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P.O.W.E.R.* Girl III - Ch. 19 - Rocking Horses for Christmas

by Tonja Taylor  
9/19/2022 / Short Stories


“Uncle Burt, why didn’t we have these for Christmas?” Pearl asked, as she handed him a piece of wood. She looked at the three rocking horses they’d made together. This is going to be so exciting—to give them to single moms with little kids!

“Well, Princess, I seem to remember we spent a lot of time out here cutting wood for ornaments—about 200 of them, remember?!” He chuckled. “Pearl girl, your uncle only has so much time and energy. Besides, most people celebrate Christmas till at least January 1, so we're still on time."

“Yes, sorry--thanks for making the ornaments for Jesus' Christmas Tree! They were beautiful, Uncle Burt! Thank You!” She hugged him. “That was really neat how you taught us to cut the names of the countries into each heart.”

She pointed at his saw. “What do you call that thing that you used?”

“A scroll saw,” he said. “Would you like to learn to use it?”

He picked up the skill saw to cut a long piece of wood.

Pearl put her fingers in her ears, and said, “Yes! But not the skill saw—it hurts my ears!” She giggled. “I think it’s a noisome pestilence!”

He laughed. “Well, Darlin’, it may be that to you, but it’s a necessary tool if we want this wood cut. Until you can invent a skill saw that’s more quiet, just put your fingers in your ears. But you can think about it, and God may give you a witty idea. He knows all things.”

She put her fingers in her ears and he cut the wood.

“Hmm,” Pearl said. “I don’t know, but I know we’ll make lots of people happy. They can be New Year presents!”

He nodded. “Yes. I’ve only ordered 10 horse bodies, but I’m sure this ministry will grow. I’m going to need you and the other kids to help me paint and deliver them, OK? We might even decide to create kits to sell, so others can do it too.”

He smiled at her. “Do you remember rocking on your horse that I made you, Princess?”

“Yes,” she said. “Maybe that’s why I wanted horses so much. Also, when Queen Mother took us to see the Lipizzans, I decided I want to ride one.”

“With God, anything is possible,” said Burt, “but the riders have to be specially trained, and live in Austria. They stay with their horses for life, from what I understand.”

“Cool!” said Pearl. Daddy God, with you all things are possible! Of course, I’d have to learn to speak Austrian….she thought.

“I want Xi to paint, ‘cause she’s better than the rest of us,” said Pearl. “Maybe she can make a different design on each one, just like real horses. Maybe even some like Lipizzans!”

“Sure,” he said, although if you kids want to use bright crazy colors, that’s all right with me. This will be—what do you call it? Oh yes, “art therapy” for Xi.” He inspected the end of the board he’d cut. “God is working on her heart,” he said. “Keep praying and living with joy and love, Princess, and she’ll come around.”

She sneezed. “Sawdust!” That’s OK, though, she thought. It’s worth it.

“Yes, I know she’ll see that King Jesus is behind all this good stuff,” she said. Help her Lord! Make it quick, please! she thought.

She looked at all the pieces of wood. These sure don’t look like rocking horses right now! “So these are going to be anonymous gifts, right, Uncle Burt?”

He nodded, as he measured the next piece to cut. “Right. The only thing the receivers should know is that God sent it! So this is super--secret stuff, Princess. You kids can keep it to yourself, can’t you?”

“You bet, Uncle Burt! But can we tell Queen Mother and Risa and Ms. Sophia?”

“Of course,” he said. Then he whispered, “but they must swear not to tell.”

“I’m sure we can trust them!” she said.

“You’re right, Princess!” he said. “Trust is a powerful thing!”

“Yes sir!” she said. Thank You, LORD, for this special time with Uncle Burt. He’s such a wise man!

 

After they finished the first rocking horse, Pearl said, “Wow, Uncle Burt! Now, are we going to get Xi to paint it?”

“Hmm,” he said, looking at it. “Let’s just put some varnish on it, to show this nice natural wood color.”

“OK,” she said. “Will it stink?”

“Yes! Go get a clothespin for your nose, if you need to,” he said, and laughed. “Why don’t you go get your mom and Robert—just keep him away from the saws and things—and they can see our work. By the way,” he said, “you did a good job sanding and helping me otherwise. I’ll teach you how to use these saws next time, if you want.”

“OK, but I’ll have to get ear covers or something to use that skill saw!” she said. “Be right back!”

She ran to the house and got her mom and Robert. “Hey! Come see what me and Uncle Burt did!”

Robert looked up from his puzzle. “Yeah!” He ran up and hugged her. “You’re doin’ good for people, Mama said!”

“With the LORD’s help, of course!” said her mother. “We can’t do anything without Him.”

“Yes ma’am,” she said, motioning for them to follow her. Robert is so sweet when he wants to be!

“Pearl, would you and Burt like some hot chocolate?” said her mother. “You’ve been out there all morning.”

“Yes please!” Pearl said.

Her mother smiled, then fixed them organic hot chocolate, and Pearl said, “Hey Rob, show me your puzzle, and then we’ll go see the rocking horse,”

“It’s a monster truck!” he said, and took her hand to hurry her over to see.

“Oh, nice!” Pearl said. But I really mean the mountains behind it! she thought. “Pretty!”

“Nope!” he said. “Monster trucks are not pretty! They are rough tough guy stuff!”

I’m busted! Pearl thought, and giggled. “OK, whatever Rob. You are doing great on the puzzle.”

“’OK, come get your drink!” their mother called. “Robert, open the door, and Pearl, you are in charge of carrying this plate--”

“Yum! Whipped cream on top!” Robert said, reaching for his.

“Not yet, son, and this is organic whipped cream!” corrected his mother. “No bad stuff in it!”

Thank You, LORD, for a mother that feeds us good things! thought Pearl.

“Can I have some cinnamon too?” Pearl asked.

“Next time,” said her mother, putting the plate of full mugs in her hands. “Go, Robert,” she said, pointing to the door.

They walked carefully on the stone path to the shop, and heard the saw running.

Robert started to open the door. “Rob, stay with us, and walk slowly.”

He saw the rocking horse and ran toward it. “Look! A horse rocker!” He bumped into Pearl and almost made her drop the heavy plate.

Sometimes I just want to pop him—no, that’s not right, Pearl thought, correcting herself. Help him slow down, LORD!

His angel always beholds My face, Pearl heard the Holy Spirit say. And your angel is protecting you.

Got it, Daddy God! she replied in her heart. Thank You, Sir!

Her mother sighed. “God has great plans for that boy!” she said, and waved at Burt.

Burt put down the saw, and pushed it back so Robert couldn’t reach it.

“Can I help?” Robert said, hugging his uncle’s knees. “We brought us all hot chocolate—with cream!”

Burt reached down and picked him up. “Thank you, Rob. You’re getting to be a big boy. I don’t know how much longer I can hold you!”

‘Yeah, I’m big!” said Robert, as his uncle put him down. “Let’s eat!”

Pearl and her mother laughed, and they sat on a wooden bench to rest.

“Pearl, held the plate out to her mother and uncle, then to Robert. “Careful, it’s hot!”

As they took a break, Pearl asked, “Queen Mother, who are we going to give this first one to?”

“I will call Risa and make sure,” she replied. “And since this is church night, we could deliver it tomorrow night.”

“So we’re going to sneak up in the dark and leave these on people’s porches, right?” Pearl said, thinking, This is like spy stuff!

“No, dear,” said her mother. “Where did you get that idea? We don’t want to scare anyone, we don’t want dogs attacking us, and we don’t want to get shot at!” she said, and laughed. She looked at her brother. “Hmm…Burt, was that your idea?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, but I thought it was a good one—kind of.”

“Yes, for a movie!” said Pearl’s mother. “But God does things like this out in the open, although we can definitely pray that we will be able to leave these when the people are not home, or otherwise surprise them. If nothing else, we’re going to take these where God shows us, and the people probably won’t know us. We can write a love note with Scriptures and ‘from God, Who loves you!’ or something. They will be so blessed, and it will be a reminder that God sees them and has sweet surprises for them.”

“Yeah!” said Robert, and took another big slurp of his chocolate. “God is sweet! Kinda like this!”

Pearl giggled at the chocolate ring around his mouth.

“What?” he said.

“You’re right, that God is sweet, Rob,” said Pearl. “And maybe Robin and Ms. Risa and Lucas can help us…Hey! Maybe they can deliver some rocking horses in their truck, while we’re doing that in Uncle Burt’s, and we can get more done faster!”

“Good idea,” said Burt. “And I bet Ms. Sophia might want to get in on it, too. She may not want to do the visit, but I bet she’d be eager to shop with us for the materials. It is another way to give to others, and I know that she loves to give even more now, since she was born again.”

“We can ask,” said Pearl. “She is so generous.”

“Indeed!” said her mother. “We’ll talk to her soon. And let’s start delivering tomorrow—at least this first one. But if you guys can finish more, we’ll have more to give, and the single moms and grandparents raising grandbabies can enjoy them now.”

“Are we going to keep making these?” said Pearl.

“At least during these holidays,” said her uncle. “Maybe more, for a homeschool project too.”

“Yes, let’s do it!” said Pearl. “I’ll get Xi to teach me how to paint cool stuff. And maybe we can give them names or something, and put Scriptures on—”

“Yes, my P.O.W.E.R. Princess!” said her mom. “Now you’re talking! It’s all about The Word—living it, and helping others know Him more!”

“Right,” said Burt, draining his cup. “That’s some of the best hot chocolate I’ve had!” he said.

“That’s because it’s organic!” said Pearl’s mother. “The key word here is organic—no drugs, no pesticides, lots of flavor!”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and laughed. “You go about doing good!”

“It’s part of my job, brother!” she replied. “Speaking of jobs, I’m going to go back with Robert—”

“I wanna help Uncle Burt!”

“Son, Pearl is learning to use some of the tools—”

Me too!”

His mother sighed. “You will get your chance, but these tools are too heavy, and can be very dangerous to my sweet son.” She picked him up. “You are getting so big!” she said, and hugged him close, then whispered loudly so Pearl and Burt could hear. “But you and I were going to play a game, remember? Then make cookies and watch a funny movie?”

“Oh yeah!” he whispered back, and hugged her neck. “That’s more fun!”

She smiled and nodded, and, still carrying Robert, winked at the other two, as she walked out the door. “I’ll text Risa about where the horses will go,” she said. “And lunch will be ready in a couple hours.”

“Thanks!” said Pearl. And thank You, LORD, she thought, that me and Uncle Burt have the day to ourselves, to get more horses exercised. Help me learn to do this, and we can help more people know how good You are!”

 

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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