Jenny and The Horrible Hollisters

Jenny couldn't believe they were really coming to live in her town.she prayed it wasn't true "God,please,please, Please don't let Hazel and Holly go to my school.Send them to somewhere across town so that they end up at a school far,Far away!" Hazel and Holly Hollister were terrible twins indeed. They were Jenny's worst cousins Ever,and they became known everywhere they went as the " Horrible Hollisters"--a nickname they enjoyed hearing. The Hollister twins were horrible, all the way to their bones. They hated everybody and enjoyed only each other's bad company.They figured they didn't need friends since they had each other and,so,they loved coming up with ways to make trouble for everybody around them. They thought it was funny. They loved coming up with insults--they always tried to find someone to pick on. They liked being the boss--they always ended up making everybody around them scared.They regularly tried to ambush other people's happiness,always looking for ways to be mean. When they found change on the street, they never used it for things like gumballs. Instead they'd put it in their pockets and wait for times when nobody was looking...then they'd carve words into the newest cars they could find. Sometimes they'd write,"UH OH!" Other times they'd write,"Ooooh,this one's baaad!" and leave laughing their fool heads off. The Horrible Hollisters also liked to do pranks--things like throwing eggs into mailboxes,smearing strawberry jelly under car handles,and hiding people's cell phones and car keys in their own flowerbeds. Whenever they found a ball at the park, they'd pop it for fun. Whenever they saw someone old, they'd make sure to tell them that they smelled.Hazel and Holly Hollister were the worst kids everywhere they went! The weird part was that they didn't look terrible.No,they were actually very pretty and dressed better than anyone Jenny knew.Their hair was always gleaming blond.Their nails were always painted a soft, slick pink. They thought they were rock stars. Please Don't See Me! So, the day Jenny saw them at her school, her heart sunk.Please don't see me! Jenny thought to herself. Then they turned around and looked streight into her eyes. They smiled and ran right over. "Hey,Jen-Jen,double chin!Bet you're glad to see us,huh>!" Hazel said thumped Jenny right on the tip of her chin.Jenny reached up to feel if she really had a double chin. When Hazel saw that,she cracked up laughing and knew her insult had worked. Jenny just sighed. "Yeah! You'll be seeing us around a lot now,huh,little cousin?" Holly said and rubbed up against Jenny's arm like they were best friends. When Holly got close enough,she threw out her foot and kicked Jenny right in the rear end. Jenny lunged forward a little. She closed her eyes and siged.Just then,the bell rang for class. "Yeah,I'm REALLY glad you're both here," Jenny said with a tight smile as she quickly got away. That night,when Jenny was home and safe in her bed,she prayed to God.She told God that she was upset that He didn't listen to her prayer and make them go to a school far,FAR away.She imagined how horrible her life was about to be and told God that it wasn't fair.She told God every single bad thing that she could think of about the Horrible Hollisters,and then she prayed for a miracle, she prayed that they would just disappear into thin air. Jenny took a long,deep breath.She knew God was listening,but He was awfully quiet.He didn't say a word to her heart and that made her huff and puff.Not that it mattered really.Jenny wouldn't listen anyway and God knew it.Jenny was so full of anger about the twins that she couldn't think straight. With a scowl,she turned over in her bed and fell asleep. ONE LOOONG MONTH LATER One month passed. It was so loooong,Jenny thought it was the longest month in the history of the world.As Jenny sat on the steps of her school waiting for her mom to pick her up,she thought how much she really hated Hazel and Holly.Her stomach turned just thinking about them.In her heart,she reminded God all about what they'd done,just that week. Jenny told God that,just that Monday,the Horrible Hollisters had made fun of a girl so much that she broke down crying.Jenny reminded Him that she was the one who ran to the girl's rescue,helping her to feel better. Jenny told God that on Tuesday,Hazel and Holly had snuck into the stairwell and threw two desks down three flights of school stairs.She asked Him if He heard the noise all the way in Heaven since,down here on earth,the echo alone sounded like a million shotgun.Jenny huffed and reminded God that,yet again,nobody saw them do it.They got away with it! Ugh!!! Jenny didn't say much about Wednesday,since that was the day Hazel and Holly stayed home "sick".They lied,of course.They were perfectly well and spent the day eating chicken soup and watching Tv.Jenny knew because they proudly told her so...right after they fake-coughed in her face. That happened Thursday morning.Jenny told God,the day they made"hamburger patties"out of wet toilet paper and threw them on the bathroom ceiling,where they stuck for hours before falling onto kids heads. Jenny asked God it was all happening.She reminded Him that Thursday was the same day that they stole chalky blackboard erasers and threw them at kids as they ran down the hall... the same day that they wrote horrible things about all the popular kids on tiny bits of paper and scattered them throughout the halls. Jenny had been one of the kids they wrote about, she reminded God.They had written that she was ugly and her feet stunk.Jenny was so hurt and angry that she was done praying about it and had decided to FIGHT...and she wasn't alone. All the kids in school had decided that enough was ENOUGH.Just that afternoon,a plan had been made. The Horrible Hollisters were going DOWN. FIGHT AT THE PARK! Jenny tapped her feet as she sat on the steps and wondered why her mom was late.She knew that if she didn't hurry,she was going to miss her chance to be a part of the fight. Already the other kids were gathering.The plan was to ambush the twins at the edge of the park,the place where the fence made a shrap turn--that way, they wouldn't see it coming.You see,every Friday afternoon,Hazel and Holly walked to ballet practice through the park.They had used the same shrap turn of the fence to beat other kids up.Now,they were going to get the same treatment...except worse. Jenny looked down the street.Her mom's car was still not in sight.She got up and started to tap her feet.She didn't want to miss the fight! Where are you,Mom?!! Jenny said aloud.She ran back up the stairs to the school office to use the phone. "Mom? Where Are you?"Jenny said when she finally got through. "What do yo mean,Jen?" her mom said back. "I'm at school waiting for you!" Jenny said. "Oh,no!Jen.I'm in traffic now,but I thught your dad was picking you up..oh! Ok.I'm on my way.Stay where you are.I'm going to be at least twenty minutes,the way this traffic is going.I'm calling your dad now.There must be some misunderstanding.Hold tightr,Jen.Just hang out in the office.I'll be there soon." "this is why I need a cell phone!"Jenny said. Her mom said they'd talk about it later,and Jenny just sighed and hung up the phone.She plopped down into a chair. There was no way she was going to make it to the fight. She wanted to cry. WHY,GOD,WHY? By the time Jenny was home,she knew she was too late.Still,she threw her stuff down quick and asked her mom if she could go to the park.As she ran,she started to feel a tug at her heart.She knew it was God and wanted to ignore it,so she did for about three minutes. Then,she spoke up... "No! I don't want to talk about it,God! You didn't make them go far,Far away and I prayed for that.You didn't make them disappear eihter!They've done so many bad things and You didn't do anything about it... they called me ugly!They said I stunk!" Just then,even though she wanted to keep all her anger stored up so that she could pound her fists into the Horrible Hollister twins,Jenny began to break on the inside...her heart just began to break. "God,I am so miserable!"she said and felt tears run down her cheeks. "God,I can't take it anymore!"she said and fell to her knees in the sandy dirt. "They are horriable and mean and You aren't helping me any!"she said,and then with the most hurt she had in all her heart,she said the word that she meant the most... "Why???!!" And as she knelt there in the dirt,her fists began to unclench.The scowl on her mouth began to loosen.Her mind began to open as her heart continued to break. She looked up at Heaven and whispered it again. "Why,God? Why didn't You answer me?" Just then,Jenny stopped. In her heart,before she even knew the answer, she let go of the anger.She just decided to let it go. "Help me,God,to understand,"she said. Just then,her heart opened wide and a flood of anointed power that she had never quite felt in the same way.It overpowered her anger.It washed away her want to fight. It flowed over her like hot oil and made her feel weak. Jenny humbled down. Jenny stopped arguing. Jenny let the question go...but God wouldn't. "Are you ready now, Jenny? Do you want to hear? Are you ready to listen? What you don't understand, I can help you to understand.What you don't know, I can help you to learn.But you are going to have walk My way...you are going to have to trust in Me. Are you ready to do that for Me, my Jenny?" Just then, before she could even answer God,she heard the scuffle of four feet.Jenny didn't even look up. She knew it was them.She knew that the Horrible Hollisters were walking her way. "I'm ready,God," Jenny said aloud. "Help me to know why," she said in her heart. "Ok, Jenny," God said, " Open your eyes...and look at who I have sent you to heal." BRUISED AND BROKEN Just then,Jenny looked up and saw the twins with blood all over their faces.Their eyes were nearly swollen shut.Their clothes were ripped off of their bodies in some places and they were beaten all over. Jenny was shocked.They looked nearly dead.Over twenty people had taken their anger out on them and it showed... especially on their faces.They were hurt all the way to their bones. Jenny stood to her feet. "Let me help you,"she said and put her arm around Hazel. "And you, too," she said and put her other arm around Holly. They were so waek that they didn't say a word back.They just looked at Jenny and wondered why in the world she would help them.They knew they deserved what thay'd gotten,even though it hurt so bad.They remembered what they'd written about Jenny on those tiny pieces of paper,and they knew that she had read every word. Jenny could read their minds. "I forgive you,"Jenny said and they just about fell on the ground out of shock. "I do.I don't understand why,but for some reason, God wants me to forgive you...and to help you,if you'll let me." They told of things that had happened to them since they were small.They told of people who had hurt them and laughed.Jenny wanted to cry hard when they got to the part about how their uncle had abused them so bad. Jenny could see from their eyes that they weren't really angry anymore,just bitter...and she suddenly felt what it was like to be them for a moment. She understood in her heart why they had become so incredibly mean. "You can have more than just each other,you know,"Jenny suddenly said.She didn't even plan to say that, but it just came right out of her mouth.Jenny could feel God's power swell in her heart. HORRIBLE TO HEAVENLY Jenny looked at the twins and said, "I think that if you are ready to open up and let go a little,God will come rushing in and help to heal your heart.He can do it, I know." Hazel looked at Holly and began to cry--something she hadn't done in years.Hazel was the stronger one and once Holly saw that she was going to turn to God, she decided that she would, too, "I know it's not God's fault what happened to us," Hazel said to Holly and grabbed her by the hands. " I know that, too," Holly said and hugged her sister. "Just like we hurt others because we got hurt,I think that's probably what happened to them," Hazel said, thinking about some of the abuse that had happened in her young life. "It's not right!" Holly said. " I know, it's not right at all!" Hazel said. Together, they looked at Jenny and asked for help. And just then, on the park bench, Jenny agreed to help them tell their story to an adult so that things could be made right,and so that no other kids could get hurt like they did. It wasn't enough help though, and they all knew it. "Let's pray," Jenny said, and the twins grabbed each other's hands and shut their swollen eyes.With love in her heart for them both,Jenny said a prayer...one that all of Heaven heard. Right there on the park bench, the twins opened their hearts to Jesus and He came in and washed them clean.At that very moment, the angels jumped and danced. Two new names were written in God's big book of soul's, never to be erased, ever. That Friday afternoon, the Horrible Hollisters were totally changed. They became two heavenly girls-- ones that didn't have all that anger inside anymore-- and from that moment on, they never looked back. Sure, everybody at school figured the beating worked. They each rubbed their fists with a smile and thought they'd been the ones to change the twins.but the three girls knew better.Jenny,Hazel,and Holly knew that God had helped them each to understand and to heal--and to stop taking out all their hurts and anger on others...FOREVER!