The woman wrestler, Jennifer Shires, longs to become a professional wrestler who wins. Her boyfriend Flanders Nickels longs to have the good old Christian hymns come back into his heart. Both are born again believers. They pray about it; God answers their prayers; and they come upon a love for the coming rapture of the church so that they might see Jesus in Heaven.
THE WOMAN WRESTLER
Mr. Morgan P. McCarthy
There she stood, the woman wrestler—his girlfriend-in-the-Lord, Jennifer Shires. The wrestling match was about to begin. And she was again dressed in black: a sleeveless black shaker sweater vest of Orlon acrylic and opera gloves of satin and a ruffled black skirt of polyester that reached nearly to the knees and black fishnets of nylon and big black cowgirl boots of leather and a black costume mask of liquid latex over her eyes and a cowgirl hat of black wool felt. Her head was an attractive head of golden curls. And her frame was tall and slender. And her voice was meek and dulcet. And at the opposite corner was the ladies’ champion of professional wrestling—Hyena Jackal. And she was the smartest, the strongest, and the quickest among women wrestlers. And she was not without cheating in her career as champion. And Hyena Jackal entered into the ring with her title belt around her waist, and she ran her hands across her waist as if she were pretending to wear it. But it was always there. And the referee forced Hyena Jackal to take it off before the match began. Then the bell rang. Right
Page 1
away Hyena and Jennifer locked hands in a Greco-Roman knuckle hold. The champion was bigger, but the challenger was more determined. And soon Jennifer had Hyena down on her knees with her hands bent back far. Then Jenny gave Hyena a head butt upon her own head. And Hyena fell down upon her back. Jennifer then threw herself back against the ropes and propelled herself from the ropes toward the supine Hyena, and she let fall her leg upon the torso of Hyena. She then attempted to pin Hyena, holding up her legs in one arm, and holding her back down upon the canvas with her other arm. The referee counted and slapped once, then, twice, but not thrice. Just before “three,” the champion raised her shoulder up off of the canvas. The champion got back up and Jennifer grabbed her one arm with her two hands, and she turned herself all the way around, thereby twisting Hyena’s arm. She turned herself completely around again, thereby twisting Hyena’s arm once more all the further. Hyena then grabbed a hold of Jennifer’s hair in the back of the head and threw her down upon the canvas. It was illegal in women’s wrestling to grab at the hair and to pull. The referee gave Hyena a warning. But Jennifer got right back up. And she performed a flying-drop kick into the torso of Hyena. And Hyena bounced against the ropes and back toward Jennifer. Jennifer then leaped over Hyena where she was coming from. And she flipped over in the air backwards upon her feet to face Hyena on her rebound from the second set of ropes. And she grabbed her upper arm with her two arms, and she flipped her over onto the canvas in a spin. She then leaned down and grabbed Hyena’s head in a headlock move. Hyena raised herself into a sitting position. Then Hyena took her fingers of one hand and scratched them into the eyes of Jennifer. That was another illegal women’s wrestling move. The referee warned Hyena not to do that again. Jennifer released her headlock and stepped back and put her hands to her wounded eyes. Hyena got back to her feet. And Jennifer took Hyena’s head and rammed it into the turnbuckle. Then Jennifer threw a right forearm smash into Hyena’s left temple. Then Jennifer threw a left forearm smash into Hyena’s right temple. Then Hyena threw a real punch into Jennifer’s forehead. And Jennifer fell down. That punch was another illegal move in women’s wrestling. The referee
Page 2
gave Hyena a warning about that. But Jennifer rallied and jumped right back up again. Then Jennifer picked up Hyena and body slammed her. And then Jennifer picked her up again and this time spun her around above herself as she spun and threw her down in a heap. The champion was overwhelmed by Jennifer’s wrestling technique in this day’s bout, And she was definitely losing this match at this point, and it looked like Jennifer Shires may win this match. And Jennifer continued working on her. She next took Hyena’s arms as she sat there, pulled them back behind her back, put her boot up against the back of her shoulders, and leaned back and pulled on her arms. Hyena was close to the ropes not far in front of her. And she stretched out her leg and rested it upon the lowest rope. When the referee saw her leg upon the rope, he made Jennifer to release Hyena from her hold. That was an old trick of the champion’s that she had used many times, and it was legal. It was just about the only legal thing that Hyena did in today’s match. As soon as both women wrestlers got back to their feet, Hyena grabbed Jennifer’s head in a grip in one arm, and turned their backs to the referee, and began to choke Jennifer with her other hand. This was illegal in women’s wrestling. But the referee did not see this. When he finally did see it, he began to count. If the choke hold were not stopped by the time he counted to five, he would disqualify Hyena and give the victory to Jennifer. He counted to four, and Hyena quit the choke hold. And he gave her a warning. She did it again. He counted toward five again, and Hyena again quit her choke hold at four. And the referee gave her another warning. Then Jennifer became a machine. The woman wrestler with the cowgirl boots was known for stomping her opponents. This was legal in professional wrestling. Jennifer, being a Christian, never cheated. And Jennifer began to stomp her boots upon Hyena’s feet. Hyena backed away like a coward. Then Jennifer began to stomp her boots upon Hyena’s ankles. And Hyena escaped the ring and sought refuge out on the arena floor.
Jennifer chased her around the ring and began to stomp her boots upon Hyena’s knees. Hyena escaped back into the ring, and she tripped over her own feet, and she fell down. Jennifer climbed back into the ring and began to stomp her boots upon the prone Hyena Jackal. It looked to all in the arena that this
Page 3
Jennifer was going to win this bout and become the new champion. Everybody hated Hyena. They did like Jennifer, though. The champion was going down. The challenger was on the verge of victory. The crowd chanted Jennifer’s name. And Jennifer stopped her stomping and she got down and gave Hyena a sleeper hold to finish her off. Then a woman in a full mask came up to ringside. Everybody could tell that it was Miss Jackal’s manager. And this mystery woman gave Miss Jackal her title belt where she sat. Then this woman incognito distracted the referee. And Hyena smashed her heavy and solid title belt upon Jennifer’s head. The referee did not see this. And Jennifer fell flat upon her face in a dreadful daze. All fight long, Jennifer was beating up on the champion, but all of a sudden a move of utmost finality by the cheating champion took all the fight out of Jennifer. And that was this knock on the head with the championship belt. And in a second final move, Hyena pile-drove Jennifer’s head down upon the canvas in pro wrestling’s most-used final move. And from there, Hyena Jackal went on to pin the suddenly completely overwhelmed Jennifer Shires. And the woman wrestler Jennifer Shires lost again in her all-star wrestling career.
After the end of the fight, the woman wrestler came up to her boyfriend-in-the-Lord and said, “Well, I almost won, Flanders.”
“So close and yet so far, girl,” he encouraged her.
“It’s all fake,” said the woman wrestler. Inside her secret thoughts she was unhappy being the woman wrestler whose script called for always losing. If only the higher-ups had her win a match someday. This all-star wrestling would be a fun job for her if they had it so that she could win.
Later on the next day Flanders and the woman wrestler girlfriend had a date at his place in his spare room of his upper apartment. “This room was once special to me in Christ, Jennifer,” he said.
“I know this room, Flanders,” she said. “You and I always got together here and sang together from your hymnbook.”
“I wish that I could still enjoy a good hymn of God,” he said.
Page 4
“Flanders, you don’t sing to God anymore,” she said.
“Jennifer, do you remember what I always used to pray in church that gave God the glory?” he asked.
“About the songs of the world and about the songs of the Lord?” she asked.
“The songs I sang when I was lost and the songs I sang when I was saved,” he specified.
“Yes,” said Jennifer. “You always prayed in the front of the church how the songs of the world all grew old in your heart, and they died after a short time. And you always prayed before us how hymns are different and how hymns go on for forever and never die.”
“I thought that that was a proof of how all things in Christ are different from how all things are before Christ,” he said. Then he added, “You know how the Bible commands us to ‘make a joyful noise unto the Lord.’”
“Your singing and my singing were hardly a beautiful noise unto the Lord, but they were definitely joyful,” she said.
“I slowly became bored with my hymnbook—both with myself and with you with me,” he said.
“How you used to love those old church hymns, Flanders,” she said.
“Christmas carols and Easter hymns and blood atonement hymns and patriotic hymns and hymns about the Father and hymns about the Son and hymns about the Holy Spirit and hymns about Heaven and hymns about the Bible and hymns about Christian warfare and hymns of thanksgiving,” he said.
“Those were your songs that were in your heart, Flanders,” said Miss Shires.
“They all grew old on me,” he said in somberness.
“Do you think that there might be sin in your life that made God to take away your love for the hymns, Flanders?” asked Jennifer.
“I don’t know of any,” he said. “It is just that they began to all slowly become old and dull.”
Page 5
“Now they all must bore you to sing,” she said.
“It got for me that I felt no better finishing a half-hour of hymnbook than I did after beginning the half-hour of hymnbook,” he said. “And I was then just going through the motions. And I was just singing because that was what I always used to do. And it became a dragging on my worship life.”
“None of your other worship died like hymnbook died on you, Flanders,” said Jennifer.
“You’re right,” he said. “I still love to read my Bible and do my prayers and go to my Baptist church,” he said.
“Maybe you sang hymns too much,” said Jennifer.
“Can a Christian get too much of singing hymns?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I never heard of singing to God too much,” said the woman wrestler.
“It was such a kind gift from Pastor when he let me have for myself at home one of the church hymnbooks to keep for myself,” said Flanders.
“Our church that we go to sure has a lot of hymns that we sing from it over our years together there, Flanders,” said the woman boxer.
“We must know a good half of them from the hymnbook,” he said.
“Over five hundred in the book cover to cover,” she said.
“Maybe I could learn the hymns that our church has not taught us, Jennifer,” he said.
“How would you do that?” she asked.
“I remember how I used to listen to hymns and Christmas carols on cassette tapes, too,” he went on to say in solemnness.
“Many that you recorded off of Christian radio onto blank cassettes,” she said.
“Yeah!” he said. “When I went to bed for the night, I would lie underneath my covers in the dark, have my radio/cassette player resting upon my chest, and listen to great songs of God in a great way to end my day.”
Page 6
“What a way to dedicate going to bed for Jesus,” she said. “Do you still do that nowadays, Flanders?”
“Those all got old after many nights,” he said.
“Go record more from Christian radio, Flanders,” she said.
“Alas, that Christian radio station I can no longer get on my radio,” he said. “There is a loud rock station immediately to the left of the Christian radio station on the dial, and there is a loud rock station immediately to the right of the Christian radio station on the dial. Together they drown out the Christian radio station’s reception.”
“Go to the Christian bookstore and buy some cassette tapes,” she said.
“I tried that. But Christian music is different now. They left the traditional songs by and now they are Christian rock or Christian rap. So I quit buying Christian music tapes,” he said.
“Why, I would, too,” said Miss Shires. “I didn’t know they went that way.” Then she said, “You used to tell me about extra special Christmas carol tapes that you bought over your many Christmases as a fan of Christmas carols,” she said.
“They changed the carols, too,” he said. “Now they change the beat and the melody to ‘spice it up.’ And they changed the carols into something different from how they originally were. I like the traditional carols like in the traditional churches.”
“Any decent Christian should,” she said in understanding.
“I’ve been praying about that these past few months, Jennifer,” he said.
“May I put your situation in my private prayers alone with God, Flanders?” asked Jennifer.
“You could pray that I get good hymns and carols back into my heart,” he said. “Yes. I could use your prayers, Jennifer.”
“I do not want my boyfriend to lose his joy in the Lord,” she said.
“May I put your situation in my prayers alone with God in my bedroom, too?” he asked.
Page 7
“Yes, Flanders,” she said. “I am not happy going to work as a woman wrestler.”
As said before, the woman wrestler was a born-again believer. She was saved and going to Heaven. How did Jennifer Shires first find her Saviour? This paragraph will tell the story: It was a warm winter night under the full moon. And the whole family was rolling gigantic snowballs all throughout the backyard and up on the back ridge behind the backyard. Jennifer was the middle kid of the family, and she had two older brothers and two younger brothers. She was fifteen years old then,
and her whole family was trying to get her to accept Christ as they did. And all five kids still lived at home. The two big brothers were up on the ridge, that extra piece of yard that was elevated above the rest of the yard, and they were making the biggest snowballs of the five. Jennifer and her two little brothers were down here on the level ground at the foot of the ridge, and they were also making big snowballs, but smaller. And the littlest brother spoke and said, “Big Sister, it is written, ‘And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.’ Matthew 1:21. Don’t you want to accept Christ now?”
To this, Jennifer huffed and said, “Not me! I don’t need Jesus.” And she continued rolling her big ball of snow.
Then the second littlest brother said to her, “Big Sister, it is written also in Matthew, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.’ Matthew 1:23,” Then he asked, “Don’t you want Jesus? He loves you, you know.”
“Not me!” she said again. “I don’t want Jesus.” And she went back to work on her snowball.
How Jennifer rued Christmas verses. To her offense she heard them all the time from her four brothers. They told her that these verses about Christ’s birth were in both the Old Testament as prophecy and the New Testament as current events of His days. What offended her was what her brothers always told her—that she could not go to Heaven without Christ as Saviour. That always
Page 8
made her mad.
Knowing that her other two brothers were very likely to follow the little brothers’ efforts once again, Jennifer called up to the ridge, saying, “Big brothers, don’t you go and tell me Bible verses, either.” Of course that only impelled them to tell her more unsavory Bible verses.
From up above on that ridge she heard the voice of her second biggest brother say to her, “Little Sister, you know how it is written, ‘Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ Isaiah 7:14. You know what ‘Immanuel’ means: ‘God with us.’”
“I know. I know, Big Brother. I heard it all before. I don’t need God,” said the rebellious teenage Jennifer. “Leave me alone with my big snowball.”
Then the biggest brother way up on the ridge and out of view did put in his part in this witnessing of Jesus to her, and he said to her, “Little Sister, it is written, ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ Isaiah 9:6.
We’ve all been praying for you that you see the light,” This was that second Christmas verse from the book of Isaiah.
And Jennifer yelled up toward the ridge above and said, “Big Brother, I do not need to hear these Christmas verses again anymore. The day I find a Saviour is the day I lose my mind.”
Then the four brothers, in compassion for her soul, began to sing the Christmas carol, “Away In A Manger.” And the peace of America’s first Christmas filled this winter air with the glory of the virgin birth of baby Jesus. And the snow began to fall in giant flakes and clumps of flakes. This was so novel a sensation to Jennifer that she did not interrupt this song with any rebuttal. And she this moment mellowed out about the Saviour of the world. And she felt a oneness with God for just this interim. But when the song was done, she said to herself out loud, “Stupid you, Jennifer.” And she
Page 9
said to her four brothers, “Forget it, guys. I will not have anything to do with the Christ child.”
Then the two little brothers down here said, “It is written, O dear Big Sister, ‘But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting,’ Micah 5:2.”
And right after that the two big brothers up there said to her, “And it is written, O Little Sister of ours, ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.’ Matthew 2:6.”
In great pride and rebellion, Jennifer Shires went on to proclaim in madness, “Unless I get knocked down and rolled over by a great weight from Heaven, I will never go after your Christ Jesus as my Saviour.”
Just then the biggest brother called forth, “Look out below!”
And Jennifer saw a five-foot diameter snowball come rolling off of the ten-foot high edge of the ridge. It rolled quickly down the steep slope, picked up speed, came out upon the level backyard and at once came right to where she was standing. And it crashed into her and knocked her down and rolled over her. And it continued on its way and stopped not far behind.
Jennifer Shires lay there in the snow, stunned and winded and hurting.
“Woe!” said Big Brother. “I never meant to do that. It got away from me. Of all the crazy things, Little Sister.”
It was an accident of the biggest brother. And it was an act of God. And it was a wake-up call for the hardhearted and lost Jennifer Shires.
At once the four brothers came to her side, praying and looking down in concern and talking to her. “What happened?” she said, coming to.
“I’m sorry, Little Sister. My big snowball that I was making got away from me,” said the
Page 10
biggest brother. “Are you all right?”
“Biggest Brother, that was not your big snowball from the ridge. That was a great weight from Heaven,” proclaimed the girl. The four brothers were silent for a while. Then Jennifer went on to ask, “What must I do to get saved?”
And the four brothers answered her, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, Jennifer.”
“I am ready now this time,” she said. “I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to get saved right now.”
And the four brothers helped her back up to a sitting position in the snow, and they told her all about the Saviour of the world, and she prayed and asked Jesus to become her own personal Saviour.
And that was how the woman wrestler got saved as a teenage sister to four brothers.
It has already been noted that Flanders was also a born-again believer here at the time of the story. His story of the testimony of his salvation shall be narrated in the following paragraph:
He had grown fond of women in sleeveless shaker sweater vests. He liked the seven-up demo lady in her shaker sweater vest of yellow. And he liked the grocery store cashier in her shaker sweater vest of maroon. And he liked the shaker sweater vest of blue that he bought for a girlfriend to come someday. And when he first discovered the woman wrestler, she was in her wrestling attire, which featured her trademark black shaker sweater vest. Indeed it was a style of women’s apparel whose popularity was quite short-lived out there. Nowadays only the woman wrestler Jennifer Shires was known for wearing such a garment. But Flanders loved them, and he regretting their passing from the clothing racks in the stores. It all started for him when he discovered the comely blonde seven-up lady in her yellow shaker sweater behind a cherry seven-up demo table at the grocery store he worked at.
And in his humble sincerity he came up to her and started talking to her. He got to try his first sample of cherry seven-up, and he liked it. And he found out her name to be, “Esther.” And she got to talking
Page 11
to him about Jesus the Son of God. She said that she was born again and on her way to Heaven. She then asked him, “Flanders, do you know if you are going to Heaven to be with Jesus?”
Because she was a pretty woman in a pretty outfit, he was not offended that she was preaching Christ to him. The way he saw it, this comely Esther cared enough for him to ask him such a question. And he thrilled upon getting such attention from this real lady. And he answered her question, saying, “I believe that I am working my way There, Esther.”
And she replied, “Oh Flanders, nobody can earn his own way to Heaven.”
Heedless and foolish, right away he told her how he was working his way to Heaven, “I am making it so that my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds, Esther,” He was sincere in his little false religion.
But she went on to say to him, “In the Bible, Flanders, the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast.’”
And they fell upon a theological debate, himself feeling sophisticated doing so with a comely woman, and herself trying to reach his heart with the Gospel of salvation. In the end, he did not come to believe. And his boss came along. He needed to get back to work. And he and the yellow shaker vest woman parted. And he never saw her again. But the seed of the Word was planted inside his heart. And he did not forget how she preached salvation by grace through faith. And he ever after held this Esther with a high regard.
Next he began to seek the cashier with the maroon shaker sweater for girlfriend. Her name was “Tracie,” and she was a pretty brunette girl. He was the bagger/stock boy. And much of his duty was to bag customers’ groceries and carry them out to their car. And at times at the front end, business was slow for a little while, and he and the cashier would talk. Well the opportunity came for Flanders to go and chat alone with his fair Tracie in a slow time of the workday. He asked her, “Where did you get the
Page 12
pretty shaker sweater vest, Tracie?”
“I got it as a birthday present a few weeks ago,” she said.
“I like it,” he said. Then he said, “Happy Birthday, Tracie.”
“Thank you, Flanders,” she said. “It’s my favorite thing in my whole closet.” Then she quickly said, “Besides my Bible, that is.”
“You read the Bible?” he asked.
“Uh huh,” she said. “Every day.”
“I read Piers Anthony,” he said.: ‘The Magic of Xanth’ series and the ‘Apprentice Adept’ series and the ‘Incarnations of Immortality’ series.”
“Do you ever read the Good Book, Flanders?” she asked.
“I guess that I am more into science fantasy than I am into Bible stuff, Tracie,” he said.
“I have a favorite verse in the Bible nowadays, Flanders,” said Tracie.
Because this was Tracie and because he had a crush on her and on her outfit, he asked with sincere interest, “What is it?”
And she said, “It is Romans 3:28, and it goes like this: ‘Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.’”
This told him point-blank that he could not earn heaven with doing more good deeds than bad deeds. And he was convicted of his sins. This second shaker sweater vest woman said the same thing as the first shaker sweater vest woman—that salvation was only attainable as a free gift.
Unfortunately for lonely Flanders, Tracie moved on from the grocery store to another job somewhere else not long later. Turnover rates for high school workers are high in the grocery business.
And Flanders did not look for her.
Then one day he discovered a customer named, “Barb.” He was twenty-five years old; she was fifty years old. And this older gal was the prettiest real woman he had ever seen before. His heart
Page 13
filled with sweet romance when she came shopping in his store. She came every Friday morning. And every time he bagged her groceries for her he so wanted to go and give her a kiss. He wouldn’t, of course. But he had to ask her out. He never asked out any customer before Barb, and he never asked out any customer after Barb in all his years as a carryout boy. And he invited “his silver fox” to a shrimp dinner at the restaurant down the road. She turned him down. And that was that. But he could still give her a gift for her to remember him by. He could give his cherished ‘gray fox” his precious blue shaker sweater vest, which he had originally intended as a present for a first girlfriend. Here was the woman for whom his blue shaker sweater vest was destined for. And when the next Friday came, her next shopping trip to his grocery store, he proffered his beloved purchase to her, saying to her, “Barb, you are a classy lady. I would like to give this to you. I hope you like it.”
“Why, thank you, Flanders,” said the older woman. And she held it up in front of herself and admired it through and through. “I’d look good in this,” she said. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go away.”
And she ran to the restroom, and after a while she ran out of the restroom. And she showed off his blue shaker sweater vest upon herself there at the store.
“I think that I am in love with that now, Barb,” he said.
“I love it, too, Flanders,” she said. “Thank you.” Then she took out a laminated card from her purse and said, “I’ve been saving this for you, Flanders. It’s something from my heart about Jesus. You’ve been in all my prayers lately.”
In great ardor, he took from this older woman this little card proffered in her hands. And he looked at it and did read out loud its words: “’Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ Titus 3:5-7.”
Here again, even Barb believed that getting to Heaven was a free gift and not by a system of
Page 14
works. And he believed now. He thanked her with all of his heart. And she gave him a Christian hug, and he hugged her back in due respect and admiration. And the carried out her groceries to her car. Alas, he never saw her again. But that night, he got alone with God, and he prayed for and accepted the free gift of eternal life. This was how Flanders Nickels had become a born-again Christian.
Flanders Nickels and the woman wrestler got together again at her place for fellowship and flirt. They were in the little sandbox in the backyard that had come with the property when she moved in. Once again, for him and for herself she had on her woman wrestler’s costume—the sleeveless black shaker sweater vest and all the rest of her accouterments of black. And he spoke and said, “Jennifer, I came up with something from the Lord I think that might make you a little happier with your job.”
“Is it good news?” she asked.
“It’s kind of a ‘look on the bright side’ kind of thing, Jennifer,” said Flanders.
“Do tell me, good boyfriend,” she said.
“At least you are not a woman boxer,” he said.
She thought for a while, then said, “I think I know what you’re getting at.”
And he elaborated, “A woman always gets hurt in the boxing ring, but she does not get hurt in the wrestling ring.”
“Boxing is real. Wrestling is not real,” she said. “Real boxing hurts. All-star wrestling will not hurt.”
“You do come home, though, from your women’s wrestling matches quite sore sometimes,” he said.
“Yeah, even though what I do is fake, lots of times things still come up and I get scraped and bruised a little,” she said.
“With women’s boxing, you would come home all battered and beaten,” he said.
“Boxing is definitely a career that I am glad now not to have to go to work and do,” she said.
Page 15
Then she said, “But then again, I could control my own destiny in women’s boxing and make myself a winner in a way I cannot in women’s wrestling.”
“But what would happen to your beautiful face if you were a woman boxer, Jennifer?” he asked.
“I do not want to think of what would happen to my face if I were a woman boxer,” said Jennifer. “With women’s all-star wrestling, I will never have to worry about what might happen to my face.”
“Though I do have to say that Kristy Martin still looks awesome,” he said.
“Is she a woman boxer?” asked the woman wrestler.
“She’s the champ, and she’s still pretty,” he said.
“I may not be a champion, but I am pretty, too, I hope,” said Jennifer.
“You are the prettiest woman in all sports, Jennifer. You are a great actor. You are a great wrestler,” he said. “And you always put on a grand show for your audience, girl.”
“Are you still my greatest fan, Flanders?” she asked.
“I am,” he said.
“I am now happy to belong to the A.W.A.,” said the contented woman wrestler to her loyal boyfriend.
“All-Star Wrestling needs you, Jennifer,” he said the truth.
“But what about you, though, Flanders?” asked Jennifer. “What about your problem?”
“You mean my loss of music?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “That never happened for me. I still sing when I’m alone with God.”
“I’ve been praying about it,” he said. “I think now that my part is to wait upon God and see what great things that He might wish to do for me that could give Him the due glory,”
“That sounds like the kind of prayer that God will answer for one of His own,” said Jennifer.
“Do you really think so?” asked Flanders.
Page 16
“Yes. I do, Flanders,” said Jennifer. “You know Ephesians 5:19. Don’t you?”
“Uh huh,” he said. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”
“And you know Colossians 3:16?” she asked.
“Yep,” he said, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
“Surely God would not tell you to make music if He did not give You the grace to enjoy music, Flanders,” said Jennifer Shires.
“I did hear Pastor often say that God will give a Christian the enabling to do God’s will,” he said.
“Maybe you just have to pray and wait just a little longer, Flanders,” said Miss Shires.
“My! What hope I am beginning to feel now, Jennifer,” he said in joy in the Lord.
“God must have a good reason to let your heart grow cold for His hymns,” said the woman wrestler. “I would think that when God does bring back his music to your heart, that it will be even better than it once was for you,”
“Yeah! Yeah!” he said, “Amen, girl!”
“You say that music no longer comes to you,” she said. “Why not come to music?”
“What do you mean by that clever proverb, Jennifer?” he asked.
“I was thinking that maybe you could take up a musical instrument, learn how to play it, and go back to your ‘tired old hymnbook,’ and play those old time songs with that instrument. Maybe playing these dead hymns with a new instrument in your life might make them all come back to life for you.”
“I don’t know how to play instruments,” he said.
“You could learn how to if you wanted to. Couldn’t you, Flanders?” she asked.
Page 17
A sweet reverie came upon him where he sat in the sand. And he said, “That I can do!”
“Do you know of any instrument that you would like to play?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I never thought about such a thing until just now now that you came up with the idea,” he said.
“What was your favorite instrument to listen to with all of your music tapes that you used to play in bed back in your good old days?” she asked.
“That I know,” he said. “It was a very rare instrument. And it had a hauntingly resonant sound to it. It was a wind instrument.”
“Which one was it?” she asked.
“I believe that it is called a ‘recorder,’” he said.
“See. There you have it, Flanders,” she said. “Take up the recorder; learn how to play it; and play all of those good old hymns from the hymnbook with your wonderful new recorder; and see your love for God’s songs come alive for you again,”
“That, good girlfriend, I will do right away!” he said. “My rejoicing in the Lord has now come back to my walk with Christ. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you. Thank you.” And he hauled off and gave her a kiss.
“Boyfriend, that was so effusive of you,” she said. And yet she hauled off and kissed him right back. And she said, “Glad to be used of God for you, Flanders.”
It was the next week now. And Flanders and Jennifer were again at the Brown County Arena for her all-star wrestling match. Her pretty face beamed with an extra joy. And an extra broad smile showed her pretty white teeth. And her eyes shone with a happy youthful wonder.
“You’re content in the Lord especially this time, Jennifer,” he said to her at ringside. “I can see that God has given you rest in your ministry as a woman wrestler,”
“Rest,” she said. “And not just rest, either, at that,” said Jennifer.
Page 18
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“See that wrestler over there?” asked the woman wrestler of his.
“Uh huh,” said Flanders. “She is undefeated,”
“And I, winless,” said Jennifer in contrast, not without subtlety.
“What are you getting at?” asked her boyfriend.
And the woman wrestler spoke and said, “’O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.’ Psalm 8:1. And again, ‘O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!’ Psalm 8:9.”
Just then the referee stepped up into the ring. And the ring announcer also came up. And Flanders sat down upon his chair in the front row to see the great show. He did not understand Jennifer’s strange feelings, but he was glad for her, and he wondered if his confusion upon her would be cleared up with tonight’s bout.
Then the announcer spoke and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Ladies’ professional wrestling. In this corner, hailing from the Andes Mountains, the ‘wild she-bull of the Pampas,’ Miss Thunder Storm.” And the arena broke into cheers. And this woman stood there and did flex her biceps and triceps. The announcer continued, “And in this corner, hailing from Wisconsin’s northern countrysides, Miss Jennifer Shires.” There was one cheer—from Flanders. There were no boos. Few wrestling fans knew about this woman wrestler.
Then the bell rang. And the two women all-star wrestlers gripped arms at shoulder level. And the wild she-bull of the Pampas threw Jennifer backwards against the ropes. But as Jennifer bounced back off of the ropes toward Thunder Storm, she kicked out her boot into her breadbasket. And Thunder gave out a gasp. Next Miss Storm took her hand and put it behind Miss Shires’s golden head and pulled her toward the corner of the ring to slam her head down into the turnbuckle. But Jennifer kicked back her foot and nailed the wild she-bull of the Pampas with another boot, catching her in her
Page 19
belly. The muscular woman gave out another grunt. And she backed away, unable to slam Jennifer’s head into the turnbuckle. But the brute of a lady wrestler was bigger and stronger and more experienced than was Miss Shires. And she picked up Jennifer and held her in the air horizontally above her head and raised and lowered Jennifer in both hands in boast of her physical strength. Then she thought to throw Jennifer out of the ring above the ropes. But, lo, Jennifer showed another trick that caught the powerful lady wrestler off guard. Miss Shires grabbed the top rope, pulled herself free from Thunder’s grasp, and kicked out her leg sideways, and caught the side of Thunder’s head with her boot, and she landed agilely back upon her feet. Miss Storm gave away a wind of breath from the kick, and she stood there in uncertainty for a moment. Taking advantage of this instant, Jennifer caught Miss Storm with a flying drop kick with both boots into her upper torso. And Thunder Storm fell back a foot into the ropes. Thinking that she would bounce back, Jennifer tried another flying drop kick. But Thunder Storm did not bounce back from the ropes. And Jennifer fell down hard upon her bottom, missing Miss Storm with both boots. And Jennifer lay there for a moment, stunned. Then Thunder climbed up upon the second rope, and she leaped to drop herself upon the supine Miss Shires. But Jennifer bent her legs and raised her two booted feet into the air toward the descending muscle woman. And, lo, Miss Storm fell upon Miss Shire’s boots to her own undoing. As she crashed down upon the boots into her lower abdomen, she got thrown upward by a combined kicking of Miss Shires’s two legs back up into the air. And the big lady fell upon her head. Behold, Jennifer bounced back up and began to stomp upon the hulk of a woman wrestler with her leather boots. With her boots the woman wrestler of Flanders stomped upon her legs, her arms, her feet, her hands, her lower torso, her middle torso, her upper torso. She then sought to stomp upon Thunder Storm’s face, but just before her boot came down, her opponent jerked her head away to the side. And Jennifer accidentally stomped her boot upon the canvas in a clear miss. And her ankle got the worst of it. And she fell upon her bottom and held her right lower leg in both hands. And she did not get back up right now. Yet neither did the wild she-bull
Page 20
of the Pampas get up right now where she lay. The boots of Jennifer Shires took a lot of fight out of the famous winner of ladies’ all-star wrestling. And all of the arena wondered which of the two lady professional wrestlers would get up first. Flanders waited also, with bated breath. And a few moments went by. And the woman hulk got up first. But she stood there, weak and weary and all kicked up. Flanders began to cheer Jennifer’s name. So, too, did the rest of the fans at the arena. And Jennifer rallied and also got to her feet and stood up. Then Thunder Storm reached out her brute hands in order to grab a hold of Jennifer’s shoulders to shake her. But Jennifer Shires lifted her boots up off of the canvas in a leap, and she set her body parallel to the ring apron and several feet above it, and she kicked out her boot that had not the wounded ankle in a flying drop-kick right into the face of her wrestling foe. The burly Thunder Storm exhaled loudly—every one heard it—and her head snapped back, and she fell up against the ropes, and she was catapulted back toward Jennifer, and she fell upon her face before the feet of Jennifer. And Jennifer took in the sounds of her name spoken in cheer by all the arena. And she quickly went on to kneel down beside the prone wrestling opponent, roll her over, and sit upon her and keep her back down upon the canvas. And the referee counted and slapped, “One, two, three.” And she thus pinned Thunder Storm. Behold, Jennifer won her first match in ladies’ all-star wrestling. And she did so with her trademark big leather boots. And everybody suddenly knew Jennifer Shires. And she fully understood now that the powers that be in the A.W.A. had decided to make her one of their winners for now on. And the applause from the whole Brown County Arena convinced the big guys of all-star wrestling that Jennifer could fill arenas and make big profits for the wrestling federation if they kept her as one of their winners for now on. And Jennifer Shires became an instant icon for women’s professional wrestling. Lo, the woman wrestler got what she wanted.
And she quickly climbed down off of the ring apron to Flanders, and she said, “I won! I won!”
“You knew that all along,” he said to her.
“Yeah. I did, Flanders,” she confessed. “They told me I’d win.”
Page 21
“I am so happy for you, Jennifer,” her boyfriend said.
And he gave her a hug there right in front of the whole arena, and she hugged him back right here in front of the whole arena.
Meanwhile, in Flanders’s life of pursuing the recorder as a means to fall in love with hymns again, he bought a recorder at the music store and a book that taught how to play the recorder and a book about the basics of music. And Flanders first studied the book about the basics of music with many hours of reading and memorizing without yet picking up the recorder. Learning music was definitely like “learning a new language.” And when he understood the science of music, he picked up the book on playing the recorder. And he picked up his precious wind instrument finally, and he practiced playing most basic songs and parts of songs from the recorder book. And he spent some weeks thus in trial and error with his recorder and his recorder book. And at first, he could only bring forth discord with his recorder. But after much hard practice, he began to bring forth harmony with his recorder. And then he was done with his recorder book. Now the time came for him to dare open up his old dead hymnbook and to see if God would revive it for him with the accompaniment of his own recorder played by his own mouth.
He first chose “Amazing Grace,” of course, perhaps the most loved hymn among mankind. He sat down upon the edge of his bed, set the opened hymnbook upon his desk chair which he used now as a music stand before him where he sat. and he picked up his beloved recorder, and he began to play. It was not without mistakes, and he did kind of stop and start, and his recorder playing did not do the song glory. But it was alive in his heart. He actually thrilled in his soul with a song. And he tasted a good hymn in his ears again after so long a time away. His problem was over. And now his hymnbook was back in his life.
But just then a knock came upon his apartment door where he had experienced a veritable resurrection in his music life. He got up and opened this door. It was his elderly neighbor man next
Page 22
door down the hall of the apartment house. And his neighbor told him, “Flanders, it is too late at night now to make noise. It is disturbing me and making it hard for me to go to sleep.” Forced to make a concession on his renaissance of the hymnbook in his private life, Flanders had to quit for the night immediately after he had gotten everything right in his walk in Christ that had been wrong. And Flanders went back into his bedroom and put away his recorder until tomorrow.
Tomorrow came, and right away Flanders got out his recorder to make music for God and himself with the freedom of the morning. This time he picked out of the hymnbook a probably just-as-well-known hymn as the one of last night. This was the great Christian song, “Rock of Ages.” Again he sat upon the edge of his bed, opened his hymnbook upon his desk chair there with him, and now played his second whole hymn with his recorder. This second such performance with his recorder, though just as unrefined and rough and error-prone as the first performance of yesterday, was still the prettiest song he had heard in years. Lo, once again his hymnbook was alive with the melody as of Heaven Itself. And he was happy and blissful. He said to God, “Again, Good Lord.” He would go and play this great hymn a second time now on his recorder here in his bedroom.
Just then a knock came upon his apartment door. He got up and opened it, and there stood his elderly neighbor woman next door to him up the hall of this apartment house. She said to him, “Flanders, it is too early to make noise like this. People are still sleeping yet. I ask you to stop playing your instrument.” Again his joy was stolen from him just as he got a taste of it. And he put the recorder away till another day.
The next day, he waited around until mid-afternoon before he got out his recorder and his hymnbook. Everybody by now would be out of bed, and nobody now would be in bed. And his two closest neighbors here in the second floor would be okay with his recorder here in his bedroom of his apartment. And the third song of his coming home to Christian music now he chose to be, “The Old Rugged Cross.” And he set up his music station, and he played most poorly on his recorder this
Page 23
most excellent hymn. And for his third time he felt the great spiritual uplifting that good hymns bring into the spirit of born-again believers. Even though it was he who played this, this hymn sounded just perfect on this recorder, nevertheless. “Thank You, God, for bringing this hymnbook back into my life,” he prayed now.
Just then a knock came upon his apartment door. He opened it up, and there stood his neighbor below him in this apartment house. This neighbor lived on the first floor. Flanders lived on the second floor. There was no third floor. And this neighbor below him said, “Not all of us like to hear that kind of music, neighbor. Hymns are not something that people like me have to hear. I ask you to knock it off. Or I will call the police and accuse you of disturbing the peace.”
“I am doing nothing wrong,” said Flanders.
This neighbor below him said, “Stop your music of God, or I will play my music of the Devil real loud!”
Why, if he did that, and Flanders had to hear the music of the world real loud coming from below his apartment, that would mean that his Bible-reading and his prayer would be compromised. And his Bible-study and his prayers, which never left his walk with Christ, were even more important to him than his long-lost hymns come back home like this.
And now Flanders Nickels could no longer play his recorder in his own apartment.
In spontaneous prayer, Flanders fell down upon his knees in his bedroom, his recorder in his right hand and his hymnbook in his left hand, and he cried out to God for His will to be done with him.
Maybe he could play his recorder in his yard. Or maybe at the park. Or maybe at Jennifer’s place.
But tragically he could not have his hymns in his apartment. And he was beside himself in perplexity.
God told him now to forgive his three lost neighbors who persecuted him for his faith. And he wrestled with God and self. And he said to the Holy Spirit, “Your will be done, Lord.” And he forgave them. After all, where they were going in the life to come—Hell, for all those who live and die without
Page 24
Christ–was a duly unenviable place to spend eternity in. And their fires down there were to be all the hotter for having given this son of God so great tribulation. Flanders’s God would make all things right in the end in His time and in His way.
Meanwhile, with Jennifer’s first official win in the all-star wrestling ring, she became an instant celebrity. She at once began to fill the arenas with newfound fans the likes she could only dream of earlier in her career. Everybody cheered her on. And the powers that be in the wrestling federation made her for now on one of the wrestlers who always won. And her trademark women’s knee-length leather boots became the thing that everybody in the wrestling world talked about. And people everywhere now came to her bouts just to see her stomp her opponents into submission with her leather boots. Women’s wrestling fans often stomped their boots in order to commemorate Jennifer Shires. And not only that, but she was privileged to be one of the good gals of women’s professional wrestling. The bosses of all-star wrestling felt that they could make more money for the wrestling association if they made her a good gal and not a bad gal among their lady wrestlers. And her name was changed from “Jennifer Shires” to “Fair Lady Jennifer.” And very soon after, Fair Lady Jennifer was declared the number one woman contender to the ladies’ championship. And she was of sound enough faithfulness to Christ that she did not fall into any pride problem whatsoever. She was ever-gracious to her fans and ever-humble in her interviews. But there was a negative to all of this. Her wonderful privacy in De Pere that she had as the loser woman wrestler was no longer there for her now that she was the winner woman wrestler. When she went to the picnic table at the one park to read her Bible, her fans would come to her. When she went to the dock at the other park to pray, her fans would come to her. And when she had a date with her boyfriend Flanders at the ice cream place, her fans would come to her. And she was now more unhappy as the winner than she had been as the loser. How Jennifer Shires missed those days of her much abundant privacy. And she had to learn to lean on Christ when all of this began to impinge upon her time alone with God and boyfriend. And she found herself
Page 25
seeking God’s grace and finding it and holding on to it in faith. And she found herself asking for God’s mercy and receiving it and holding on to it in faith. And daily she had to cling to God for strength and for wisdom and for love.
As for Flanders, he found a great place where he could play his recorder with his precious hymnbook. It was at Voyageur Park, in its most unfrequented place. This private place was just beyond the park’s northern shore of big flat rock slabs and along a nice little sandy shore immediately east. There were reeds and rushes that hid him here. And there was nice warm dry sand to make him feel comfortable here. And God let him find this remote place. Nobody knew about this place. Nobody saw this place. Nobody heard about this place. God gave it to him to rejoice in joy of the music of the Lord. And here he resumed his recorder playing. And in time he became quite good at this especial wind instrument. Being in Wisconsin, he knew that this outdoor place would soon have to be left behind for the winter. Late fall, all winter, early spring—he would not be able to come here with his recorder then. Late spring, all summer, early fall—these were the days that he could come here with his recorder. And he had rest in the Spirit in this. In this meanwhile, here yet in the middle of summer, he came here to play in the wind and in the calm; in the rain and in the sun; in the sleet and in the hail. And he was happy in Christ. Good and great were the old hymns of the faith. As it says in I Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” This private place in front of the river was proof of that. Then this northeast Wisconsin’s October came. And so did the Midwest’s cold time of year. And Flanders’s recorder he had to put away until April came back to De Pere. And his faith was tested.
It was Christmas time. Flanders and Jennifer had another date at her place. “Merry Christmas, Jennifer,” he said in celebration of the Lord’s birth.
“Merry Christmas, Flanders,” said Jennifer in loving the First Coming of Jesus.
Her Christmas tree was a real Christmas tree with nothing but the old-fashioned big colored
Page 26
lights upon its branches and no ornaments or tinsel or garland. They both loved this kind of Christmas tree the most. And it was night here in her living room. Only the Christmas tree gave light within here in her house. And they cuddled up on the sofa and fell into most enlightening fellowship.
Jennifer began this fellowship between them this magical Christmas Eve: “Flanders, I’ve been reading from my Bible and thinking about my life and what it has become for me in my much fame, and I have found comfort from God.”
“What did you read, Jennifer?” asked Flanders.
“I Timothy 6:6-8, which says, ‘But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content,’” she said. She went on to say, “God wanted me to become women’s wrestling’s champion, which I am now. I get to spread the Word of God now to all of my fans. And my role as Fair Lady Jennifer is a great way for me to glorify God before a greater number of people than when I was just wrestling’s Jennifer Shires. But what I really learned from those three verses was that I must seek my contentment not so much in my life down here, but, rather, in my coming life Up There.”
“I think that I see what you mean, Jennifer,” he said. “It is better to live in Heaven with Jesus than to live on Earth with Jesus.”
“I think that that is what I am saying, Flanders,” said Jennifer. “Though life down here as the world’s most famous woman wrestler is not what I had thought that it would be for me, I will still someday be Up There with my Saviour for ever. And that is better than any ladies’ championship wrestling belt around my waist.”
“It is written, O Jennifer,” he said, “’For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.’ II Corinthians 4:17-18.”
Page 27
And she went on to say, “I see in this women’s world wrestling association championship belt an icon that is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it is what I always wanted, even when I did not know that. And it is a curse because it is a symbol of my travail and trials that come with life on this side of the rapture. I will be rewarded Up in Heaven for all of the testings from God and all of the temptations from Satan which I have faithfully endured down here on the Earth. I see this belt, and it is temporal. I cannot yet see Jesus on His throne, and that is eternal.”
“Very well put, Jennifer,” said Flanders Nickels to his woman wrestler.
“What about you, Flanders?” asked Jennifer. “Have you been doing some searching of your heart about Heaven?”
“Uh huh. That I have, Jennifer,” he said.
“What have you found out?” she asked.
“I’ve memorized a few verses about Heaven,” he said.
“What do they say?” she asked.
“The first couple are Colossians 3:1-2,” he said. And he recited them to her: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
“Like the Heavenly rewards that Jesus will give you at the Bema Seat for all of those things that you did for Him in love in this life,” said Jennifer Shires.
”Even more so, Jennifer…more like seeing the regal glory of my Lord Jesus for my first time at that Bema Seat,” he said emphatically.
“I always did wonder what my Saviour looks like,” she said.
“Hopefully soon we both will find out,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Every faithful Christian’s greatest mystery,” said the woman wrestler.
“And I’ve been memorizing other verses about Heaven, too, Jennifer,” he told her.
Page 28
“Tell me them, Boyfriend,” she said.
“A triplet of verses at that, girl,” he said. “Matthew 6:19-21.” And he recited them to her: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
“That makes a born-again believer think, Flanders,” said Miss Shires.
“My beloved recorder, even as an answer to my prayers, is not Jesus in Heaven for me,” said Flanders.
“You can probably even play your recorder for Jesus at His throne,” said the woman wrestler.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” he said. A silent moment went by, and he said, “Jennifer, I’ve also been thinking about something else now for my life down here,”
“What might that be, Flanders?” she asked.
“I’ve been kind of wanting to become a bagpipe player, kilt and all,” he said.
“My boyfriend in a skirt?” she asked.
“Playing hymns on my bagpipes,” he said.
“I could get used to that,” she said.
“I saw a music video of a group of men and women bagpipe players in the rain, playing ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ My new favorite music is now bagpipe music,” he said.
“I would be happy and honored and proud for my boyfriend playing our hymns on his bagpipes,” said the woman wrestler.
“I can play my bagpipes in Heaven before Jesus on His throne,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Jesus would absolutely love that, Flanders,” said the woman wrestler.
“I would be so thrilled to do that,” said Flanders.
Page 29
“Something to look forward to after the rapture,” said Jennifer.
“The rapture is God’s next event on His timetable,” said Flanders. “It is imminent.”
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus,” prayed Jennifer. “Maranatha!”
Thus did the Holy Spirit resolve Jennifer’s problems as the woman wrestler and Flanders’s problems as the recorder player. Both were content on Earth. And both looked forward to Heaven with Holy Ghost wisdom. And both gave God the honor and praise and credit.
“Merry Christmas, Jesus,” said Jennifer Shires.
“Happy Birthday, Jesus,” said Flanders Nickels.
It was January, just one week later. And Flanders and Jennifer had a date at his place in his living room. It was early evening in winter, and it was dark outside, and the table lamps were on in here. And boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-the-Lord were sitting next to each other on the sofa. “Happy New Year, boyfriend,” said the woman wrestler.
“Happy New Year, girl,” said Flanders. He took out his recorder.
“Ah, your beautiful recorder, Flanders,” said Jennifer.
“I’m going to play it,” he said.
“You can’t do that,” she said. “The lost neighbors will come over and ruin it for us.”
“Jennifer, I do not have lost neighbors in this building anymore,” he said. “God took care of everything for me.”
“What did He do?” asked the woman wrestler.
“They all got evicted,” said Flanders. “They weren’t paying their rent. They got kicked out. Now I can play my recorder and my hymns in peace,”
“Praise Jesus!” she said in rejoicing. “I had never thought to see all of this suddenly happen like this.”
“You were praying about this. I was praying about this. Our church folk have been praying
Page 30
about this,” said Flanders.
“Ah, boyfriend, the truth of Luke 18:1 in action,” said the woman wrestler.
He recited this verse now, saying, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”
“And this verse a few verses down from that,” said Jennifer, and she recited this verse to him: “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?”
“Luke 18:7,” proclaimed Flanders this verse’s reference.
“Will you play?” she requested.
“Yes, milady,” he said. “Will you sing?”
“Yes, my man,” she said.
And he hugged his recorder in thanksgiving to God, and he kissed his hymnbook on its green cover in adoration of the Lord. She then asked, “Which hymn would be best now in God’s eyes for us to honor Him with, Flanders?” asked the woman wrestler.
“Hymn number 149,” he said.
She turned to this hymn and read out loud its title—”When We See Christ,”
No more fitting hymn and its lyrics more suited what they learned about the real meaning of life than did this great hymn. And what they learned on Christmas Day about Christ they now went ahead and lived on New Year’s Day with Christ. The hymnbook open on her lap to his left, and the recorder in his hands to her right, Flanders and Jennifer performed this song, “When We See Christ.” here on his sofa in his living room of his upper apartment:
“1. Oft-times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear,
We’re tempted to complain, to murmur and despair;
But Christ will soon appear to catch His bride away,
All tears forever over in God’s eternal day.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Page 31
Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
2. Sometimes the sky looks dark with not a ray of light,
We’re tossed and driven on, no human help in sight;
But there is one in heav’n who knows our deepest care,
Let Jesus solve your problem—just go to Him in pray’r.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
3. Life’s day will soon be o’er, all storms forever past,
We’ll cross the great divide to glory, safe at last;
We’ll share the joys of heav’n—a harp, a home, a crown,
The tempter will be banished, we’ll lay our burden down.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.”
“Jennifer,” he asked, “are you ready to live in Heaven?”
“I am, Flanders,” she said. “Are you?”
“I am, girlfriend,” he said.
“Are you ready to live the rest of your life down here and wait till Jesus comes?” she asked.
“I am, Jennifer,” he told his woman wrestler.
“I shall wrestle for God until He comes in the clouds and has new things for me to do for Him,” said Miss Shires.
“And I shall play my recorder here until I begin to play my bagpipes There,” said Flanders.
“Are you ready for the rapture, Boyfriend?” asked Jennifer.
“I am ready for the rapture and ever it shall be,” he said.
“Are you ready for death if that comes for you first?” asked Jennifer.
“It is written in Psalm 23:4, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me,” he proclaimed.
Page 32
“Amen!” declared the woman wrestler.
“How about you, girlfriend?” he asked. “Are you afraid of death?”
“It is written, ‘For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.’ II Corinthians 5:1,” recited Jennifer Shires.
“’…, and to be with Christ; which is far better:’ Philippians 1:23, fair Jennifer,” said Flanders.
“’…to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.’ II Corinthians 5:8,” said Jennifer.
And they had a quick little hug. And they had a sweet little kiss. Then they came back to the music of the Lord. And so did they do for the rest of the evening. And that night, the rapture of the believers happened upon the world of the Earth.
Page 33
