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Princess Pearl, P.O.W.E.R. Girl! Book Two - Ch. 2 - Christ, Chocolate, and Community

by Tonja Taylor
10/10/2021 / Short Stories

"This is going to be fun!" said Pearl, as she looked at the invitations they'd put together. "What a great day it is! I'm so glad we met Xi, and that God gave us this idea !" She tousled her little brother's hair. "Rob, you are such an adorable scarecrow."

"Stop, Pearl!" Rob said, and stopped right in front of her, so that she almost ran into him. "And I'm a scarey-crow! You're just a bug!"

"Ugh!" said Pearl. "You almost made me drop the invitations!" I forgive him, LORD! she thought. "Anyway, I'm a beautiful butterfly!" she said, admiring her huge, sparkling wings.

“Children!" said their mother. "We are representing Christ Jesus this evening, right? Behave!"

"Yes ma'am," Pearl said. "Sorry. Thanks for coming with us, so Ms. Risa could help Uncle Burt with the festival." When is he going to apologize? Pearl wondered. LORD, help me! She rolled her eyes at Robin, who nodded, as if she understood about little brothers.

Pearl's mother smiled. "Risa knows the plan and where everything is. So I get the joy of doing this with you guys."

"Hey!" Robin said, walking ahead, and pointing at a split-level house. Her dove-wings almost glowed in the afternoon sun. "Let's do this house, OK?"

"Yeah, nice," said Lucas.

They walked up the sidewalk onto the lovely porch.

Pearl's mother touched Robert's shoulder. "Son, hold the basket of candy straight so you don't spill it. I hope it doesn't melt since it's a bit warm! And remember when the girls hand out the invitations, you give one person each a piece of candy. Then you and Lucas will say, 'God bless you!' okay? This will be a sweet surprise from God."

"Yeah, Mom," Robert said, pulling away and reaching over to pull the tail on Lucas' costume. "Next year, I wanna be a lion! Hey, Lucas the Lion!"

"We shall see," she said. "Now, remember your job."

Pearl knocked. What if no one comes to the door? She thought. They should be surprised, ‘cause it's not dark, and we're all dressed up, with candy! Thank You, LORD, that You're helping us!

An older couple opened the door, and smiled. "You guys are too cute!" said the woman. "Getting an early start on the candy?"

Pearl's mother smiled. "This is a team effort for church outreach."

Pearl stepped up with the invitations and tracts. "We want to treat you today, with some candy--c'mon, Robert, hold up your basket!--and an invitation to our church, GraceLight. You can watch us online or join us in person."

Lucas nudged Robert. "God bless you!" said Lucas, and Robert echoed him.

The couple took the items, and beamed at them. "Thank you. Wow, this is a treat!"

The woman smiled at Pearl's mother and said, "You must be very proud of your children."

"The blondes are mine," said Pearl's mother, "and I love the brunettes too! They are all Blessings from God!"

"We have special services once a month on Friday nights, if you already have a church," said Robin.

"We do, but thank you," said the woman. "We'll look up the website though!"

"Great!" said Pearl. “Thanks!”

They waved goodbye, then walked to the next house. Pearl was in front with Robin. What's that shining in the sun? She reached down and picked it up. It was larger than a quarter, and was obviously some kind of money.

"Hey, a half-dollar!" said Robin. "Those are not as common now, Mom says."

Pearl showed it to her mother, who nodded. "Good eye, Pearl," she said. "There are always blessings on God's Path, but the truly valuable thing is the Word of God and the souls of people!"

"Right!" said Pearl.

They went to the next house. Yuck!, thought Pearl. Such a difference, and only one house over! Skeletons and ghosts and junk. She shook her head. They don't know what kind of bad spirits they're inviting to their house! Open their eyes, LORD!

"OK, kids, if I don't have peace about going to a certain house, we'll skip it," said Pearl's mother. "God knows who will talk to us, or not."

"Right!" said Pearl. They walked up the driveway, and Lucas knocked on the door. They waited. They heard a man yell inside, and it sounded like something fell over.

She looked at Queen Mother, who seemed to be praying under her breath.

"Open up!" Rob said, and pounded on the door.

"Robert Scott!" said his mother. "Stop it right now!"

She motioned for them to leave, but the door opened. A man with no shirt, holding a cigarette and looking like he'd just got out of bed, growled, "I'm not buyin' anything!"

No one spoke.

Should we leave? thought Pearl.

He looked them up and down, and seemed to relax a bit. "What, is it Hallowe'en already? I ain't got no candy!"

He must need help, thought Pearl. I wonder if he knows Jesus!

Suddenly feeling very bold, Pearl stepped forward as she grabbed a bag out of Robert's basket, and said "Sir, we came to give you candy, and see if we can pray for you." She held the chocolate out to him.

Her mother nodded. "That's right!"

The others nodded too.

The man laughed, and scratched his chest. "What's the catch?" he said, but took the candy.

"Nothing," said Pearl. "We just want to invite people to our carnival tomorrow night, and share a treat."

The man put down his cigarette, then opened a piece of candy and took a bite, as he stared at them. "No trick?"

"Nope!" said Robert, and ran up to the man and hugged him. "God bless you!"

"Robert!" said his mother. "You didn't ask--"

The man laughed, and hugged Robert back. "It's OK!" he said. "He may need a bath now, thought. It's been a few years since my little boy died. Funny--he really liked this kind of chocolate."

Oh no--he lost his son! How sad! "I'm sorry, sir," Pearl said.

"Oh, that's so sad!" said Pearl's mother, stepping closer. "Can we pray for you? Do you need someone to talk to? Do you have a loving church family to help you?"

"Well.....yes, I really need to do something with my life. I'm not sure what that is, but I guess the Big Man Upstairs is thinking about me, and He sent you people."

"The LORD does see you, and He loves you, Sir," said Pearl, bold again. "I'm Pearl," she told him. "What's your name?"

"Oliver," he said, looking a little uncomfortable. "You don't have to pray now--"

"We've got time!" said Pearl. "And you know what? Your son may have met my daddy in Heaven by now! So let's pray!"

Her mother smiled and nodded. Robert grabbed Oliver's hand. The man looked unsure at first, but Lucas grabbed his other hand, and Pearl launched into prayer.

"Father, thank You for leading us to Mr. Oliver," said Pearl. "You love him so much! LORD, You alone know all the hurts in his heart. Please heal them and help him understand the wonderful plan You have for his life, in Jesus' name, amen!"

"Wow," he said. "I feel better. Or maybe it's the chocolate, ya think?"

"Probably both," said Pearl's mother. She walked up to him and shook his hand. "I like your name, Oliver. It's Biblical."

"Really?" he said. "I've read the Bible, but it's been a while. I don't remember my name in there, though!"

She laughed. "Well, the word "olive"--the root of your name--is in the Bible over 50 times! Olive oil is a big deal, and represents the oil for the light of Christ to come to people."

He looked surprised, but interested.

"My apologies--I'm Charlotte, and I have a very wise older brother who'd love to invite you to lunch sometime, if you don't mind me telling him about you."

"Huh," he said, and opened another piece of chocolate. "Sure, why not. I got nothin' better to do."

"Good. And we'd love to have you at the festival tomorrow night--free food, games, good music, and more. It starts at 6 at GraceLight, the big white stone church on the corner with the waterfall."

"Yeah, I remember. Oh yeah," he said, pointing at the skeletons and other things, "my nephews put those up." He sounded guilty. "But I don't like 'em."

"Your nephews are invited too!" said Pearl's mother. "Now, we've got to go, but here--" she reached in and gave him more chocolate. "Jesus loves you and God has sweet things for you!"

Oliver looked as if he might cry. "Thanks, lady, and you kids too."

"It's Charlotte. And I'll tell Burt about you, and he'll be over soon to take you to lunch. Okay?"

Robert ran up and hugged him again. "Yeah, you'll love my uncle Burt!"

"Burt, huh? Okay. Thanks."

They waved and turned to walk down the steps. Pearl looked back and waved again. "Bye, Oliver!"

As they walked toward the next house, Pearl said, "Wow, Queen Mother, you were right on target!"

"I had to pray to make sure," said her mother. "The LORD knows all things, and He had to help me figure out if it was His Spirit warning me away from the place, or just my mind telling me we shouldn't go there, because of the decor and such. Of course, it was my mind, because He knew Oliver needed Jesus in us to visit him today!"

She walked a couple more steps, then waved for the group to stop. "Kids, please continue to pray for all of these we are meeting today, and for everyone who'll come to the festival. God knows them each by name, and is sending us to those who will receive His love."

"Queen Mother, I haven't heard of any other Olivers before," said Pearl.

"You're right," said her mother. "'Oliver' is a stately name, and I know God wants to restore us all to our original exalted state as His heirs!"

She turned to Robert, who was fidgeting beside her. "Robert, that was very sweet of you to run up and hug him, and I do believe he needed it. But from now on, I want you to ask the person if you may hug them. Got it?"

Robert nodded. "But he liked it, Mom!"

"Yes, and I think he felt Jesus hugging him!" she said, and patted him on the arm. "However, starting now, you will ask a person before you hug them. If they say no, you will not hug them. Not everyone likes to be hugged. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" he said, and hugged her hard. "You like it!"

She laughed, and they all hugged each other. "See what you started, Rob? Hug Fest!"

Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. They lift Him up in books (P.O.W.E.R. Girl!; LEGACY; Visions of the King; Your Holy Health; more); presentations; service in church, community, and the world; and via the "River Rain Creative" (309 videos) and "POWERLight Learning" You Tube channels.

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