The winner of my contest wrote a very cute story about flowers and t-shirts :))
The
T-shirt Printer
By: Jenny Yetter
“… I oooonce was lost, but now am found twas
bliiiind but now, I seeee.” *click*
As the last stanza of a
song finished playing on the radio, Daniel Eder turned off his car and hopped
out.
“Hi Mr. Eder!”
“Good morning!” Mr. Eder smiled and waved at a
group of girls as they jogged by.
Lifting a box from his
trunk, he carried them into a nearby building titled “Print Shop” and
disappeared.
“He sure is up early
today!” One of the joggers commented.
“Yeah, I think he’s
getting ready for some sort of big event…” Another replied.
“Oh yeah, the Summer Fest!”
A third chimed, “He does that every year! I went once… you print t-shirts and
then have pizza, snacks and cotton candy- and play games!”
“He prints shirts for
everyone?”
“Yep! And it’s free,
you don’t have to pay anything! He does do a little ‘sermon’ thing though… but
it’s worth it for the games and food and stuff!”
“ Wow! That’s awesome.
Mr. Eder is so nice! I think we should go to the summer fest…”
“I’m game. We can all
go together!”
*Ding-a-ling-a-ling*
The bell over the door
sounded. Mr. Eder appeared from a room in the back.
“Hi Cassandra!” Mr. Eder greeted her with a friendly smile.
“Here are the flowers
you ordered.” Cassandra plunked an assorted bucket of flowers on the desk.
“Thank you! How much do
I owe you?”
“$10.00.” The girl glanced
curiously around the shop. “So… you’re having some sort of party here tonight?”
“Yes ma’am. We’ll be
printing t-shirts, then have dinner, a testimony time and some games. I’m bringing in all the shirts this morning,”
He gestured towards a stack of boxes identical to the one he had just carried
in, “And I’m hoping we’ll have a good turnout for the festival. So what are you
up to today?”
“Not much… I’m working
at the flower shop till this evening.
Then I might go hang out with friends.”
“You should join us
tonight,” Mr. Eder said, “And tell your friends they’re welcome to come too!”
“Cool! I’ll think about
it…” Cassandra turned towards the door, “Well, I better get back to work.”
“Bye bye now.”
*Ding-a-ling-a-ling*
Again the front door
rang.
This time, a middle
aged Indonesian man entered, carrying several packages of deli food.
“Hello Rajesh!” Mr.
Eder reappeared from the back of the store.
“Here are the items
your ordered.” Rajesh stiffly handed him the packages.
Mr. Eder smiled
cheerfully. “You have a good day!”
Without so much as a
nod, the man turned and left the shop.
“Lord,” Mr. Eder
breathed a silent prayer, “Rajesh knows I want to witness to him, but he is
unwilling to listen. Soften his heart.
Show him his need for you and the saving grace of Jesus.”
Daniel looked at his
watch. 3:00. The Kids would be coming in less than an hour.
As he carried boxes of
shirts from the front room to the back, the bell over the door sounded yet
again.
“Hey Mr. Eder!”
Cassandra stepped into the shop, “I got off work so I decided to come over
here. I know the fest doesn’t start for another hour but…”
“Great!” Mr. Eder set
down the stack of boxes he had been carrying. “I’m glad you can make it!”
“Yeah, me too.”
“So, are you a good
girl today?”
“Me?” Cassandra could
tell this was a trick question.
“Yes, you. Are you
good?”
“Well, yes, I’m good. I
did the dishes for my mom this morning!”
“Nope. You’re bad. For
all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”
“Ha! I see what you’re
getting at. Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard all that before.”
Mr. Eder let the
subject drop. “Ok, I have to run home to pick up some folding chairs for this
evening.”
“Oh, ok. Do you need
help with anything?”
“Do you see that mud
sink over there? If you could hose down these screens,” so saying, he handed
Cassandra a stack of nylon printing screens, “That would be a big help.”
“Cool, I’ll do that
now.”
When Mr. Eder got back with
the chairs, the first kids were just arriving.
A girl and a boy followed him into the print shop.
“And what brings you
here tonight?” Mr. Eder asked them with a twinkle in his eye.
“Hi Mr. Eder!” The children responded with enthusiasm.
“Now, if you guys could
write down your name and what size shirt you wear on this sheet,” Mr. Eder
handed the boy a clipboard and pencil, “I’ll go get the cotton candy machine
warmed up.”
An half hour later, the
print shop was packed with over 30 kids.
A young boy in a black
hoody and black jeans stood off to the side, staring at the floor, saying
nothing.
“Who’s that guy over
there?” A girl whispered to her friend.
“Who, Him? Oh, that’s
Jimmy. He never talks to anyone and he never smiles. He’s been that way ever since his Dad took
off a few years ago.”
At this moment, Mr.
Eder strode up to Jimmy and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Hello young man.
Welcome to the print shop! What’s your name?”
“Jimmy.” The boy said
his name without looking up.
“Well Jimmy, I could use
some help with the shirt dryer.” Mr. Eder squatted down to Jimmy’s eye level as
he talked, “Would you be up for helping me?”
“Sure…” Jimmy answered
with some hesitancy.
Mr. Eder smiled and
stared into his eyes without blinking.
“What?” The boy was
beginning to wonder if he had done something wrong.
“Why,” Mr. Eder
inquired, “aren’t you smiling? If there’s one thing I expect of kids when
they’re helping me print shirts, it’s a smile!”
The boy chuckled and his
face instantly broke into a broad grin.
“There! That’s what I’m
talking about.”
“Alright kids,” Mr. Eder raised his voice to
be heard by everyone, “If you could all come find a seat in the front room,
we’re going to start our testimony time.”
The younger children
stopped what they were doing and scrambled to find a seat. The older ones, no quite as eagerly, moved to
the front room and sat down.
“Ok.” Mr. Eder
said, “Tonight, I will be giving my
personal testimony of my life and how I came to know Jesus Christ as my
personal savior.”
He proceeded to recount
the story of his life before he knew Christ, and how God changed him.
After he had finished
sharing, he made a request.
“If one of your kids
doesn’t know Jesus Christ as his personal savior, and you would like to, would
you come up here now or talk to me afterwards?”
Cassandra walked
forward and addressed Mr. Eder.
“I have always gone to
church” she began, “And I obeyed the Bible as well as I could. I figured as long as I did that, I was a good
person and God would let me into heaven.
But today I found myself thinking about what you said earlier. About how none of us are ‘good’ cuz we’ve all
sinned against God. And after hearing
your testimony, I realize that no matter how hard I try, I can’t save myself.
So tonight, I would like to ask Jesus into my heart.”
Mr. Eder dismissed the
kids, and led Cassandra through prayer for Salvation. After they had finished, two other kids
approached Mr. Eder and asked him to pray with them too.
Several months had
passed since the Summer Fest when this notice was printed in the Sunday
Obituary: “Daniel E. Eder, Killed last night in an automobile collision. Wake
Wednesday night at Little Creek Funeral home.”
At Mr. Eder’s wake, the
building was packed. A line of people spilled out the door of the funeral home
and wrapped around the building.
A gorgeous bouquet of
flowers was donated by the flower shop.
All the children at the
wake wore the same t-shirt. On the
front, was a cross. On the back it read: “The payment for sin is death. But God
gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Everyone recognized the
shirts: the ones Mr. Eder always printed for Summer Fest.
There were very few
tears at the funeral of Daniel Eder. As a matter of fact, all the children were
smiling.
They knew where Mr.
Eder was- he was in paradise, in the presence of Jesus!
And they knew where
many, many other people were headed- to a place of eternal suffering.
Now they were left to
carry on the Legacy of Mr. Eder…
A man who continuously
spilled over with the joy of the Lord.
A man who was on fire
for God and looked for ever opportunity to spread the gospel.
On a chair by the
casket, sat Rajesh, the stone faced man.
But today, he wept,
bitterly.
Cassandra walked up and
sat down beside him.
“He was a good man.” Rajesh
murmured.
“Yes… Actually no. He
was not good.” Cassandra corrected herself and suppressed a smile, “ No-one is
good. We have all sinned and fallen
short of the Glory of God. But God in his mercy sent his Son to die and pay the
price for our sin so we could have eternal life.”
“Yes, this is what he
always told me. But until now, I have been too proud to listen. But now, I know
that he spoke the truth. And I want what he had.”
“Would you like me to
pray with you?” Cassandra pulled a small Bible from her purse.
The man nodded.
And so, from one man,
many heard the good news of the gospel and came to know Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior.
That man was Daniel
Eder, God’s humble servant, The T-shirt Printer.
Thanks so much for entering!
I loved them all, it was SOOO hard to choose!
Since I loved them all soo much I'm going to have everyone who entered get a pair of earrings!
Jenny will choose first! :D
TaTaForNow!
Samm :]
