The Day Heaven Came for Dinner

The Secret Battle: God’s Cavalry to the Rescue

On Earth, there once was a day — apparently just one of them—that decided to be nice, when up in the heavens, three excited little sister cherubs decidedly decided to promptly visit their Pawpaw, abruptly and with suddenness besides.

Little Gracie, Luna, and Rosie stood on the Edge of Forever, their favorite spot for watching Creation below. One could just see the wonder and joy sparkling up in their eyes, because they had permissions!

Yes!

The tenacious trio popped off the Edge of Forever as if it were a diving board.

At first, they floated down like a leaf, then like a feather, and, being intent on having fun, they spiraled like helicopter seeds. That is, until Rosie got too dizzy and splat into Luna she did.

To be precise, she did it without precision, too.

The two silly little girls careened, wouldn’t you know it? Right into their oldest sister Gracie.

Now Gracie, being the oldest, was used to such shenanigans originating from little sisters, as they do. However, this particular time, surprise caught her quite unexpectedly.

Down, down, down they tumbled, barely missing planets and stars. But they straightened out by the time they came to Mars.

Gracie flustered, “Now girls, this just won’t do!”

From Luna emerged, “Oh, my head’s spinning too.”

Rosie pulled her tangled robe off her head. “Are we there yet?”

Gracie straightened her sisters’ robes and halos, and made their hair stay down and behave rather than up and about.

Rosie pointed to the endless light-years. “I lost my sandal. Over theres.”

Gracie rolled her eyes and then her hands, and poof, the wayward sandal was found around Rosie’s toes.

She then held her sisters’ hands and, not wanting to messy-around, spun them about and placed them aground. On Earth they emerged with precision, right in Pawpaw’s front yard without collision.

The sisters were bright and giggly and a bit too dizzly.

Then gravity flopped Rosie down. “Everything is going round and round, though I’m safe and sound,” she said with a smile all the while.

The little cherubs prissied themselves up, their adventure to resume. They walked right through the door into Pawpaw’s living room. And there he was, on his couch, asleep with a broom.

Gracie said with her hands on her hips, “Well goodness, he was awake when we got permissions.”

She sighed.
“Well girls, there’s nothing else to do but clean up the place.”

She pointed to her left.
“Rosie.”
Rosie zipped off with a mission.

She pointed to her right.
“Luna.”
And Luna twirled with to‑do.

And the three angels went through every nook and cranny from bottom to top, and cleaned the place up and down and all around.

When Pawpaw woke up, there were his three little angels standing in a row with their hands behind their backs, and don’t you know?

Pawpaw said, “Oh my, if it isn’t Gracie, and Luna, and even little Rosie, come to visit!”

As he said their names, each girl curtsied as proper girls do.

“And another oh my! Look at this place shine!” Pawpaw observed.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say even the shadows sparkle as they should. Some little somethings have been up to all-good.”

And Rosie she did giggle.

It’s my suspicion — that welcome and blessing was their mission!
“What Pawpaw deserves such a present?
What Pawpaw wakes to such a pleasant?”

Then Gracie stepped forward and presented Pawpaw with bright yellow flowers. She gave him a kiss and a hug with grace and stepped back into place.

Then Luna did the same, but her flowers were bright and red. “I founds them and brought them instead.” She meant instead of her usual blue. She gave him a hug and a kiss and twirled back into her place.

Well then it was Rosie’s turn. She stepped forward and proudly presented Pawpaw with a great big, ugly snail. “I founds him!”

“Oh my,” said Pawpaw with a smile, “a Raricus Snailicus most impressive! How ever did you find such a treasure so expressive?”

Rosie proclaimed, “He was eating Luna’s flowers, so I tolds him, ‘No, no, no, don’t eats her flowers. They are for Pawpaw.’”

Luna interjected, “And of course she just had to take him with us.”

Pawpaw laughed and handed the snail back. “Well, how about you take care of him? I think he likes you more than me.”

So Rosie gave him a hug and a kiss and stepped back into place… with the snail at home in her pocket.

The girls showed Pawpaw their best poses for his addressing. Afterward, they rehearsed their Bible memory verses for his blessing.

Gracie recited verses of promise, Luna quoted verses of hope, and Rosie quoted verses of love. All the while, Pawpaw clapped and cheered them on, because this was what he was so fond of.

Now usually, there might be a bit of a ballyhoo with lots of wiggling and jumping around that was supposed to be dancing. But they were all “growed” up now, and they had rehearsed a proper presentation just for Pawpaw.

They changed into cute, flowery little dancing outfits, put on some “charming” music, and danced delightfully for Pawpaw, twirling and bowing and not falling downing. And they did a pretty good job, rarely bumping into each other.

“We’re flowers!” Rosie exclaimed, imitating her sisters.

Pawpaw tried not to laugh or snicker as the three little twirling flowers sometimes bumped into each other. And more than once, Gracie had to put Rosie back into her place, as she was more concerned with her spinning and grinning than with her grace.

Suddenly, Pawpaw exclaimed, “Oh no! It’s a bee!” and the girls pretended to flee. Well, it was all nonsense and play, which could have gone on all day.

But as the girls were winding down, there was a crack and a pop and a crash. Pawpaw looked outside. A large branch had broken off the tree and lay on the ground.

So off Pawpaw went to find some tools for the mess to address.

Naturally, the girls went outside to investigate, and there on the ground lay a little baby squirrel. Luna found him first, and, not realizing his fate, she did not hesitate, but miracled him right back to life.

Gracie and Luna found his nest, but found no sign of his mother.

Aunt Bee appeared with hello and hugs. She beckoned them inside, to the kitchen, to make Pawpaw a supper or dinner, whichever was the winner.

Now Pawpaw was much too busy outside to know anything about the squirrel. But the girls’ sudden disappearance, along with the aroma of heavenly cooking, told him that a special visitor had arrived.

Gracie and Luna helped Aunt Bee make all sorts of wonderful things. But little Rosie just watched with anticipation — especially when it came time to make the cookies.

So while everything was baking, Rosie decided to imitate Aunt Bee. She wanted to make cookies for everyone, too! So she put a little bit of this and a little bit of that and — oops! — a lot of whatever that was into a bowl and mixed it all up.

And wouldn’t you know it? It needed some spicing, too. The more, the prettier!

In the meantime, Luna was in the kitchen too, playing with the baby squirrel and paying no attention to Rosie.

When Pawpaw finished, he came inside and sat down. And surprise! There he found Rosie’s snail — and apparently her bubblegum. At that very moment, there was a great crash in the kitchen.

They all rushed in to find Luna snickering and Rosie sitting on the floor beside a tipped-over stool, with a copper bowl perched on her head.

“For lands’ sake Rosie, did you have a tumble?” asked Aunt Bee. “Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to put yourself into the bowl?”

Pawpaw just shook his head at the little mess. But then he saw the squirrel.

“Could someone please explain why there's a baby squirrel in the kitchen?”

Luna: “I found him! He needed foods and attentions!”

Rosie proudly announced, “I make cookies!”

Aunt Bee: “Rosie… sweetheart… that is not cookie dough. Where did you even get that?”

Rosie grinned. “I mades it all by myself!”

Whatever was in the “cookie dough” smelled a lot like half the spice cabinet. And what a mess! Spices were everywhere.

But Aunt Bee’s focus was on cleaning up little Rosie, with the intent of “finding her smile.” And she did.

Luna tasted the alleged cookie dough and turned beet red.
“It tastes like salt… with…” Luna sneezed and wheezed. “…pepper!”

Gracie stood beside the spice cabinet and held up the now-empty bottles. “Oh, I think she used some pepper. All the cayenne, red pepper flakes, chipotle, black pepper…”

As Luna stood there with her tongue hanging out as if it were on fire, Gracie waved her hands and set all the spices back in their places, neat as could be. Seeing Luna panting, she waved her hands again, rescuing her from the fiery pepper. Luna was ever so thankful.

“You are an angel too you know,” said Gracie.

“Oh that’s right, I forgot!” said Luna. So Luna waved her hands setting the kitchen in order.

It was around this time that the big, ugly snail made his eventual — but heroic — getaway.

“Now, Luna,” said Aunt Bee, “it’s okay this time, but we need to have a little talk about you miracling things.”

“But we have permissions,” said Luna.

“To visit Pawpaw, that’s right. But to willy-nilly miracle as you will? Well, that’s something different altogether.” She kindly took Luna and Rosie out to the porch swing to explain to them how to be proper little angels.

In the meantime, Gracie cleaned up the rest of the kitchen.

“I guess Luna over-miracled?” asked Pawpaw.

“Yes. She doesn’t yet understand that we must be careful. To miracle things back the way they were, or the way they’re supposed to be — that we can do. But to interfere with ‘the affairs of mankind,’ for that we need permissions.”

“Oh I see.”

Gracie sighed. “It’s the squirrel. She probably shouldn’t have miracled him.”

“And that’s wrong?”

“No, not really. But I think he’s supposed to be with his mother.”

Out on the porch Aunt Bee said to Luna. “Now we can’t be proper little angels if we go around setting all things right.”

“Why not?” asked Rosie.

“Because that is the way things are. We are messengers, ministers, not fixer-uppers. We don’t know God’s whole plan or how things are supposed to be.”

The baby squirrel scampered up to Luna.
“And what about him?” asked Luna.

“Well, here he has no mother, you see, and he’s supposed to be with her.”

Luna petted him gently. “No mother? Then I’ll be his mother!”

Aunt Bee smiled. “Very well. I’ll take him with me to heaven where you can play with him all you want. But maybe we should give him a name first?”

Rosie blurted out, “Smiley!”

Luna seemed to disapprove, so Rosie insisted, “Pepper!” Then she sneezed.

Luna said quietly, “Squirrelly.”

She petted him ever so carefully. “I’m your mommy now.”

Aunt Bee gently took the squirrel from her hands. “Well, how about you be his best friend?”

Rosie added, “And we can alls loves him! And I takes care of him too!”

“He will be just fine, I think, as my kitchen will be his new home,” said Aunt Bee. “That way, he will have plenty of foods and attentions.”

Aunt Bee carried Squirrelly inside, smiled at Pawpaw and faded back to her porch swing in the heavens.

The girls stayed a bit longer to help with dinner. And when it came time to sit down and give thanks… oh boy.

Well, they didn’t know it, but just outside, an army of darkness surrounded them, preparing to sneak attack.
Why, those no-good, awful little infernal fiends of naughtinesses!

Pawpaw started, “Dear Mr. Jesus, Greatest of All, Perfection of Adoration and Supreme Love for All, thank You for this food. And I thank You for whatever this is, and for whatever that is, and for all the thises and thats and for what smells nice of here and over there.”

And Pawpaw started crying because even though he was trying to amuse his grandjoys, there was such a depth and truity to all he was saying.

“And Thank You, Jesus, for the what tastes so goods and for the what-nots and the what-dos and for every other thing too — even many thanks for what we don’t know and don’t see and for the protections and carings too — and thank You for those things that I wanted to thank You for but forgot…”

And well, that went on for a while, but then “…and thank You, Jesus, for all of the cute little Gracies and Lunas and even the precious little Rosies that sit about my table.”

Protected by God, and therefore unknown to the warm little kitchen, the forces of darkness and not-nices tried to rush in. But from the heavens sounded a clarion call from the Holy Cavalry of the Lord.

Then Pawpaw asked Gracie to give her thank-you givings.

Little Gracie scooted out of her chair, stood up, bowed her head, and sang to Our Lord the most precious song she could think of. And then she sat down and cried because of how wonderful His love toward us really is.

Then Pawpaw asked Luna to give her thank-you givings.

Little Luna stood up, danced on her chair, and twirled around the table. She bowed and curtsied for the Lord, and I don’t know how she did it, but she blossomed like no flower could ever do. And then she sat down and cried too, for all the same reasons.

Then Pawpaw asked Rosie to give her thank-you givings.

But poor little Rosie cried.

Before Pawpaw could say any comforting words, Gracie and Luna came around to Rosie, and together they surrounded Pawpaw and cried.

“Thank You, Mr. Jesus, for Pawpaw,” said Rosie. “Because he loves us all so, and because we loves You because he teaches us to loves.”

And everyone was so proud of Rosie because she had lost her w’s and said “loves” instead of “wuvs.”

And as she finished, all the girls glowed bright. They floated up almost to the ceiling, and the entire house glowed.

Gracie floated up and said, “Mind.”
Luna floated up and said, “Soul.”
And Rosie said, “Heart.”
And Pawpaw said, “Truth.”
And they all loved God with all their hearts, souls, and minds — in truth and in love.

And a glorious angel of the Lord appeared… no not that one — the other one. And he was clothed in shining armor of glory. He smiled at them and left through the window.

They rushed to the window and saw that just outside were horses and chariots of fire, protecting them.

Well, I’ll be! The whole army of baddies lay defeated, and the not-nices were oh so rebuked, with the armies of the Lord surrounding the entire house. I wouldn’t want to be in their nasty little dispositions.

It was like determined strawberries that appeared in the garden overnight. Like the sun insistently pushing through after a storm.

And Gracie insisted, “The angel of the LORD encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them.”

And Luna asserted, “For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. ”

And Rosie prayed, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

And Pawpaw declared, “Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

They watched through the window of memory until the merciful vision faded into future reminiscence.

And much to their surprise, their dinner was fresh and warm, and who knows what it was, but something extra special had been added.

Perhaps it was the angels' you’re-welcomes and our-pleasures, but it was full of ever-so-nices.

About a coziest hour later, his dear little angels were escorted back home into the carapace of Our Lord’s hand. And Pawpaw was left alone again, but in his heart remained the holy togetherness.

In the dim little house, the internal eternal light of God’s Overwhelm lived on.

Hold on, dear Pawpaw. Be patient, cherished saint, for Eternity has her welcoming arms ready to embrace you.

And hold on he did.