Two
days later Granny Simms drove past the church and Junior Jericho on
her way to a shut-in friend with her weekly groceries and some
week-old newspapers. Not really expecting to see any outside
activity, she was surprised to see two leather jacket youths and one
had orange hair. Both youth were throwing the tennis ball so hard she
wondered if the wall of Jericho would come tumbling down. “It
wouldn’t dare! She proclaimed to the steering wheel. “God’s
building some bridges here. My friends and I mean to put in the
rivets! They don’t call me ‘Hard-Case Hannah for nothin’!”
Granny
Simms was spending so much time and heartbeats at Jericho, the church
trustees gladly gave her a Jericho building key for her to keep. At
home she sat at the kitchen table with the key laying in front of
her. Her eyes slowly traced the shape and lettering on the key. Her
stare parked on the jagged edge of the key as her heart asked God for
the combination, the key, His permission for her to participate in
the unlocking of young hearts to His glory.
Her
finger carressed the key as she boldly asked her Lord and Master to
bless her efforts to involve the ‘Super Sixties’ group of
silver-haired folks in the church. More than once they’d tried to
find a really good project they could provide their helpin’ ‘n
huggin’ in.
Friday, Hannah answered her phone and heard gray-headed Max Tanner introduce himself. She knew something of him as working many years in a steel foundry making pot-belly stoves. She’d thought his heart was as hard as any of the stoves he’d made. Max explained to her that he’d seen the boys doing the ball throwing ‘therapy’ a couple days earlier and he’d like to be involved.
He
went on to briefly describe an idea for a Jericho Wall Ball
Tournament that could easily attract more youth. “The owner of
Lennard’s Hardware store owes me a favor and I figure I can get him
to donate a can of tennis balls, when he knows what they’re for.”
Hannah’s voice cracked when she tried to say, “Sounds good to me!
Can you keep the balls in the old milk can behind the building so’s
the youngins can play any time they want?” An excited “Sure”
was heard. Granny ended the call with, “I know God will greatly use
your efforts, Max. Go for it!”
The
next day Max put 4 brand new tennis balls in the milk can wondering
what all God might do because of them. He had a strange feeling
putting the balls in the can and adding the metal lid was something
like planting seeds. The old foundry worker shook his head as he
walked toward the car wondering how God can use fuzzy rubber tennis
balls as seeds. His mind tried to recall the words to a verse that
said something like “Eyes has not seen what God has prepared for
anybody that loves Him and wants to work for Him.”
Max wasn’t home two minutes before he told Marti, his wife of 47 years, about the Jericho Wall Ball Tournament idea. He asked her to help him think out the milk can seed planting thoughts he’d had.
Monday
before lunch, Max took Marti over to Jericho and showed her the
milkcan storage place for the balls. To his dismay only one ball was
there instead of all 4. Discussing the disappearance with Marti
brought another surprise. “Max let’s go over to Lennard’s and
buy some more balls to put in the can. Seeds don’t cost that much
do they?” she said with a grin.
Her
husband decided in his heart there were lots of old folks that want
to love youth. All that’s needed is a chance and some seeds for
God’s garden of hearts.
