Excerpt from
The Jensen Family

The next morning it took three calls to wake Jason. He wandered around getting dressed for school and kept day-dreaming through breakfast and the family Bible reading.

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#41- Recharge!

A Character story about orderliness.

"Boy, this is the night I've been waiting for!" Jason announced enthusiastically as he entered the living room one evening. "The guys at school said that tonight they're finally going to show The Wizard of Oz on TV."
"I enjoyed that as a boy myself," Mr. Jensen remarked with a smile. "But what time is it on?"
"I'll see," Julie offered. She grabbed the paper and paged through until she found the TV listings. "Sorry, but it's too late. It starts at eight and probably won't be over until at least eleven."
"Ahhhh," Jason whined with obvious disappointment. "I was looking forward to that. Dad, can't I stay up just this once? Pleeeeease?"
"On a school night?" Mrs. Jensen inserted.
"I've got all my work done, and I know the math stuff real well for the test tomorrow. It'll probably only be on this once. And I'm getting older and don't need as much sleep as I used to. Please?"
"Well, I don't think it's wise," Mr. Jensen said, "but, I'll tell you what. Since you are getting older, I'm going to let you decide this time what you think is best. If you think you can stay up and still do your best in school tomorrow, then-"
"Oh, thanks, Dad. I don't think I will even notice getting a few minutes less sleep."
"All right, Son. We'll see."
"Great!" Jason beamed. "You want to stay up with me, Sis?"
"Oh, no, thanks," Julie responded. "I like the story and all that, but I know I'd be bushed tomorrow."
"O.K. Suit yourself. I guess since I've got a hour to wait, I'll get out my construction set, and build something."
Before the hour was gone, Jason had a small crane standing on the floor and was fastening the electric motor to it. When the motor didn't work, Jason dickered with the wires, but to no avail. "I wonder what could be wrong with this thing, Dad. I've checked everything I know."
"I don't know, Jason. Perhaps the batteries are down. Have you checked them?"
"I don't think it's that. These are expensive rechargeable batteries. They're suppose to last a long time."
"Yes, but when did you use this set last? If it's been quite a while, the batteries can lose power even without use."
"I'll check them with my light tester, but I still don't think that's it." Jason left the room and soon returned with his tester. "Huh. Can you imagine that! They hardly light the bulb at all. I guess you were right after all. I'll have to recharge them overnight, and try out my crane after school tomorrow. Anyway, it's almost time for the movie."
The next morning it took three calls to wake Jason. He wandered around getting dressed for school and kept day-dreaming through breakfast and the family Bible reading.
That evening, when Mr. Jensen got home, Jason had his crane working. "I guess a good recharge was just what those batteries needed."
"And how did you do in school today?"
"Oh, well, uh, pretty good, Dad," Jason mumbled, sounding a little uncomfortable.
"Come on, Jason," Julie prodded. "Tell Daddy what you got on your math test."
"Oh, yes," Mr. Jensen said, "the math test you mentioned last evening. How did you do, Son?"
"I-I guess it was a lot harder than I thought. I-I got a C."
"Jason, you got a C minus," Julie corrected. "The scores-"
"Uh, Sissy," Mr. Jensen interrupted, "could I speak to Jason alone?"
"Oh, sure, Daddy," Julie answered, and moseyed out of the room.
"So what went wrong, Jason? Math is one of your strongest subjects."
"I just couldn't think, Dad. I really knew the stuff but I made a lot of stupid mistakes."
"And what time did you get to bed last evening?"
"The movie wasn't so long, but with all the commercials they had to stick in, it didn't finish until . . . well . . . close to midnight."
"And do you think that might be related to not thinking clearly in school today?" Jason hung his head and didn't answer. "You know, Son, God has designed sleep for a very special purpose. In a way, your brain is like those batteries in your construction set. Both need to be recharged, and the more they are used, the longer and more often recharging is needed. Electricity recharges batteries, but sleep recharges your brain. During this time of growth in your life, you actually need more sleep than some smaller children do, because your output is greater. Yes, sleep is a recharger for our brains that we just can't do without."
Jason sighed. "I know you're right, Dad. All day I felt like crawling into a corner and taking a nap. But the other kids laugh at me when they find out I go to bed before ten, and sometimes that's hard."
"Yes, but you might notice your grades are a lot higher too. If you do what is right, and wise, you have nothing to be ashamed of."
"I know that's true, but it's easy to forget. You know, tonight I'm getting to bed extra early so I can get plenty of 'recharging.'"
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THREE BRAIN DRAINERS
1) The sum of the ages of Bill and John is 91 years. Bill is twice as old as John was when Bill was as old as John is now. How old is each?
2) Two children are born of the same mother at the same time at the same place and are not twins. How can this be?
3) There is a well twenty feet deep. A frog climbs upward five feet in the daytime but at night falls asleep and falls back four feet. How many days does it take the frog to get out of the well?

ANSWERS: 1) Bill is 52 and John is 39 2) They were two of a set of triplets 3) 16 days