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P.O.W.E.R.* Girl V - Ch. 14 - The Princess Royal and Bingo

by Tonja Taylor  
8/20/2023 / Short Stories

“At least we didn’t have to move our classroom, for these last two weeks of homeschool,” Pearl’s mother said, as she pulled books from the shelves. “God is good!”

“Yeah—Dios is bingo!” said Robert, as he did his math problems.

Pearl giggled, and she saw a twinkle in her mother’s eyes. “Rob, it’s ‘Dios es bueno!’” Pearl said.

“You know what I mean!” Robert said, without looking up.

“I give you credit for listening, son,” his mother said. She laughed. “The best part is, no matter how you say it, Daddy God knows what you mean! He hears our hearts, thank goodness.”

“Amen,” said Pearl. “Thanks for helping me find this book, Queen Mother! I’m so excited to know about Princess Anne—a real princess, living right now!”

Hearing Pearl's excitement, Vivace stirred at her feet. Pearl reached down and picked her up.

“You’re a real princess, Sissy!” said Robert, still not looking up from his work.

“He’s right,” said their mother. “We are truly Royalty, because of the blood of Jesus making us children of the Most High God, the King of Heaven and earth!”

Pearl paused. Wow, my little brother actually said that! she thought. Neat!  “Thank you, Sir Robert,” she replied, in her best princess voice.

“It is exciting, isnt’ it?” said her mother. “Yes, Princess Anne is the Princess Royal, and lives across the ocean in England. England is part of the United Kingdom.”

“I want to meet Princess Anne some day!” said Pearl.

Her mother hesitated, smiled, then said, “You do have strong faith, and so as The Word says, all things are possible, if you can believe.”

“Right!” Pearl said. “Where is that Scripture?” God gave me faith for a harp and lessons, and I’ve got both now! she thought.  I also got to see the Lipizzans, and got a cell phone. He can help me meet Princess Anne too!

“Why don’t you look it up on your Bible app on your phone, Princess?” her mother said. “Then you can memorize the verse and its address.”

“Oh yeah,” said Pearl. How could I forget I have a phone? she thought. This is so neat, Daddy God, especially since I can listen to great worship music and videos about You, and look up verses in Your Word too. I actually like it better than the book Bible.

“That verse is in Mark 9, verse 23,” Pearl said. “Neat!”

“I wanna cell phone!” said Robert, and threw his pencil down hard.

Vivace barked at him. 

Pearl started to speak, but saw her mother’s face, and kept her mouth shut. Help him know he needs to be older, LORD, she thought. He doesn’t really need one now!

“Young man, that is not the way we act, is it?” said his mother, in a very firm tone. “You know that Pearl had to wait to get one, and so do you.” She walked over to stand right next to him. “We have already discussed this, and more than once. So, instead of you getting to go to Ms. Sophia’s today, you will be doing extra chores here, with your Uncle Burt, and you will spend the night with your uncle this evening here. 

Robert put his head down, and started crying. “But I want to see Ms. Sophia!”

“Not today, son,” said his mother. “Right now, I want you to go to sit on the couch, and think about your wrong words and actions.” She pointed to the living room.

He raised his head, and Pearl could see tears. Serves him right! she thought. He has to learn to wait on some things. Besides, he has some video games already, and I didn’t even have those!

“Can I go to my room?” he asked.

“No sir, you can go to the couch, as I said,” replied his mother.

Robert scowled, threw his pencil down, and marched to the couch, where he sat. Vivace followed him. He picked her up and patted her.

Pearl’s mother raised her eyebrows, but said nothing, while she set the timer. Then she walked in to him and said quietly, “You may go to your room and sit on your bed, when the timer goes off. Remember to think about what you could have done differently, to prevent this.”

“Hey, here are some neat facts about Princess Anne!” said Pearl, finding several websites on her phone. We need to think on positive things! “She is a very good with horses, an e-kwest…ekwest—”

“Equestrian!” said her mother. “Ee-kwes-ree-uhn. Horses are equines, dogs are canines, cats are felines, and cows are bovines.”

“Equestrian,” repeated Pearl. “Thank you!”

“What are pigs?” Robert asked loudly, from the living room.

“Porky-pines!” Pearl said, and giggled at her own joke.

“Pearl, you are hilarious!” said her mother, and smiled. “However, if you search on the internet, you’ll find that porcupines--which most of us do wrongly say are ‘porkypines’--are small rodent-like creatures that have many sharp quills to protect them from predators. Also, pigs are porcine—poor-sihn, with a long I sound.”

“Wow, Queen Mother, you’re so smart.” said Pearl. “Thanks!”

“Dear, the most important thing anyone can know is the Word of God. I want you kids to know God’s Book more than anything else!”

Thank You, LORD, for a mother who loves you so much and teaches us Your Word! Pearl thought. I pray the other parents would help their kids know You and Your Word, so they can have a great life, and go to Heaven when they die!

“So tell me more about The Princess Royal,” said her mother, as she flipped through her lesson plans. “I know you’re writing your final paper for English class on her. We can use it for your history test too, if you like.” Her mother looked up and smiled. “That’s one of the advantages of homeschool—combining subjects.”

“Is my time up yet?” Robert said loudly.

“You’ll hear the timer go off,” his mother replied. “Now is the time for silence.”

“Princess Anne is the busiest Royal, this says,” Pearl responded, reading online. “It says she was second in line to the throne, before another boy was born, and that she competed in the Olympics several times and won medals, and has won other honors. It says she has two kids, and that she also has been president of Save the Children since 1970. It also says she has many military honors and medals. Wow!"

Her mother nodded. “Yes, one of the main roles of royalty—especially those of us who believe in God, who are the highest royalty—is to help others. That is the biggest reason for our wealth and power.” Her mother hugged her. “You and Princess Anne have a lot in common; you are both very interested in horses, diligent in your work, and talented. You are also both in the military; you in the Army of God. Also, as Royals, you are using your power for good, with purposeful operations with eternal rewards!”

That’s neat! thought Pearl.  I think I’ll start saying that! “Wow, Queen Mother, you’re right,” said Pearl. I am a Princess of P.O.W.E.R.—of purposeful operations with eternal rewards!

“Here’s the mail!” Xi said, as she walked in the door. “One for you, Pearl.”

Vivace danced around her feet, and Xi reached down to pet her. 

“Did you have a good morning working for Ms. Sophia, dear?” Pearl’s mother asked.

“Yes ma’am,” said Xi. “I watered the gardens—lots of little plants growing, so that’s cool. I did some other things, too. Then Ms. Sophia told me to bring the mail, and ask if you’ve put in a change of address yet.”

Pearl opened her letter while they were talking. Oh, it's from Jewell! she thought. I hope she can visit soon--maybe this summer!

“No, I need to do that,” replied Pearl’s mother. “Thanks. That kind lady is so wise!” She sighed. “She’s right….even though Burt’s my brother, we have a new house now, and Risa and her kids will get their mail here.”  She was silent for a bit, and looked around at the others. “Lots of changes for us all, huh? But God is good, all the time—”

“Dios is bingo!” said Robert, with gusto.

The other three laughed. “Maybe!” said his mother, “and Bible bingo is definitely your favorite board game, but the phrase Ms. Sophia had us repeat is, “Dios es bueno!” So let’s practice our Spanish, and all say it together, three times. “Ready?”

“Dios es bueno! Dios es bueno! Dios es bueno!” they said in unison.

While they were speaking, Pearl searched for “bingo” on her cell phone. She giggled. “Hey Queen Mother! Robert may be more right than he knows. Besides the game, this is what the internet says ‘bingo’ means: ‘an expressions of surprise, and usualy, pleasure, for example when something happens successfully.' Isn’t that just like our sweet Daddy God, Who loves to surprise us?”

“Way to go, Rob!” said Xi. “What do you know that we don’t?”

“Dios es bueno—and bingo!” he said, and smiled slyly.

“Rob, you’re pretty sharp,” said Xi, looking at her cell. Then she stopped talking and frowned.

“What is it, Xi?” asked Pearl.

“Uh….I didn’t know this creep still had my number,” Xi said. “He’s some weird long-lost cousin or something—I don’t think he’s really related to us, and he wants to come visit me.” She looked disturbed. “He’s asking where I’ve been, and why he hasn’t seen me on social media and such.”

“Xi, you don’t have to reply, and you can block his number,” Pearl’s mother said. "I'm glad to hear you haven't been on social media, dear."

She sounds really serious! thought Pearl.

“Well, Ms. Sophia said to forget it for now, because we're leaving the old stuff behind. Yeah….This guy is bad news,” said Xi. “I don’t even want him knowing where I live. I have a new life now!”

“Yes, and your mother knows Jesus—” Pearl's mother said.

“Not trying to be rude, Mrs. Williams,” interrupted Xi, “but I gotta go now. Catch you guys when you come over this afternoon—to your new house!” She quickly walked out the door.

“Queen Mother, should I go tell Uncle Burt?” Pearl asked.

“No, Sweetie, I'll tell him. I'm going to suggest that we get Miss Xi a new number. Anyway, let’s pray for that man right now.”

They joined hands, and Pearl’s mother said, “Father, You created this man, and You have a good Plan for his life. We claim him for Your Kingdom right now, in Jesus’ name, and we ask that You deliver him from the enemy who is too strong for him. Turn him from darkness to light. If he is doing evil, confront him, and hem him in. Angels of God, we ask that you start bringing lots of people across this man’s path every day, to show him how good God is, and to cause him to desire the wonderful life of peace and joy and plenty that God gives those who fear Him. Father, we plead the blood of Jesus over Xi’s soul right now, and we rebuke fear from her, in the Name of Jesus. We pray You would comfort her and give her peace, and most of all, that Your Spirit would continue to draw her and show her that You are the only true Safe Place—spirit, soul, and body. In Your wonderful Name we ask these things, Jesus, and we thank You for hearing and answering us. Amen.”

“Amen!” said Pearl.

“Is Xi scared, Mama?” said Robert.

“She was, but we just prayed for her, Rob. She’ll be fine. The devil is a bully, but Jesus is LORD, and so much bigger! Jesus is the Prince of Peace for us all. You’re actually supposed to be in your room right now, but why don’t we do this? Let’s just finish packing all the school books and other stuff, and go ahead and move our schoolroom to Ms. Sophia’s—our new house. That way, we’ll be with them, and we can just leave the books in boxes till we’re done.”

She hugged them both. "I think there are a few more boxes by the freezer, so I'll be right back with them. Robert, gather up the papers and pens and markers and such, instead of going to your room for now, I'll call Burt about that person who disturbed Xi, and then when he gets here, you'll stay with him tongiht." 

At her words, Robert stuck out his lip, but then said, "OK, Mama....Uncle Burt and I will have fun--just me and him."

"Good job, Rob," said Pearl softly, and smiled at him. He's learning, Jesus! 

His mother bent down to look into his eyes. "Yes, Sweetie, you will. Just you guys tonight!" 

"Can we sleep under the stars?"

"I don't know," replied his mother, "but you can ask Burt. It might happen!" She hugged him. "Just be sure and spray bug spray and such. You guys could probably sleep in the treehouse--maybe in Pearl's, if she doesn't care."

I'll miss being close to my treehouse and the foundtain, Pearl thought, but I can visit it still sometimes. After all, we're only a quarter of a mile up the hill! 

“Sounds great!” she said, and got up to help her mother finish packing. Thank You, LORD, that You are always with us, protecting and guiding us, and helping us with changes, Pearl thought. We love You!

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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