Helping Kevin

By Vicki H. Budge

(Based on a true story)

Look up the following scriptures: Matthew 5:42; 2 Peter 1:7; Mosiah 2:17. Which one do you think fits the story best? Write that scripture on the blank lines.
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One hot summer day, Jonathan rode his brand-new bike from house to house delivering newspapers. The heavy newspaper bag hanging from his handlebars banged into his legs as he pedaled. Sweat ran down his forehead, and his hands were so sweaty they soaked the handles on his bike, but he didn’t care. He had earned enough money from his newspaper route to buy his own bike, and just riding it made him happy.

It was hard to ride fast with the newspaper bag so full, but Jonathan was trying to hurry so that he could get to his ball game. When he was almost finished with his route, he ran through some lawn sprinklers to get the newspaper to a dry spot on the porch. He liked the cold water spraying all over him so much that he ran back and forth to the porch two more times.

Then Jonathan saw his friend Kevin a couple of blocks away. Kevin’s paper route was right next to Jonathan’s, but Kevin wasn’t riding his bike or throwing papers onto porches. He was bent over his bike like there was something wrong. Jonathan delivered his last two newspapers and rode over to see what was going on.

“Tire’s flat,” Kevin said. He kicked the ground and shook his head sadly. Then he lifted his newspaper bag off his handlebars and dropped it to the ground with a thud. It was still half-full of papers. “Now what’ll I do? Our baseball game is in half an hour.”

Jonathan saw sweat running down Kevin’s face. His eyes were moist too. Maybe the moisture wasn’t all sweat, Jonathan thought, and he felt really sad for his friend.

“You can take my bike.” Jonathan said it so quickly he surprised himself. What if Kevin ran over a nail with Jonathan’s brand-new bike? What if he crashed into something and bent the handlebars? What if he laid the bike down behind a car and the car ran over it? Jonathan suddenly thought of a lot of things that could happen to his bike.

“Thanks a lot!” Kevin said. His face lit up with a big smile. “Are you sure?”

Jonathan wondered if he was really sure. His parents had talked to him a lot about taking good care of his bike. But when he thought of his parents, he remembered scripture stories they had taught him about helping others. And his dad was always helping people. A lot of the time Jonathan got to help too. He helped his dad get firewood for a family whose truck had broken down. He helped his dad clean Sister Story’s yard when she couldn’t get around very well. That was fun because she had a little dog named Peetie, who liked Jonathan a lot. He remembered his dad driving him to Brother and Sister Call’s house to leave treats on the porch, knock, and run away. They did that several times until the Calls guessed who was doing it. After that, they knocked, took the treats into the house, and stayed for a good visit.

The more Jonathan thought about his dad, the more he was sure he wanted Kevin to borrow his bike so he could finish the route and get to the baseball game. “Sure I’m sure,” Jonathan said. “I’ll push your bike to my house and you can pick it up after the game. Maybe my dad and I can help you fix it.”

“Wow! Thanks again,” Kevin said.

They took Jonathan’s empty newspaper bag off the bike. Kevin put his half-full bag over his shoulder and took off pedaling fast. “See you at the game!” he yelled.

As he pushed Kevin’s bike down the street, Jonathan didn’t stop to splash more cold water on himself. He already felt great!

[Great Blessings]

“The Savior promises great blessings to those who give of themselves: ‘Give, and it shall be given unto you.’”
Bishop H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop, “Tender Hearts and Helping Hands,” Ensign, May 2006, 11.

Illustrations by Brad Teare