by Mary Wingfield Bell
Chapter Four -
On Sunday afternoon Wink's aunt drove a car full of boys to
the house where the windshield had been broken. She was amazed at
the beauty of the house and grounds.
Everyone got out of the car, went up the walk and across a
large veranda. Wink rang the doorbell. Soon a man answered the
door. He was the butler.
"The boys would like to see the owner of the blue Oldsmobile,"
Wink's aunt said.
"I will call Miss Lora Jean. She is in the library."
He left the lady and the boys standing on the veranda.
Miss Lora Jean appeared and said, "Good afternoon, may I help
you?" She was a daughter of the owner of the lovely home.
Aunt Gracie removed a wallet from her purse. "The boys have
come to pay for the broken windshield that one hit accidentally
with a baseball. If we do not have quite enough, we will get more
money for you. We are all sorry for any inconvenience. Now, how
much do we owe you?"
Miss Lora Jean smiled. "It is an admirable thing you do,
coming here to pay. I am really grateful but there is no need for
any money. The insurance has taken care of everything."
"Really?" Wink was pleasantly surprised; so was his aunt and
the other boys. "That's wonderful."
"Thank you; we will be going," Aunt Gracie said.
"What about the money?" Wink asked when they were back at the
car. "Can I keep some of it, Aunt Gracie?"
"Well, let's see, I think nine dollars will be divided among
the boys who brought things to sell. Then you may keep $100 to use
for something special. Think very carefully on how to use it. You
could buy new school clothes or put it in a savings account."
"Oh, thank you, Aunt Gracie. I'll do something good with it,"
Wink promised.
"Now let's all go to the house for ice cream," she said. "We
have chocolate and vanilla. "
"Yea for Wink's Aunt Gracie!" Big Squirt exclaimed.
"You're the bestest mom around," said Moon.
"Well, guess I am a sort of mom," Wink's aunt said as she
laughed.
All the guys came in for ice cream. Then they plopped down on
the living room floor to watch a baseball game on television.
After washing bowls and spoons Aunt Gracie joined the gang. They
all had fun but Big Squirt and Willie got too rough for the living
room. Aunt Gracie had to yell, "Knock it off - you are in my
living room."
Both boys said they were sorry and behaved for the rest of the
afternoon.
When the ball game on television had ended, Wink looked at
Knuckles and said, "Wonder what Mr. Winterfresh is doing right
now?"
Knuckles replied, "Maybe he is working in the garden."
"I don't think he works outside on Sunday," said
Wink.
"Let's go there tomorrow," suggested Little Cube.
"You kids are always talking about that old man and his friend
Jesus," mumbled Big Squirt.
"Well, he makes a guy feel special and Jesus is the best of
all," Wink remarked. "Yes, Knuckles, Little Cube and I are going
to see him again. If anyone else wants to go along, be here at 9
o'clock in the morning," he continued.
"Can my sister Isabel come, too?" asked Little Cube. "She
wants to hear about Jesus."
"Yeah, I guess so," agreed Wink. "Jesus must want her to know
Him too."
Next morning at nine o'clock Wink looked outside. There in the
driveway were Knuckles, Moon, Little Cube and his sister Isabel.
Isabel was eight years old. With her was a friend, Marcia.
"My! Look, Aunt Gracie!"
Wink's aunt looked out the window. "Heavens, Mr. Winterfresh
will be busy. I hope he can take all these kids."
"Aunt Gracie, he can take anything. He says whatever he can't
take care of, his God can. What a guy!"
"You said it! I must meet him one day, but not right now, I
got lots of work to do." And she went to the closet for the vacuum
cleaner.
The children went on their way to see the old man. The boys
walked too fast, the girls had to run to keep up with them.
There was the gray-haired man sitting on the porch in a
rocking chair near a big swing. He smiled and looked please to see
the boys and girls.
"Good morning, little ladies and gentlemen," greeted Mr.
Winterfresh. "I'm glad the girls came with you. What a beautiful
day God has given us. Let us be happy." He just kept smiling and
motioned for them to sit in the swing.
"Hi, Mr. Winterfresh. We came to hear some more about Jesus,"
Knuckles told him.
The children's friend went inside to get his Bible, and they
heard him singing the words of a hymn, "More about Jesus, Would I
Know."
From the Bible Mr. Winterfresh read the story of a rich man
who had so much food and grain he had to tear down his barns and
build bigger ones. He had said to himself, "I have enough to last
for years. I can take it easy and have a good time." But God said
to him, "Fool, you are going to die tonight. Then who will have
your riches?" Everyone is a fool who wants only earthly
possessions.
The old friend told the young ones not to be selfish like
that. "God feeds the birds and surely He will take care of his
people. Worry makes one miserable. Look at the flowers. They don't
work but they are more beautiful than all of King Solomon's
glory."
The boys and girls had many questions. But the elderly one
always knew the answers.
Marcia said shyly, "I want to have Jesus in my heart just the
way Knuckles has. He told me about him."
"I want Jesus too," added Isabel.
"And me," joined in Moon.
"I am always glad to lead children to Jesus," said Mr.
Winterfresh. "I have known Him for 75 years and He has never
failed me."
"What about when your wife died?" asked Wink.
"Oh, He was with me then. He was with her. His angels took her
by the arms and lifted her high, flying on up to Heaven. It was
her time to go home." The old man smiled. "One day it will be my
time to go and the angels will come for me just as they did for
Edna."
"Tell us about angels," Wink said.
"There is much to tell you, but now let's pray." Mr.
Winterfresh hesitated for a moment.
"Your names are...?" he asked.
"Moon."
"Isabel."
"Marcia."
He began, "Repeat after me, 'Jesus, I am a sinner. I want you
to come into my heart and forgive me of all my sins. I believe You
died on the cross for me. Now come in, Lord Jesus, and take over
my life. I will live for You until I die or You come in the
clouds. Then I will live with You forever in Heaven."
Mr. Winterfresh lifted his head and smiled.
"Oh, I feel wonderful," Isabel said as she smiled.
"Someone put His arms around me," Marcia said.
Moon cried a little. God had forgiven him for stealing and
cursing. He really felt good. Moon said that Jesus was much better
than a joint.
The children had a feeling of being at home here. They knew
they were secure and safe with this godly old man because he loved
Jesus so much.
He told them so many wonderful things about God, about the
universe He made and so much about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mr. Winterfresh said, "You are good children and each one of
you is special to God. There is something for each of you to do
for Him. "
"How can we do something for Jesus?" Isabel asked.
"Dear, obey your parents. Help your mother and always be
kind," answered the old man. "Now, let us have refreshments." He
went to the kitchen for ginger snaps and peanuts.
"Can we help you with something?" Wink asked after they had
all eaten.
"Sure, I need the weeds along the fence pulled."
The boys and girls ran out into the yard. They worked very
fast. Soon all the weeds were gone. Mr. Winterfresh was very
pleased.
"Children, I was thinking that if you bring any more friends,
we could clean out the old garage and I could read to you
there."
"That would be nice. We could be a Bible club," suggested
Wink.
"Great! We are going to have lots of fun here," said
Knuckles.
"But there will be a lot of work first in that garage," the
old one said happily. "We will have to find something for seats; I
think we will manage though."
By now the sun was in the middle of the sky. Wink decided that
it was time to go home. Aunt Gracie probably had lunch ready. She
would take him to the swimming pool in the afternoon.
Their old friend said goodbye and went inside to fix his
lunch.
When Wink arrived home he found a letter on the kitchen table.
It was from his mother.
"It's about time she wrote," Wink said as he tore open the
envelope. When he finished reading he said, "Aunt Gracie, my
mother wants me to come out to Texas for a week. Here is the plane
ticket. I don't want to go! I want to see her but I don't want to
leave here."
"It is only for a week, dear," his aunt said. "I'd miss you,
but she is your mother."
"Why can't she come here?" Wink asked.
"She probably doesn't want to leave her husband," Aunt Gracie
replied.
"Just when it was getting good at Mr. Winterfresh's house,"
Wink said. "He said we would clean out his garage and invite more
kids to hear the Bible stories. He is a neat guy even if he is
old."
"Bless his ancient heart," Wink's aunt said. "Now, Wink, the
old fellow is healthy; he will probably be here when you return
from your vacation. Anyway, you can go there a couple of times
before you leave."
After lunch Wink's aunt took him to the swimming pool. All the
time he was in the pool, he was thinking about either his mother
and the plane trip or his old friend and the Bible club.
When he came home from the pool he stayed in to watch
television the rest of the evening.
"Aunt Gracie, will you do me a favor?" Wink asked.
"Most likely. What is it?"
"When I am gone to Texas, will you go to see Mr. Winterfresh
and hear the stories? Then you can tell me about them later. "
"If it means so much to you, sure, I will," promised his
aunt.
It was all settled. Wink would go to Texas to see his mother
and Aunt Gracie would go with the children to see the old man.
Wink fell into a peaceful sleep that night.
He dreamed a special kind of dream. He found himself in a
church and he was not sitting in one of the pews but was standing
in front of a congregation, telling people about Jesus. Wink saw
people he knew and others he did not know. His aunt and his
friends were there. As he talked to the people he was looking
around for his old friend. He did not see him until he looked up
to the ceiling. Mr. Winterfresh was sitting on a long wooden beam,
smiling down on Wink.
"Mr. Winterfresh, come down," Wink beckoned.
"No, my boy, I like it better up here," the old one called
down.
Then Wink awoke. A light shone through the curtains from the
street light. He lay there in the half-darkness and thought, What
a dream! Wink would remember this night for a long while. Perhaps
the dream meant something. Wow! What a dream!
Next day Wink started packing his clothes and discovered he
needed new socks and underwear, so he and his aunt went
shopping.
"Do you want to take a gift to your mother?" Aunt Gracie
asked.
"What should I get?" said Wink. They looked everywhere in the
J-Mart. Finally, the two went into a gift shop. There was a sale
on books.
"Your mother likes poetry; this is a nice book," Aunt
Gracie said.
"I'll take it," Wink said, as he was tired of searching. They
went back to the house. Later in the day he decided to see if any
of the gang wanted to go to help clean out the garage for the
Bible club.
Little Cube and Moon wanted to go. Knuckles had gone to visit
his cousin. Isabel and Marcia said the sun was too hot to walk all
the way to Mr. Winterfresh's house but they would go next
time.
"I can't do much in the heat of the day, but I'll show you
what to do," the boys' old friend said and he went to get ice
water for them.
Wink and his friends moved old chairs, racks, paint cans and
other things to the back of the garage, leaving an open space near
the door.
"There is a big utility brush. You can sweep the cement
floor," said the old man.
Mr. Winterfresh opened the garage door so the dirt could be
pushed out on the driveway and then out to the edge of the street.
The boys took turns pushing. Soon the concrete looked clean. But
it still needed to be scrubbed.
"Scrubbing is girls' work," said Little Cube. "We will come in
the morning with Isabel and Marcia. Isabel likes to scrub cement
with a broom and soapy water."
"Very well, that will be fine," agreed the kind senior
citizen. "Now over in that corner are twenty big strong plastic
flower pots. Take them outside. Use the water hose and see how
clean they will get."
Wink and the others followed directions. Soon all the flower
pots were drying in the sun.
"What are the flower pots for?" asked Wink.
"We will use them to sit on," the old man answered.
"Neat idea," remarked Knuckles.
The guys had finished the work they had come to do.
"Now we can have questions and answers," Mr. Winterfresh
suggested. "Sit a spell."
"What is God like?" asked Little Cube.
"There is much to say about God in the Scriptures. He is like
a good father. He is great and full of power."
"What else?" asked Wink.
"God helps the righteous and delivers them from trouble. God
created the world, the moon, stars and planets. I must see that
you lads get a Bible so you can learn more and more about Him."
The elderly man and his young friends talked for a long time
about many things - school, home, earthquakes, floods and friends.
Finally, it was time to go home. The boys left, promising to bring
the girls to do the scrubbing.
The following morning Isabel and Marcia went with the boys,
running along trying to keep up.
The Bible man welcomed the children and gave each one a job to
do. Soon the garage floor and driveway were clean. The upside-down
flower pots were arranged in four rows of five each. Mr.
Winterfresh had strung a wire near the back of the garage and had
hung up green blankets to hide all the junk. In front of the
blankets he put a chair and a small table. The little table had a
wooden cross on it and a vase of flowers.
"It looks like church," Marcia declared. She had been to a
church once.
"Let's call our clubhouse LITTLE CHURCH," suggested Wink. And
after that the old garage was called the Little Church.