Biff and Becka's Stupendous Vacation

By Elaine Beachy

Biffs anticipated family vacation takes an unexpected turn. How will he deal with bitter disappointment? Is his summer ruined? Will he be humiliated by his friends?

In interesting twists and turns, the author takes Biff and his rabbit family through a trying time that has a surprising outcome. Engaging questions for each chapter at the end encourage lively discussion between your child or grandchild and you.

The author paints a picture of a godly home to give encouragement and guidance to parents who struggle and kids who hurt.

Biff and Beckas Stupendous Vacation helps your child know how to deal with disappointment. It also helps children relate to family and friends with honesty and respect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449790714

Elaine Beachy

Elaine is a country girl who grew up on a dairy farm in western Pennsylvania with four brothers. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking, and baking, entertaining, and praying for others. Her favorite TV show is Home Town on HGTV. She is the author of six other books, of which the first three are a trilogy for children ages seven to eleven: Biff and Becka’s Springtime Escapades, Biff and Becka’s Stupendous Vacation, Biff and Becka’s Splendiferous Christmas. She also authored a cookbook, Elaine’s Kitchen: Made from Amish Stock, and a devotional titled Journal Gems: Nuggets from My Heart to Yours. A book of Elaine’s poetry and short stories is titled Rhyme and Reason. All her books are available on Amazon.com. Elaine has been married to her husband, Dave, for fifty-four years and lives in Manassas, Virginia. They have three children and four grandchildren and are active members of Living Faith Church.

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Copyright © 2013 Elaine Beachy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9070-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9069-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9071-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013906053

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/09/13

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1    No Kidding!

Chapter 2    The Encouragement Jar

Chapter 3    The Big Disappointment

Chapter 4    The Fake Vacation

Chapter 5    Campfire Fun

Chapter 6    A Day of Surprises

Chapter 7    A Time to Remember

Chapter 8    Splash Down!

Chapter 9    The Big Woods

Chapter 10  The Mystery

Chapter 11  Unbelievable!

Chapter 12  Going Home

Discussion Guide

DEDICATION

T o Jesus, my blessed Lord and Savior, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

To my loving mother, Elva, and the memory of my dear father, Edwin, thank you for my Christian heritage and my four wonderful brothers, Stanley, Sanford, Marlin, and George. Thank you for the great memories of life together on the farm.

To my beloved children, Douglas, Debra, and Darren, and my precious grandchildren, Alissa, Nicole, Caleb, and Noelle.

To parents everywhere who want to raise their children in a godly home.

To children everywhere who need a model of a happy home.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth.

3 John 1:4 NIV

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6 NIV

PREFACE

T he seeds of my desire to write for children were planted in 1990 when I went to the grocery store. As I got out of my car, loud shouts caught my attention, and I witnessed a father hit his son repeatedly over the head and shoulders. I was horrified. The lad appeared to be about eleven or twelve years old and tried to defend himself against the blows as best he could. His head was down, and his body seemed a bit deformed, I thought, from perhaps years of this kind of physical and verbal abuse. His dad told him how worthless and no-good he was. Then, still wielding blows to the head, he shoved his son through the door of the store.

I felt almost sick to my stomach. I wanted to run to that boy, put my arms around him, and tell him he was valued and loved. I wanted to tell him that not all dads are like that, that not all families abuse their children. I wanted to talk to the dad and tell him to lay off his kid.

But I didn’t know what to do. Do I meddle in someone else’s business? Was it my business too? These are the questions I struggled with. How could I combat child abuse? What could I do? Could one person like me make a difference? What did God want me to do?

I began to think maybe I could write something that would help kids and parents know what godly parenting looks like and maybe get published in a magazine.

Shortly after that, I got information about the special publishing course from the Institute of Children’s Literature, and I took it. I did well in the course, and one story was purchased, rewritten, and published by the magazine Angels on Earth, a division of Guideposts magazine.

Life got busy, grandkids came, and I wrote poems and stories for my grandchildren. Then, one day in November of 2010, when I planned to have lunch with Jane, my close friend and prayer partner, I looked for something to give her as a small token of our friendship. The idea came to pull out a story I wrote a few years earlier titled Biff and Becka’s Narrow Escape, rewrite it a bit, and give her a copy to read to her grandchildren. She loved it and emphatically said I had to write more! So I did, and my first book, Biff and Becka’s Springtime Adventures, was conceived. That book was published by Wine Press Publishing and released in June of 2012, and is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and my website, www.elaineandfriends.com.

Book three of this trilogy is titled Biff and Becka’s Splendiferous Christmas; I’m working on that now.

I also write a blog for home and family at http://elaine-beachy.blogspot.com.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, my help and inspiration, I give You thanks and praise.

Thank you, my supportive and loving husband, Dave—you are just the best! You are my cheerleader and best earthly friend. Thank you for your love and wisdom. I am blessed to be your wife of forty-five years and the mother of our three wonderful children.

Thank you, my son, Doug, for your invaluable computer help.

Thank you, my friend Jane, for your encouragement and enthusiasm for my writing.

Thank you, Laura Molter, for volunteering to read this manuscript before it went to the publisher. I appreciate your pair of fresh eyes and helpful suggestions! I’m pleased you loved the book.

Thanks to the staff at WestBow Press for your help.

Matthew 10:42 (NIV) says, If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.

You have all helped me and refreshed me and will share in any good fruit that comes from this work. I couldn’t have done it without you. God bless you all!

CHAPTER 1

No Kidding!

"W ant some bubble gum, Biff?" Clancy offered.

Sure, thanks.

Clancy pulled a pack of mystery-flavored Hubba Bubba bubble gum from his overalls pocket and handed him a piece.

Biff pushed off on his skateboard, arms out to the side for balance. I wonder what flavor of cake Mother is baking for Becka’s birthday, he thought. I hope it’s applesauce-spice.

He was glad Mother had invited Clancy and Tess over to play. Truth be told, today he was the happiest rabbit on Eighty-Six Oak Tree Lane in Culpepper, Virginia. His troubles seemed far behind him. He glanced in the direction of Mr. Fletcher’s barn and then down at his right arm. The deep teeth marks from the pig’s bite were healed, but the doctor said he’d always have a scar.

Guess where we’re going on vacation, Biff said as his thoughts found a happy place.

Clancy sped past him on his skateboard.

BBSSV01a.jpg

Biff unwrapped the gum, put the wad in his mouth, straightened his whiskers, and then pushed off again on his own skateboard. He did a one-eighty, headed back down the driveway, and did a G-turn.

Not waiting for a guess, Biff continued. I’m so excited I can hardly wait. We’re going to Horsehead Beach again this year. My grandparents are coming, and Uncle Neil, Aunt Clara, and my cousins, Alfie and Alice, are coming too. We always rent a big house right on the oceanfront. We play mini golf on the Pirates Cove course and race go-carts.

Clancy made no reply—only fancy maneuvers with his skateboard.

I love the big aquarium where they’ve got all kinds of neat creatures and a great souvenir shop, Biff said. Sometimes our family hikes on Horseman’s Ridge. We love to eat at interesting restaurants and buy fancy seashells and colored rocks at outlet malls. Becka and I fly our kites on the beach too.

Biff looked at Clancy.

You know what else? Sometimes we get up early in the morning and watch the sunrise over the water.

Clancy whizzed past him.

"Clancy, you oughta see the moon at night reflect off the ocean. It’s sooo nice!"

Biff paused, not sure what his friend was thinking, and then spoke up again. "At night we use a flashlight to hunt for fiddler crabs on the beach. Their eyes stick up on top of their heads, and they have skyscraper legs. They can