Bible Reading: Psalm 51:1-10; Hebrews 9:22

Barrett threw his bag on top of the others in the trunk, then slammed the back door shut. "Ew, gross!" he said, looking at the dirt that covered his hands. "Hey, Dad, I think it's time to wash the car!"

Dad nodded. "It's pretty dirty. I didn't notice how bad it had gotten--until now, that is." He pointed at Barrett's little sister, Aurora, who was drawing smiley faces on the car's windows with her finger. "Well, at least our dirty car will bring a smile to other people on the road today." He grinned at Barrett. "Then you and Aurora can wash it when we get back."

When they got to the campsite, they set up their tent and had lunch. Barrett was looking forward to hiking some of the trails nearby when the sky suddenly grew dark and rain started pouring down. They all scrambled into the tent and zipped up the door.

Barrett sighed as he listened to the rain beat against the canvas sides of their tent. "Why did it have to rain today? We're not going to be able to do any of the stuff we had planned!"

"Well, we'll just have to make the best of it," said Dad.

A while later the rain stopped, and they ventured out of their tent. "My smiley faces are gone!" said Aurora, pointing to the car.

"So they are," said Dad. "I haven't seen the car that clean in a long time!" He winked at Barrett. "See, that's one good thing about the rain, right? Now you and Aurora won't have to wash it when you get home."

Barrett smiled. "I guess that makes up for being stuck in the tent for an hour."

Dad nodded. "It reminds me of a song I sang in church when I was little about Jesus's blood washing away sin. We lived on a dirt road when I was a kid, so our car was always dirty. But whenever it rained, all the dirt got washed away, and I'd think of that song and Jesus washing all my sins away when He died on the cross."

That night, when Barrett heard more rain pattering against the tent, he remembered that every one of his sins was washed away by Jesus.

–Carol Albrecht