The next day was Sunday. Mrs. Spruce and Mrs. Mostly went to church with their daughters and Jason.

Jason had decided he wanted to go to church. All this talk about King Jesus from Jenny and her friend made him curious. The two women and three children climbed into Mrs. Mostly's car.

The Spruce girl had asked her father to go with them to the house of God and was disappointed when he said he was not ready to go yet. How could anyone not want to go and learn about the great Savior and King, thought Jenny.

"I must pray for Daddy," she told the others who went in the car. "Jesus is coming to earth and take those who are ready to Heaven with him. Daddy has just got to be in Heaven with the rest of us."

"Dear, we will pray for him and Kelli's father," answered Mrs. Mostly.

Soon the two women and three children were sitting in the third row of seats in the beautiful little community church with its stained glass windows of pictures of Jesus. There was Jesus as the good shepherd, Jesus with the children, Jesus kneeling in the garden and other lovely windows. But the window Jenny liked best of all was the stained glass one behind and above the pulpit. It was Jesus as the king and he was standing with outstretched arms in the clouds.

"Oh, Mama," whispered Jenny, "there is my Jesus, I mean our Jesus, and He is coming in the clouds."

Mrs. Spruce knew that her daughter was more touched by this great picture than anyone who had ever entered the church building. God had chosen Jenny to be a special little girl.

The song leader began the service and Jenny's attention turned to the hymnal. She sang an old song with the rest of the congregation: "Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise."

These words had a special meaning for her as she had been to the fair homeland. Her thoughts of Heaven were all good. The singing was so much better there because there was more joy. Everyone was so happy in the homeland.

After she put her hymnbook in the rack in front of her and sat down, she noticed a man rolling his wheelchair to the front of the church. She had not seen the man in church before.

Who is this man and why is he crippled? Is he in pain? She shivered a little at the thought that she could have been crippled from her own accident. God was certainly good to her, healing her without any obvious scars. Many questions crossed her mind. She wondered if the man would always be in the wheelchair. Of course, that was better than having to stay in bed and never being able to leave home. Oh, I wish my daddy were here in church. Would he soon accept Jesus and quit smoking and drinking that awful beer?

Thoughts of him kept coming to her mind. She would keep praying for him to be saved no matter what. He just had to be a christian.

The service continued with an elder of the church reading a scripture text. He opened a Bible and read: Revelation 7:13-17, NIV.

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes who are they? And where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know."

and he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in the temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; and he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

After the scripture was read, Pastor Goodman stepped behind the pulpit.

"Today," he said, "we are going to learn about the city that God has prepared for all his saints. First, are there any praise reports, prayer requests or announcements."

A few people, including Mrs. Mostly, stood up to praise God for His blessings. Kelli's mother was glad Jesus was her friend and always near. Jenny asked the congregation to pray for her father to come to church.

The man in the wheelchair spoke, "My name is Jeremiah Broman. I heard there is a child attending this church who died and visited Heaven. Is that so?"

"Yes, Jenny Spruce was in a deep coma after her accident," answered Pastor Goodman. "Yes, she said she was in Heaven and that she saw Jesus."

"May I ask her a few questions?" said Jeremiah.

"Certainly you may if it is O.K. with Jenny," replied the pastor.

Jenny was much surprised. She had not expected any attention. The girl squeezed her mother's hand. Then she slipped out of her seat and made her way to the platform to stand next to the pastor. "Child, did you see a great white throne called the judgment seat?" was Jeremiah's first question.

"No, sir," answered Jenny. "I heard some of the saints talking about the great throne room where prayers of earth people are always coming up like thin smoke. I was only there a little while. I did not even see my mansion. I know it is there. Aunt Adelia told me about it. I'll live there someday."

"Are the streets really made of gold, Jenny?" was his second question.

"Oh, yes!" She was excited thinking about them. "The streets are beautiful!"

"What do people do in Heaven?" was his last question.

"They do many things," returned Jenny. "But I believe the saints worship God much of the time. They celebrate Jesus in the big auditoriums called Praise Palaces. They grow flowers and play music. They visit each other and fly when they wish to."

"Thank you, dear," said the man in the wheelchair. "You're most helpful."

"Thanks, Jenny," said the pastor, and the Spruce girl returned to her seat.

Then the pastor went right into his sermon, telling the people to be of good cheer. "Be happy in Jesus and even if a person is poor on earth he will have a beautiful home in Heaven with the best of everything. Christians will be united with loved ones who have died and gone to Heaven at an earlier time. Best of all, the people will be with Jesus."

Jenny listened to every word of the message and agreed with what the preacher said.

When the service ended, friends greeted one another. Then everyone went home.

When Jenny, Jason and Mama got out of the car they saw Daddy cleaning out the garage. Many things were piled all over the driveway, including four old tires, a ping-pong table, cans of paint, a broken chair and an old bookcase.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Spruce. "I wish your father had chosen another time. I expected to face a clean house and yard for a relaxing afternoon with him. I think he will be quite busy."

"He is doing a nice thing," reminded Jenny.

"You are right," admitted Mama. "I must be more patient. If I become a nagging wife, he may never come to Jesus. That must not happen."

Mrs. Spruce went into the house and changed her clothes. Then she made roast beef sandwiches for the children and gave each one a glass of milk. Later they would all eat together when Daddy was ready. She made coffee for the sharing time with him.

Today Mr. Spruce seemed pleasant for a change.

After Jenny and Jason had eaten, they went to Kelli's house to play. The girls busied themselves with a game of Monopoly. Mrs. Mostly gave Jason a cardboard box filled with little cars, trucks and train cars. He scattered them all over the floor but Kelli's mother did not mind. She loved children and Mr. Mostly was out of town.

Someone knocked on the door. It was Mrs. Mostly's next door neighbor, Mrs. Lannie, and her little boy. The lad joined Jason to play with the toys on the floor.

"Is this the miracle child?" Mrs. Lannie, a friendly but nosy neighbor, asked. "I keep hearing so much about her. Everywhere I go someone talks about the girl in the coma. Some people said that she really did die."

"Did you really go to Heaven!" she asked Jenny.

"Yes," said Jenny, "I did." She was slightly annoyed that the woman disturbed their game. Nevertheless she put on her best manners.

"Do you think I could make it to Heaven?" The neighbor was full of questions.

"Why not ask Jesus, Mrs. Lannie?" said Jenny.

"Maybe I will," returned Mrs. Lannie and she turned her conversation to Kelli's mother.

"Kelli, I did not know so many people were talking about what happened to me," Jenny remarked.

"Well, Jenny, you are a miracle," said her friend. "It is not very often and mostly never that anyone comes back from Heaven."

"You are right," Jenny agreed. "I'm still a little girl. I don't feel so different. I do what other kids do - go to church, go to school, watch television and play."

"Yep," said Kelli, "but you are still a miracle girl. When I have to write a story in school again, I'm going to write about my miracle friend."

"Really!" Jenny seemed surprised. She was getting much attention today and hoped it wouldn't be like that every day.

The girls grew tired of Monopoly. They went out on a side porch and sat on the steps. They talked about school and wondered what it would be like in fifth grade.

"Fifth grade might be hard," said Jenny.

"Fourth grade is easy," returned Kelli. "Fifth grade will be easy, too."

"I hope you are right," sighed Jenny.

The girls heard the telephone ring. It was Mrs. Spruce calling for Jenny and Jason to hurry home.

The garage had been cleaned and everything was in its place when the children arrived.

"Whew, that was danged hard work!" remarked Mr. Spruce as he wiped beads of water from his face.

"It's time you relax," Jenny's mother said to her husband when she gave him a glass of lemonade.

The Sunday afternoon meal was quiet and pleasant. The children ate well. Daddy was too tired to talk so most of the eating was done in silence. The girl was glad her father didn't talk.

Jenny helped her mother in the kitchen after they ate, while her father watched television, lying on the sofa. Jason played in the yard for a while. Then he came in and fell asleep on the carpet.

Father and son were asleep when Mrs. Spruce and her daughter left for the Sunday night service at church. Mama closed the door quietly and she and Jenny went to Kelli's house to ride to church with them.

Jenny and Kelli sang joyfully with the others in church. By the time Pastor Goodman began to preach, both girls were sleepy and leaned on their mothers. They slept through the sermon and awakened when the piano was played for the last hymn.

"We had best get these sleepy ones home," said Mrs. Mostly as they greeted a friend.

Soon the sleepy children and their mothers+ were in their own houses.

"Jenny, I love you," her mother said.

"I love you, Mama," returned Jenny and she went to her bedroom.

Hurriedly she put on her nightgown and slipped under the covers.

"Goodnight, Je-ee-sus," and Jenny was asleep.

It had been a good Sunday.