Shortly after the puppies were settled in their new homes, Val met a nice young man. He had a steady job with benefits, was a hard worker, and had the patience of a saint. He also had a black cocker spaniel poodle mix. Before long, three energetic black dogs had taken over her house and large yard.
By the following spring, her boyfriend
bought a large, beautiful travel trailer, and sometime after that, he started moving in with her. She had gotten a new job the previous fall,
working from home four days a week and in the office one day. The benefits were
great. So many things seemed to be going well for my angel, but those demons
were unrelenting.
On the Fourth of July weekend, they
went camping along Lake Superior, and she invited Jim and me to join them for
one day. In addition to their three dogs, they had brought her boyfriend’s
teenage niece.
The weather was beautiful, comfortably
warm with the sun shining off the Great Lake, waves lapping at the beach. After
a walk along the shore with all the dogs, including the Corgi we had adopted in Februray, we returned to their campsite. Jim
and I took seats in the camp chairs, and Val offered us a beverage. We had
brought our own – bottles of water and orange juice. Val, naturally, was
drinking a mixed drink.
I asked if she had any extra food, as
we hadn’t eaten lunch. She invited me into the camper and started pulling
containers out of the refrigerator.
“Oh, I gotta show you something,” she
said, reaching into the area his niece had claimed for her stuff. “We went to a
craft show yesterday and look what she bought.” She held up a cross necklace
and a coin purse that had “Jesus” embroidered on it.
“Nice,” I answered with a smile.
“Maybe she’ll rub off on you.”
Val sighed, not with the disgust she
often showed when I brought up my faith, but more with disappointment in
herself.
“All the things I’ve done in my life?
God will never forgive me anyway.”
Wow! I had not expected that. I’d been
waiting years for the door to open, for a chance to remind her what Jesus did
for anyone who turned their life over to Him and accepted Him as their Savior. And for her not to throw my beliefs
back in my face.
“Oh, Val,” I knew I was treading on
thin ice and didn’t want to blow. “Jesus died on the cross for all our sins.
There is no sin too great that you can’t be forgiven. You only have to ask God
for forgiveness.”
She turned back to the food she was
rearranging on the camper’s small countertop.
“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her
head. “There’s a lot.”
I didn’t know what to say after that.
I only prayed that she let Jesus into her heart and accepted His forgiveness.
No comments:
Post a Comment