Kay's Story pt 21 - Praying for David

“Well, there was this point in the sermon that made so much sense to me as a child.  The preacher gave an illustration about him and his little girl.  She had disobeyed and hurt him one day, but she had been too proud to ask forgiveness even after he had punished her.  At the end of the day she finally broke down and ran to her father in tears.  She said, ‘O daddy I can’t stand not being able to hug you!  I’m so sorry; won’t you forgive me?’

            “And then I’ll never forget what the preacher said to everyone there.  Forgiveness matters because hugs matter.  A close relationship is restored.  He connected that with the way God offers forgiveness of sin to those who trust in the punishment they had earned.  He made a way to God—to be restored in an intimate relationship we had shattered and made impossible by our disobedience.”

            “That makes sense to me too,” said Jasna.  “So what did you do exactly?”

            “Well, I didn’t really do anything right then.  I remember a flash of white light go off in my mind, and with it this unmistakable sense that I believed in Jesus Christ.  I prayed in my heart that God would forgive me and save me from His wrath and into His family.  It was so clear to me all of a sudden.

            “Oh Jasna, you wouldn’t believe how much joy started to grow in me—like a bubble expanding and expanding all through the night so that I could hardly sleep!  I didn’t know little girls had the capacity for so much joy.  It was like my heart was full of merry sunshine.”

            “Wow.  I can’t imagine thinking and feeling such things when I was seven,” said Jasna.  “You must have been the cutest, most adorable seven year old there ever was.”

            “Not as cute as you, I’m sure,” retorted Elianna.  Jasna stared wistfully at the ceiling with a nearly imperceptible smirk on her face.

            “Actually, you’re probably right about that.  I was quite the cute little heartbreaker at that age.”

            “You vain goose!  As soon as you get better I’m going to tickle you for that!”

            “My dear Elianna, such things would not become a lady,” said Jasna.

            “That’s it.  I’ll tackle you as well!  In the most ladylike fashion you’ve ever seen!” said Elianna, suppressing giggles.

            “Shhhhhh!  You’ll wake Ferdinand!”

            They both convulsed with silent laughter until their eyes were wet with tears. 

            “Oh it’s so late!  We are crazy loons if there ever were any,” said Elianna.  “Aren’t you sleepy yet?”

            “Maybe a little.  But you haven’t told me enough about David yet.”

            “Oh yes.  Somebody distracted me.  Where was I, let’s see…”

            “Heart full of merry sunshine.”

            “Yes.  Good memory!  Well, the reason I told you all that was because it made me start praying for David.  The new joy and peace I had found in God made me want him to know it as well.  It made me pray for him every time I saw him, and every night before going to bed.  I found out later that it wasn’t just me who began praying for him.  His mother, who had experienced something similar to me, prayed hard as well.

            “One day after I had heard him crying in the woods David swore three times at the school teacher.  After getting licked for it, the teacher brought him back in and made him sit next to a girl for the rest of the week, which was utterly humiliating for him.”

            “Why?”

            “Oh David was a thoroughgoing chauvinist in those days.  He hated girls.  What I still don’t understand is why Mr. Hamilton didn’t think that it might be a punishment for me.

            “But God was at work, and I thank Him every day for that providence.  David didn’t speak to me or look at me for two days.  Being very shy, I finally wrote a little note and put it in his knapsack.”

            “What did it say?”

            “It said, ‘I don’t hate you.  I’m praying for you.’”

            “That’s it?”

            “That’s it,” Elianna nodded.  “The next day you would have thought that he hadn’t read it at all.  He snubbed me the same as ever.  But at the end of the day I went home and found a piece of paper folded up tightly in my knapsack.  It said (I still remember the bold, distinct handwriting), ‘Dear Elianna, Thanks. –David.’”

            Jasna let out a soft “Ha!” and smiled warmly.  “So peculiar!”

            Elianna reached into her handbag on the floor by the bed and drew out a worn Bible.  Jasna watched as she opened it and pulled out a little slip of paper, looking very aged.  “This is it,” she said, handing it to Jasna.  “I always keep it with me.”

            “What a precious memory,” whispered Jasna. 

            “Yes.  David thinks me a hopeless sentimental for keeping it like this, but I believe that secretly he’s glad.”

            “So, carry on.  What comes next?”

            “You can imagine how elated and surprised I was.  But the next day he was just as silent and smug towards me.  His pride couldn’t bear to be seen talking to the girl who was his punishment.  Needless to say I was saddened and disappointed, but still I kept praying for him.  By the time the week was over, and he was back in his old seat far away from me, he suddenly began to acknowledge my existence.  He started by saying hello to me every day with a grinless face and downcast eyes.  Then a few weeks later he wrote me another note.”

            “Do you have that one with you?” asked Jasna.

            “No,” smiled Elianna, “but I did save it.  It’s in a little box back home.”  She paused.  Her eyes twinkled.  “Are you sure you want to hear any more of this tiresome tale?”