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"I'm a salesman at 'Venture Outdoors,'" replied Charlton, "or at least, I used to be. Sure miss my job," Charlton said, taking a gulp from his can, "more than I realized I would. Frank, my boss, used to organize these camping trips with the customers and I would take them out for days at a time-- just them and me... and Charlie."

"Who's Charlie?" asked Adam, checking the casserole dish in the oven.

"Charlie's my daughter. Fifteen and a half, and the very image of her mother. Do you have kids?"

"No, I don't," replied Adam, taking the dish out of the oven.

"You don't know what you're missing," continued Charlton. "Kids can really make the difference. I don't know what I'd be if I never had Charlie."

"Lunch is ready," announced Adam, setting the chicken on the table and sitting down. Charlton was about to help himself, when he saw Adam bow his head to thank God. "Thank you for this food, Lord. You are ever Faithful and Just. May I say with Jacob, 'God which fed me all my life long unto this day.' In the blessed name of Jesus, Amen." Adam helped himself to some chicken and opened another can of Seven Up. After a moment of thought, Charlton followed suite.

It wasn't until Adam had put the dishes in the sink that Charlton spoke again.

"I wonder if you would still thank God for being 'Faithful and Just,'" observed Charlton out loud, "if you had what I have." The bluntness of Charlton's comment caught Adam off guard.

"What do you mean?" asked Adam, forgetting to wash the dishes, and instead returning to the table.

"When Martha, my wife, died, I realized that God has no reason for doing what He does. What possible reason could He have for taking her away from me-- away from her baby daughter? I was willing to play God-knows-best when Dad got Alzheimer's. But when God took Martha, I had enough," said Charlton, wadding his napkin in one hand.

"God always has a reason for what He does. 'He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He,'" quoted Adam.

"You wouldn't say that if you were me! What would you know-- you have a perfect life. Nothing is wrong with you," scorned Charlton, resentfully slamming his fist on the table. "Look at me. My life is useless... no! I take that back! My life was needless! I wish I hadn't been born! Let God go play with someone else's life, and leave mine alone!" said Charlton in a loud voice, getting up from the table and going to the door.

"Chuck!" called out Adam, rising from the table, "I don't know how, but God will prove to you that He was, and is, a righteous Judge of our lives!" Charlton shook his head in disbelief and departed. Adam sank down into his chair at the table, his hands trembling with emotion. With eyes turned upward, Adam prayed: "O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for Thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against Thee. O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest Thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest Thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet Thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by Thy name; leave us not." The tears streamed down Adam's face. "Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage." Adam remained at the table the remainder of the afternoon, interceding and weeping for Charlton.


"Uncle Adam?" asked Chad, shaking Adam's shoulder. "Wake up." Adam opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep at the kitchen table.

"What time is it, Chad?" asked Adam, stretching out his arms and yawning.

"It's four o' clock," laughed the nine year old. "You didn't get much sleep last night, did you, Uncle Adam?"

"What makes you say that?" smiled Adam, teasingly. Adam looked at the sink. The dishes still needed to be done.

"I'll help," offered Chad, picking up the towel beside the sink.

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