when you need help, so we can call to our Heavenly Father when we need help!” Dad said. “He is the best Father, and it’s up to Him to decide how to attack this problem. We can trust He’ll do what’s very best! Now, let’s pray about it. Dear Lord,” Dad said, closing his eyes, “we are in a pickle. I don’t know how to get my family back to the right road. Only You know where we are and now we need You to help us. Please give guidance so we can find our way back. Thank You for Your protection around our family. Grant us peace and give us faith in Your sovereignty, in Jesus’ name, Amen!”
“You know something?” Mom said.
“I know lots of things… unfortunately I don’t yet know the way out of here!” Dad replied with a smile.
“That’s not what I meant, but I was just thinking, God gets excited when there’s nothing else we can do for ourselves and He has to do it all. When we lose complete control over our lives, He gets to show Himself strong and be glorified!”
“Yes, like in the story of Gideon!” Danielle remembered.
“That’s right!” said Dad, “God had Gideon gather a little tiny army to fight an enormous enemy. That may look ridiculous, but because it seemed so impossible, God was greatly glorified when He caused the little Israelite force to win!”
“Yup! I just love that story!” Andy added.
“When the Jews killed Jesus, it seemed to the disciples and the watching world that everything must be over. But through the ‘tragedy,’ God had a far bigger plan as we now know, and when Jesus rose from the dead, God was greatly glorified and humanity could be saved! Once again, He turned something that looked bad into an opportunity to teach people that He is all-powerful and in control!” Mom said.
“That’s so cool! It reminds me of a verse that says, ‘But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.’” Brian put in, now mostly over his former anxiety.
“That verse is 1 Corinthians 1:27,” Dad said.
“I think about that verse on days when everything seems to be going crazy. A large family like ours cannot be under control as well as a smaller family can, but daily, I see God showing Himself strong in our weakness and chaos!” Mom said. “That’s awesome to think about!”
“You know what else is awesome?” said Danielle excitedly.
“What?”
“I see a pick-up truck coming this way and I think it’s a ranger!”


From chapter 5 "Distant Giants--the Gaseous Planets"

Mom smiled. “Uranus,” she said, dramatically raising one eyebrow, “lies down on its side.”
“It does what, Mom?” Andy asked.
“It lies down on its side. Watch.” Mom rummaged in the cooler and found a bag of grapes and a toothpick. She pulled one large grape off the bunch and poked the toothpick in through the top, and out through the bottom. “Let’s say the toothpick is the axis,” she said. “This is how the earth rotates,” she held the toothpick almost straight up and down. “And this is how Uranus rotates,” she held the toothpick sideways. “So it revolves around the sun lying down, like this,” she said making her grape-and-toothpick planet orbit Dad’s head.
“Now I understand!” said Andy.
“Good,” she said, straightening up. “And now, to finish my presentation…” she bit the grape off the toothpick and bowed with a flourish.
“Ahh! Mom ate a planet! Mom ate a planet!” the children cried, laughing.


From chapter 6 "The Planet that Wasn't--Pluto"

Danielle set down the paper towel tube that had been the golden telescope moments before, saying rather ruefully, “It would have been even more fun if we’d brought Dad’s telescope from the cabin!”
“Your Dad brought a telescope on vacation?” Adam asked. “Is he an astronomer, or something?”
“No,” Brian answered, swallowing a mouthful of milk, “he’s a courier, but he loves astronomy. He says he’s an amateur astronomer.”
“Dad’s been telling us the most interesting things about the planets in our solar system,” put in Chris.
“Yeah,” said Andy, “It’s been great!”
Brian said, “It hasn’t seemed like school either; the only book we’ve used is Dad’s astronomy book and we really just look at the pictures... mostly. Except for when I run off with it and learn an interesting fact.”
“Like what?” asked Naomi.
“Like... Neptune’s period of revolution is 165 Earth years!”
“Huh?” said Judah.
“Not like the American Revolution, Judah,” said Andy. “The period of revolution is the amount of time it takes for a planet to travel once around the sun.”
“Yes,” said Danielle, “and the period of rotation is the amount of time it takes for a planet to spin once on its axis.”
“And the reason that matters,” added Adam, “is because a planet’s period of revolution is the length of its year, and its period of rotation is the length of its day.”
Maggie’s green eyes grew wide, “You mean that Neptune’s year is the same as 165 Earth years?”
“Yup,” said Brian. “It’s the longest year in the solar system except for Pluto’s!”


From chapter 7 "The Good Gift--Earth"

“Yes,” laughed Mom. “I guess you can see the difference between stories that are randomly added to and ones that are written according to an author’s plan.”
“That reminds me of God’s creation!” Brian said.
“What do you mean?” asked Chris.
“Well, I was just thinking about how evolutionists claim the universe was produced by random chance; that it was not planned and made by God. If that were true, I would expect the universe to look like one of these stories... kind of disorganized and random, not beautiful, organized, and well-made like it is.”
“Yeah,” said Danielle, “you’re right. It would be like saying Pilgrim’s Progress was written randomly like a committee story! You know, without any plan.”
“Worse than that,” Mom said, “it would be like saying such a beautiful, well-thought-out story just wrote itself... without intelligent design!”
Andy shook his head and frowned. “Mom, I just don’t understand how people could believe that!” he said. “I mean... there’s that verse that says, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, And the firmament shows His handiwork.’ Aren’t all the stars and planets plainly showing that God made everything?”
Mom smiled and thought for a moment. Then she turned in her seat so she could look back where her children were sitting. “Son, can you tell me where we learned that God made the universe?”
“Uh, it’s in Genesis, right? ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’”
“That’s exactly right!” Mom praised. “Evolutionary theories deny the truth of God’s Word. When people do that, they can also deny what God says about right and wrong, and even deny God Himself!”
“Wow, that’s pretty terrible, Mom,” said Danielle. “Are all the people who believe in evolution like that... trying to get rid of God and His Word? I mean, is that why they believe it?”
“I don’t think everyone is, Danielle,” Mom said. “That’s a good point to bring up. Kids, I think it’s very important to understand that evolution is what is accepted in our culture. Almost everyone believes it because it is what almost everyone believes. They hear evolution taught as the truth in school the whole time they’re growing up, and it’s in books, newspapers, the radio, movies, television... just about everything! This lie has been accepted as the truth.”
“So you’re saying not every person has decided to believe evolution just so they can ignore God?” asked Chris.
“That’s right.”

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