Fourth of July weekend last year, Val and her boyfriend went camping along Lake Superior. She invited Hubby and me to join them for one day. In addition to their three dogs, they had taken along her boyfriend’s teenage niece for the weekend. We’d met her once before when we joined them for a day at a lake near our house.
The weather was beautiful, comfortably warm, with the sun shining off the Great Lake and waves lapping at the beach. After a walk with all the dogs along the shore, we returned to their campsite. Hubby 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, of course, was drinking some sort of mixed drink.
I asked if she had any extra food, as we hadn’t eaten lunch. She invited me into the camper, where she started pulling containers out of the refrigerator.
“Oh, I gotta show you something,” she said as she reached 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 which had “Jesus” embroidered on it.
“Nice,” I answered with a smile. “Maybe she’ll rub off on you.”
Val sighed, not in disgust like she often did when I brought up my faith, but more in disappointment over 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 for years for the door to be opened, for me to get a chance to remind her what Jesus had done for anyone who was willing to accept and believe. 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 it. “Jesus died on the cross for all our sins. There is no sin too great that can’t be forgiven. You just have to ask God for forgiveness.”
She turned back to the food she was rearranging on the small camper countertop.
“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “There’s a lot.”
I didn’t know what to say after that. I prayed that God would give me the right words, but all I heard was people talking outside; my head and heart remained blank, heavy. I could only pray that she would let Jesus into her heart and accept His forgiveness. And at the time, I had no clue how soon that would need to happen.
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