It was Haley’s birthday, and she was super excited! When she got up in the morning, she wondered what Joe had planned for this special day. For a whole week Haley had been trying to figure out what Joe was up to, he was obviously planning something, but every time Haley thought she had figured out what Joe was planning, he just smiled at her and did something totally different.
Haley determined that she was going to have a good day and not break anything, not be clumsy, and not get into any kind of trouble. After all this was supposed to be her special day! Haley carefully ate her breakfast and then went out to the barn to feed Frank. Daniel was in the barn too, so she gave Daniel a good breakfast.
As Haley was finishing feeding Frank and Daniel, she heard a truck outside the barn. She ran outside to see who was coming to visit on her birthday. She was disappointed! It was not someone coming for her birthday, it was the truck from the repair shop, and their four-wheeler was in the back of the truck. The four-wheeler had been repaired after Haley had drowned it in a creek. Joe came out to the barn as the four-wheeler was unloaded. The man in the truck gave Joe the bill for the repairs. Joe looked briefly at the bill and then put it in his pocket. Haley had seen the look in Joe’s eyes; the bill was expensive! Joe had gotten that huge repair bill on her birthday! Now Haley knew that she would not be getting any presents, she knew that Joe could not afford to buy her a present this year because of the repair bill.
Still, Haley was determined to have a great day! She got all her chores done in the morning so that she would have free time in the afternoon. After lunch she wanted to take Frank for a run in the forest, but she did not want to drive the four-wheeler. The last time she took the drove the four-wheeler through the forest, Frank had led her down a narrow trail to a creek. Frank had jumped the creek, and Haley had drowned the four-wheeler in the creek. She did not want to do that again! Haley had an idea. She went to Joe and asked if he would go with them on Frank’s run through the forest. Joe would drive and Haley would sit behind him on the four-wheeler. Joe loved the idea, and soon they were on the four-wheeler following Frank down the trails in the forest!
Joe was an excellent driver on the four-wheeler. He stayed right behind Frank and did not make any mistakes. Haley had never been on such a ride, they were going fast but very smoothly and safe! Too soon the ride was over, and they were back at the farm.
While Joe was putting the four-wheeler away, Haley went into the barn to get a drink of water for Frank. Haley filled the water bucket, and as she was carrying the bucket toward the door, some hay fell on her. Haley jumped and dropped the full water bucket on the floor. Haley slipped on the wet floor and fell in the water! When she tried to get up, she slipped again and fell on her back! She was completely wet and covered with hay and mud!
Suddenly, the barn was filled with laughter! A bunch of Haley’s friends came out of the shadows. They had come to the farm to surprise Haley on her birthday! Haley looked at all her friends and then looked at her wet and muddy clothes. At first her friends thought that Haley was going to cry, but suddenly Haley laughed! She picked up an armful of hay off the floor and began chasing her friends around the barn while throwing hay at them! Soon the whole group was having a huge hay fight! It was so much fun, and everyone was covered with hay! Soon the whole group got Haley down on the floor and stuffed hay inside her clothes and rubbed hay into her hair! The whole group was laughing; it was a great surprise party!
There was one more surprise! One of the girls quietly left the barn while everyone was laughing and celebrating, she returned a minute later with a birthday cake! This was not a normal birthday cake, they could not have candles on it because of all the hay and straw in the barn, so they had decorated it with a string of battery-operated Christmas lights! The cake was sparkling and pretty! Haley held the cake while her friends sang Happy Birthday to her. There was just one problem…raccoons like things that are shiny and sparkle! Daniel had climbed up on the rafters above Haley, he looked at that cake, and he wanted it! Suddenly, Daniel jumped off the rafter and landed on the cake! The cake and Daniel fell to the floor and landed in the hay! It was a mess! The cake was squashed on the floor and covered with a raccoon and hay! No one could eat that cake! Daniel started eating as fast as he could, and Frank came in and started to lick up the frosting! Haley and her friends got Daniel and Frank away from the cake before they ate too much and got sick!
The whole group went outside, and Joe saw them and laughed so hard he almost fell over! They were all covered with hay, and sticky cake and frosting! Joe took his crutches and went over to the hose and turned the water on for the girls. Soon there was a great water fight happening! By the time the parents came to pick up Haley’s friends, they were all soaking wet, but most of the hay and cake were washed off them.
It had been a great day, the best birthday ever! After the last of Haley’s friends had left, Joe told Haley to go into the house and take a shower because he was going to take her out for a birthday dinner! Haley could not believe her ears! She knew that Joe should not take her out to dinner because of the big repair bill. She tried to tell Joe that he should not spend the money on a fancy dinner, but Joe would not listen to her.
When Haley had finished her shower and dried her hair, Joe was in the station wagon and ready to go. He drove Haley to the best restaurant in town and told her to order her favorite foods. It was the best meal that Haley had ever had!
On the way home Haley sat next to Joe in the car and asked him why he had insisted on taking her out to dinner when he needed to save all his money to pay the repair bill for the four-wheeler that she had ruined. She said that she did not deserve this special treatment because of all the mistakes she had made. Joe told her, “You are my daughter, and I love you, nothing else matters! When I look at you, I choose not to focus on your mistakes and problems. I see you as a very special young lady with so much potential!”
Joe continued and told Haley, “God treats believers like this too. When a person accepts Jesus into their life, God forgives their sins and chooses not to remember all the awful things that each of us have done during our lives. When God looks at a believer, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ.” Haley asked what ‘righteousness’ means, and Joe explained, “Righteousness means that we measure up to God’s standard. God’s standard is perfection with no sin at all. Of course, none of us measure up to that standard, but God chooses to give the righteousness of Jesus to us when we ask Him to come into our life.”
In the Bible in II Corinthians 5:21 it says:
For God made Christ (Jesus), who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right (righteous) with God through Christ.
It is such an awesome thing! When God looks at a believer, He does not see the sin and the imperfections, all He sees is Jesus because Jesus has forgiven the believer and taken the sin from a believer’s life!