Pen Jen's Inkwell Podcast Jen Waters

A smile and a flower can change lives.
Daisy Dimple can't smile enough. At age 10, she plants flowers everywhere she goes, even in parking lots and sidewalks. She loves their scent and the beauty they bring to the world. Her 13-year-old brother Billy is a bully who’s jealous of her daisies and magic “hypnotizing” dimple. He calls her “Crazy Daisy,” and she nicknames him “Lil’ Boy Buster.” Daisy wishes she had enough courage to stand up to him once and for all—but she’s just too nice. Grandpa Blum hires Daisy and is confident she can build a garden for his Fourth of July party.
Daisy branches out with many different flowers, and she finishes the garden two days before the party. The money will go to her class field trip—a day at the beach without her brother. Lil’ Boy Buster angrily floods the flowers and lets out a cage of rodents in the garden. Determined to rebuild the garden, Daisy sets traps for the rodents, levels the ground, and brings in new flowers. She stays up all night guarding the garden. The next day she plants even more flowers right up until the four o’clock party, but still isn’t done. So, when neighbors arrive, Daisy asks them each to plant a flower and contribute to finishing the garden. Of course, her magic dimple makes them say: “Yes.” The neighbors each want Daisy to build them a garden of their own.
Lil’ Boy Buster sneaks through the back fence with a large water gun and the garden hose. He tries to flood the garden again, but Daisy wrestles him to the ground and plants a flower on his head. It takes root, and he can’t pull it out of his head. He yells and screams in embarrassment. When Daisy’s parents see the wonderful garden in Grandpa Blum’s backyard, they are upset at Lil’ Boy Buster and ask Daisy to transform their backyard into a beautiful paradise as well. Lil’ Boy Buster can no longer call Daisy “crazy.” She suggests that he replant the flower from his head in Grandpa Blum’s garden. If he decides to replant it, instead of destroying it, Daisy is sure it will come out of his head without a problem. So, Lil’ Boy Buster plants the awkward flower from his head in Grandpa Blum’s garden, and he slumps off in defeat, swearing to return in victory.
The garden party is a huge success. Daisy will have more than enough money for her class field trip and decides to donate the rest of her money to planting a garden at the local Community Center.

With a little pink lemonade and a little musical magic, one special little girl can save her endangered neighborhood.
Mandy Dandie refuses to let Sherwood Neighborhood—which is going downhill fast—be turned into a major freeway. People are unemployed and don’t talk to each other except to fight. Ruben Gruff offers to buy their backyards, and they’re thrilled about the much-needed cash, but Mandy, 10, is upset about losing the old oak trees. She sets up a lemonade stand: she’ll give the money to her neighbors, so they’ll reject the disastrous project.
Mandy’s first attempt with her “secret recipe” hardly sells so she uses all her coins to purchase an odd pink lemon tree. This new pink drink is a hit. And . . . everyone who drinks the magic lemonade sings about secret worries and dreams, and then forgets they did so. Mandy just listens. Gruff the developer downs a cup and sings his secret plan to run a four-lane highway through the neighborhood, making him a millionaire at the expense of all those homes.
At the council meeting, Ruben hands out sales contracts. Mandy tries to warn everybody and tell them of his plan, but Ruben argues she’s not on the agenda, and Mandy is not allowed to speak. She walks home in tears. Mandy drags her pink lemon tree to the next meeting. People crowd around and are soon singing the truth. The neighbors all sympathize and encourage each other. Ruben then drinks and reveals his own devious secret. The neighbors band together and reject Gruff Construction’s plans. Mandy and her pink lemonade save Sherwood Neighborhood.

Being a willing vessel in the hands of the Potter can bring never-ending miracles.
As legend has it, anyone who is a pottery student of Sage Conrad, a renowned potter in Charleston, South Carolina, is sure to experience a miracle, not like a hokey, made-up one, but a deep, mystical encounter that caused the person to change from the inside out. She is known for her studio called The Wheel. Like most mornings, her longtime friend Alfred Odin sits in the back of the studio while Sage teaches a class. He reshapes the clay on his wheel, unable to get the clay to do what he wants. He gives Sage a hard time for always trying to teach her students life lessons.
Sage kisses Alfie on the cheek and chides him for hiding his rosary in his pocket. For someone who loves to curse God, she thinks he has a funny way of always carrying a cross in his pocket just in case God might be watching. Alfie is angry that Sage tells everyone his secrets. As his rosary sticks out of his pocket, he uses his fingers to open the clay. Since his bowl is a bit lopsided, he starts over again, kneading the clay like dough.
“O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand,” Sage reads from the hand-carved sign at the front of her class, quoting Isaiah 64:8. She asks her students what they will allow God’s hands to make of their lives. She also asks them what they will make with their own hands. Alfie mumbles that he has heard her speech so many times that he could give it himself. Sage talks about being a willing vessel for the purposes of the Lord. She asks her students to stand up and sing praise. She leads them in singing “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Alfie wearily conducts from the back of the room.
Then, Sage proceeds to teach the basics of making pottery on a wheel. Sage looks at Alfie’s latest creation with a critical eye. Then, Alfie insists that Sage has been in love with him since they were teenagers, but she could never admit it. Sage smiles, sitting down in front of a treadle wheel to teach the class her techniques firsthand. On the contrary, Alfie is so stubborn and hard-headed that sometimes he misses the blessing as a “crackpot,” she jokes. Despite the spat between Sage and Alfie, the students craft their clay jars with care. By the end of the day, the pupils have each made some sort of earthen vessel, ready for the first firing of the kiln, and then the glazing, and then firing their handiwork for the second time. Sage hopes that every time her students look at their finished creations, they can remember that they are willing vessels. There is no greater honor than to be clay in the hands of the Potter.

Everything is made beautiful in its time, even if the Hours tries to steal your minutes.
Time flies! In an abandoned lighthouse on the coast of Great Point in Nantucket, Massachusetts, an elderly bearded man opens the windows to a bright morning. Over time, he has converted the tower and its nearby buildings into The O’Clock Shop, where he makes and repairs clocks. His shop is filled with little clocks, big clocks, grandfather clocks, wrist watches, and pocket watches. Each of them tick-tock at once, causing most customers to feel dizzy with the noise, especially when he turns up an unknown radio station that only plays songs about time.
As the beach waves crash against the shore, they create an ebb and flow rhythm almost like a clock. With each splash of water, a new timepiece comes alive as the clocksmith tinkers away, hoping he can help defeat the evil Hours, his nemesis who loves to steal time. From time to time, Mother Nature visits Father Time, bringing groups of tourists that are interested in his magical clocks. She lives up the coast in a small cottage overgrown with flowers, fruit trees, and stalk vegetables. Flowers intertwine with the golden locks of her hair, as if the daises and roses grow from her own scalp.
Depending on which clocks the customers buy, Father Time shows his patrons how to turn back the Hours, turn forward the Hours, make the Hours stand still, and even extend the Hours. Most customers are confused at Father Time’s advice. The idea of what he says could happen is beyond their ability to believe. In most of his clocks, Father Time hides instructions in a back secret door, where customers can find the information when they are ready to confront the fleeting time in their lives. Although the Hours leaves Father Time threatening notes sometimes, he throws them out and keeps selling his clocks.
When a large gust of wind rushes through The O’Clock Shop, the Hours appears outside standing in the high grass with his skeleton body covered in a black robe. A pale horse accompanies him. Father Time warns his clock customers that no one deserves to have even a minute stolen from them. The Hours is ruthless and has already taken so much from so many people, but not if Father Time has anything to say about it.

One girl’s love, faith, and courage turn the tides of Heaven.
Fourteen-year-old Joan Orleans is the wonder of the ages. In Medieval France, she has fallen madly in love with Michael, the youngest archangel. She loves to pray with him in the fields of France. Although she lives on Earth and he lives in Heaven, he visits her every day by traveling on Jacob’s Ladder and takes her to Heaven with him sometimes. Michael turns 17 and begins private training from the archangels, so Joan won’t be able to see him as much. His parents are guardian angels, but his calling is as an archangel, and Lucifer will mentor him. Different types of angels—guardian angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominions, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim—all go through different kinds of education. Michael must then pass a final test or return home to his parents, never to reach his calling. Though Michael has received direct knowledge and orders from God, he nonetheless lacks faith and confidence that he’ll pass his test as the youngest angel ever chosen to become an archangel. But Joan, who has never seen God face-to-face, has full faith Michael will succeed.
As Michael trains with senior archangel Lucifer, he sneaks back to Earth to show Joan what Lucifer teaches him. He has become a master in sword fighting. Joan is excited for Michael, learning that faith and prayer must also be put into action. Joan is in awe of Lucifer’s expertise and tries to learn everything she can from Michael. However, halfway through Michael’s training, Joan notices that Lucifer’s attitude is changing. Lucifer is critical of Michael even when he exceeds expectations. Nothing Michael ever does is good enough. He wants to quit, but Joan tells him that he cannot give up. She convinces Michael to sneak her into his classes. When Michael has his next class with Lucifer, Joan hides in the rafters. Lucifer tempts Michael to betray God with his angelic powers. Lucifer says that he is more intelligent than God and should be in control of his own life. Lucifer thinks he should be in charge of Heaven all by himself. After all, he is the one training the archangels, not God. Michael is shocked by Lucifer’s suggestion. Joan decides that she will fight Lucifer in faith to protect Michael if she must. When class is finished, Joan insists that Michael report directly to the Ministry of Archangels and request that Lucifer be removed as a senior archangel.
At a conference held by the Ministry of Archangels, which is run by the seven senior archangels—Gabriel, Lucifer, Raphael, Jophiel, Uriel, Chamuel, and Zadkiel—Joan publicly declares her love for Michael and offers to fight Lucifer with him. After hearing Michael's testimony, the Ministry dismisses Lucifer as an archangel altogether and replaces him with Michael. Although the Ministry is hesitant to put Joan in charge of anything, since she is a human, she insists that she will defend God’s throne when Michael is on the battlefield. After the conference, Joan discovers that Lucifer has recruited a third of the angels in Heaven against God. A third stay with God. The other third has declared themselves “neutral” in the battle and have begun masquerading as humans on Earth. Joan insists that the angels pick a side—God or Satan. She wins many of the neutral angels over to fight for Michael. Joan helps Michael plan a battle strategy, trying to remember everything Lucifer taught him. Michael struggles as he realizes his mentor might kill Joan. Despite Michael’s concerns, she relays the plan to his host of angels.
Michael and his angels face Lucifer and his dark angels in battle. Not only does Michael fight to protect Heaven, but he also declares his love for Joan and the people of Earth. Because of Joan's bravery, Lucifer’s pride goes before the fall, and Lucifer with it. Joan and Michael now rule God’s angels together, and Joan finally meets God face-to-face in victory.

When a little girl’s mother dies of cancer, a Christmas reindeer makes the world a brighter place.
In 1939, when Robert May, a Montgomery Ward copywriter, decides to write a poem about a reindeer with a shiny nose, he hopes the world will become a brighter place. Many families could still feel the effects of the Great Depression. Instead of making the annual coloring book, Robert drafts an original Christmas story about an animal with holiday cheer. After all, his daughter, Barbara, loves reindeer, especially with Santa Claus and his sleigh. Although Sewell Avery, CEO of Montgomery Ward, is doubtful that the poem about a reindeer is the best idea, he approves Robert to write the piece. With the original name Rudolph, Robert sets off on brainstorming for the story. Coming home from work that evening, Robert sighs at the tiny, unkept two-bedroom Chicago apartment. He checks on his bedridden wife, who had been suffering from cancer for the past two years. He explains he’s been working on his poem about Rudolph the reindeer all day again. His wife hopes his writing is a big hit with the shoppers, and his daughter runs to him to hear the latest version of the story. Although his daughter Barbara is sad that her mother is sick, she finds joy in her father’s reindeer story.
As Robert reads to his daughter at bedtime about a reindeer named Rudolph with a very shiny nose, she falls asleep. Later in the week, Mr. Avery agrees to consider drawings of Rudolph from Denver Gillan from the company art department. Robert tells Mr. Avery that he’ll spend the whole weekend at the zoo with Denver. When Saturday morning comes, Barbara goes with her father and the artist to the zoo to make drawings of deer. Unfortunately, Barbara’s mother is too sick to accompany them. The next week, Robert sits at his desk, scribbling on pads of paper and throwing them in the trash can. As he stares out the window, he cannot see through a thick fog from Lake Michigan. He realizes that Rudolph’s nose can shine like a spotlight through the fog on Christmas Eve, so Santa can make his deliveries. While at work, when the phone rings, and Robert hears his wife’s mother on the phone, he feels sick to his stomach. He sobs on the way to the hospital, trying to figure out how to tell his daughter that her mother has passed away. When he lays eyes on his daughter, she cries and cries and collapses in his arms, kicking and yelling. He tries to tell her about Rudolph, but she says he’s not real; he’s only a stupid reindeer.
After his wife’s funeral, Mr. Avery insists that Robert doesn’t have to finish the Rudolph poem. Although Mr. Avery suggests he takes a couple weeks off, Robert insists on finishing it. He wants to finish the story for Barbara. After a few more weeks of writing, Robert bursts through his apartment door one evening and announces he has finished the story about Rudolph. His daughter is so pleased and thinks her mother would enjoy the story. By Christmas, 2.4 million copies of the poem are distributed to Montgomery Ward shoppers to great success. Rudolph is almost as important as Santa Claus, making the world a little brighter after all.