by Todd Kirby
need to get some things in my life cleaned up before I start going to church.” Jenny offered.
“That’s the beauty of it,” Jeremy went on, “you don’t have to clean up anything to come to church. Everybody in there is dealing with a divorce or an addiction or an ongoing sin in their lives that they struggle with every day. If you come, God will help you clean up whatever needs cleaning up. Service starts at 10:30.”
“You think they can help me?” Jenny said with a sniffle, wiping away a tear and trying to smile.
“I do.” said Jeremy as he put his hand on hers. “But that’s not the fun part. I think you can learn to help others, and that’s where life becomes exciting again. God can give you back your purpose.”
Jenny wiped away another tear with her free hand and said, “10:30?”
“I’ll be waiting at the front doors for you, okay?” Jeremy replied.
Jenny nodded.
After he paid for the flowers, Jeremy went back out to his car and drove down the road. He was listening to Christian music on the radio, and singing along. Waving at several people as he passed by, Jeremy couldn’t help but notice what a beautiful day it was. He pulled into the cemetery and drove all the way to the back plots.
Parking his car, Jeremy grabbed the bouquets and got out. He walked up to the top of a hill where he saw three gravestones in a row: Henry ‘Hank’ Berry, Elizabeth Berry and Joseph ‘Ratchet’ Timmons. Jeremy placed the bouquets on Mrs. Berry’s and Ratchet’s graves, then stood back up and put his hands in his pockets.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been by before now, Mrs. Berry...” he began. “I’ve had a lot going on, but I know that’s no excuse. Where should I begin? I got married a couple of years ago - Allison is a wonderful wife and mother, and Bella looks just like her. Acts like her too.” Jeremy laughed, then went on. “I’m sure you know by now, but Ratchet found the Lord before he died. I’m glad you two could be reunited.”
“I found Jesus too, and it’s like my whole world has changed. I’m trying to make a difference for people like me and Ratchet - people who normal church folk don’t talk to. There’s an old guy in jail I’ve been ministering to. He’s a lifer, but he just accepted Christ last week and was baptized in the jail. Can you imagine? Now he’s ministering to people in there. Even though he has no hope of ever getting out, he has hope in Jesus.”
“Oh, and this is ironic. One of the guys who had the biggest impact on me in jail... Ted Kinney? We’re on the praise team together now. Yeah, he plays guitar and I sing. Who would have thought back then that we’d be side-by-side praising God together? One of the other guys I was in with, Mac, is getting out later this month. We’ve got him set up with the halfway house our church sponsors; I think he’s going to start coming to Renaissance as well.”
“Our basketball camp now extends all summer long, and we have both girls and boys sessions. The boys camp averages almost a hundred kids. A HUNDRED KIDS! Isn’t that crazy? One of the first boys we ever had come through has graduated seminary, and just got ordained at one of the city churches downtown. I don’t think they’ll be calling him ‘Reverend P-Dawg’ though…” and Jeremy laughed again.
Jeremy turned to Ratchet’s grave and said, “We haven’t won them all though, Ratchet. Skeeter won’t have anything to do with me. He’s in and out of the hospital all the time with physical problems due to his drug abuse, and he seems mentally burnt out. I still see him from time to time, but he’s just not all there anymore. I’ll keep praying for him.”
“Oh, I don’t know if you’d remember, but there was a girl a couple of years younger than me in school named Jamie. She was working as a dancer over at Smokey’s after she graduated high school. She had some trouble with drugs and abusive relationships, had three kids by three different guys. Anyway, she’s been clean and sober for about five years now, and has been coming to church lately. Allison and some of the women have kind of taken her in and are ministering to her. I think she wants to get baptized soon. Allison says she had some real nightmare stories about being a dancer, and that there could be a very powerful ministry there. She’s talking to our outreach pastor about starting something up.”
Jeremy turned back to Mrs. Berry’s grave. “Roger moved away shortly after he got out of jail a few years back. We tried ministering to him in jail, but he refused to even talk with us. His wife took their kids and left when he was first arrested - evidently Roger’s activity with the Chupacabras was a total surprise to her. I’ve run into her a couple of times over the years, and she seems really nice. Not someone you would put with Roger at all, but I guess their whole marriage was based on lies.”
“Well, I have a lunch date with my wife and daughter, so I’ll leave you two for now. But I promise I won’t wait this long again to come visit, and I look forward to the day when we’re all together again. Love you guys.”
Jeremy started to walk away, but then stopped and turned around. “Oh, and Ratchet?” he said, “Caring doesn’t get you killed. It makes you feel alive.”