She stood in the shallow water of the lake, wiggling her toes in the cool water. Lily stooped low again to grab another flat stone from the rocky soil. Standing back up, she straightened out her white dress. She tossed the rock and smiled as it skipped across the flat surface of the lake, creating small ripples across the calm water wherever it touched.
Bending down to grab another stone, she heard her mother call her from their house, "Lily, come wash up for supper!"
Lily dropped her stone back into the waters of the lake, and ran over to the small apple tree that sat on the bank. She grabbed her white shoes from the shades of the tree, and reached up to grab a red apple hanging from a low branch.
Lily skipped to her house, only stopping to pick a few pink flowers. She reached the open door of their simple home and went inside. Her father was sitting in his chair, still wearing his church clothes, waiting for supper. His childhood friend, Joseph Young, was sitting in a chair beside him. He looked her up and down with his striking blue eyes.
"Little Miss Lily! Or maybe not so little any more. Girl, I swear you grow more beautiful every time I lay my eyes upon you."
Lily smiled, "Thank you Mr. Jospeh. Will you be gracing us with your fine presence this evening for supper?"
"I will be here, but I think it is I that will be graced with the presence of such a kind family."
Joseph reached down to the ground beneath his seat and brought back up a lily flower. He presented it to Lily and her smile widened.
"I was on my way to your family home when I found this flower. It is the most beautiful I have ever come across and I thought that I would bring it to a beautiful girl."
"Thank you, Mr. Joseph."
Lily blushed fiercely as she took the flower and walked past him, smelling it as she walked past. She walked over to her father and bent down. He smiled at her as she kissed his cheek.
"Have you been down at the lake this whole time, Lily?"
"Yes, Daddy, and I got you a gift, as well,"Lily presented the shiny red apple that she had been hiding behind her back. Taking the apple, he placed it on a table beside his chair.
"Thank you, Lily," he pulled her close and looked over at Joseph and grinned at him, "You watch that man, he has been hitting the bottle pretty hard today."
Lily smiled and nodded knowingly as Joseph stepped up behind her. His hands came to rest on her bare shoulders and he squeezed slightly, "That is a fine looking apple, Miss Lily. I believe I would appreciate it much more than the preacher."
Lily turned and smiled at Joseph, "I will go pick you one right now, before dinner."
Lily turned to walk out her door when her mother's voice came from the kitchen," Supper is on the table, come eat."
Lily looked back to Joseph, "I am sorry Mr. Joseph. Could I go pick you an apple after dinner?"
"No, no I will be fine, Miss Lily. There is no need to worry yourself with an apple for a man like myself. For women as beautiful as you do not go picking apples to give to lowly men like me."
The three walked into the dining room and sat at the dining table, supper already laid out and ready.
The preacher sat across from his friend, "Joseph, you are not a lowly man. You just hit a rough patch in life, but if you ask the Lord to help and put your faith in his will, one day you shall be blessed with what the Lord thinks will be best for you in life."
Lily turned to face Joseph sitting to her right, " I agree, Mr. Joseph, the Lord has a place for you in this world, and though you may not see it now, he will show you what you need to do when the time comes. If you live your life by the Lord's will, he will show you a good life in the end."
Joseph smirked across the table at the girl, "And is that what you believe Miss Lily? That the Lord will have a good place waiting for you, not only in heaven, but in the world too, if you live by His will?"
"I do Mr. Joseph. There are good people and bad people in this world, Mr. Jospeh. The bad, though they get what they want in their sinful life, will get what they deserve in the end. The good, however, will work through the trials that a placed in front of them, living their life by the Lord's will, and they will prosper in the end."
Joseph smiled at Lily and took another swig from his liquor bottle. He patted her bare leg, his touch lingering while he talked, "I hope you are right Miss Lily. I just find it hard to believe sometimes. After all I have done with my life, after living a Christian life so long, I still have nothing to show for it. It is as if the Devil himself is stealing everything that the Lord gives me."
Just then, an exhausted man burst through the front door, "Preacher! We need you to come to the hospital! Old Man Watkins has been sick for a few months. He thinks tonight will be his last night and he wants you to be there when he leaves this earth and meets his maker."
The preacher jumped up, shook Jospeh's hand, and kissed Lily's forehead, "Sorry, I must go.
He looked to his wife, "Will you come and assist me?"
His wife nodded and stood. They both walked to the door, and the preacher stopped and turned to his daughter and company, "Lily, after you and Joseph finish supper, would you put away the dishes?"
Lily smiled at her father, "Of course, Daddy. I will."
The preacher smiled at his daughter and looked to his old friend, "Joseph, you can stay here and make yourself at home. We should be back in a little while."
Joseph just smiled and nodded. Taking a long swig from his bottle, he smiled, "Do not fret about me, I shall be here."
The preacher and his wife followed the panicking man outside and the house was left in silence. The only sound in the house was the sound of forks scraping against the glass plates and Joseph periodically taking another long swig from his bottle.
Joseph's words slurred as he spoke, "Lily, did I tell you that you were growing into a beautiful young lady?"
Lily blushed, "I believe so, but it never hurts to hear it again. My parents tell me all the time that I should thank God for my beauty."
Joseph scoffed and took another swig of his liquor, "God doesn't grant blessings. He doesn't grant anything."
Lily frowned across the table, "Mr. Joseph, that isn't a very nice thing to say. God blesses us all. His work can be seen in everything that exists in this world."
Joseph abruptly stood up and walked into the living room. He snatched the apple that Lily had given to her father from the table where it sat and took a bite.
"You gave this apple to your father, and I took it away, just as the Lord can give you something, and take it away. There is no reason behind it. There is nothing that will happen for the greater good in your future because the Lord did, or didn't, give you something. It isn't right to blindly put your trust in something when there is no gain."
"If you believe, Mr. Joseph, if you put your faith in the Lord, you will be fine in the end."
"Then why is life the way it is for me? Why is life so unfair? If the Lord was so happy to answer prayers, the world would be perfect."
"But not everyone puts their faith in the Lord, Mr. Joseph."
Joseph tossed the apple core and it fell to the floor. He drained his bottle and stared across the table with an angry look etched across his every feature. His blue eyes were full of anger.
"I believed in the Lord. I put my faith in him, but he betrayed me. Let me show you where blind faith gets you." Joseph stalked towards Lily.
Lily stood up quickly and backed to her bedroom door, "Mr. Joseph, you're scaring me."
"Let me show you how much your Lord will help you in your time of need. Let me show you how he will not answer your prayers in your desperate time of need. Let us see if your precious Lord will hear you."
Joseph spat the last words and rushed across the table to Lily. She stood screaming as he reached her. Her father's oldest friend clamped his hand over her mouth and shoved her into her room.
Hours later, Lily's parents walked through the front door. Her father hung his jacket and immediately noticed something was wrong. His wife bustled through the house, oblivious to the omnicity radiating from within the house.
"That was nice of you to go to see that man. He really needed you. I believe he found the Lord on the other side."
"Yes, I am always glad to help a fellow Christian in their time of need," the preacher said," where are Lily and Jospeh?"
For the first time since she walked inside, the mother quit busying herself with house work and noticed the absence of her daughter and their company.
"Did I not tell her to wash the dishes before she went to bed?"
"Even when we are gone, she always does her nightly duties before bed. This is not like her."
The parents walked towards Lily's closed door. The preacher's foot nudged against something on the floor and he looked down. It was the apple that Lily had picked for him only hours before. It had been eaten and discarded on the floor; only the core remained.
Reaching out for the door knob, he knocked on the door, "Lily?"
He was answered by muffled sobbing.
The preacher threw open the door and the parents looked upon their bloody, sobbing daughter. Lily was lying in her bed, sobbing at the ceiling. Blood and tears had ruined her white dress. The mother rushed to Lily, sweeping her up in her arms. She held her daughter as they both cried in union.
The preacher slowly walked over to his daughter, eyes transfixed on his daughter in her bloody, white Sunday dress. He sat on the edge of the bed and lowered her dress. Lily jumped as his fingers brushed against her bare leg.
Abruptly he stood, tears spilling down his cheeks, and left the room. Again, his foot nudged against the apple core that Lily had given him.
With a burst of anger, he bent down and scooped up the apple core. Walking outside, the preacher threw the apple core into the night. With a distant splash, it fell into the lake, creating waves that would splash the lake's calm waters over its rocky bank.
Years later, a beautiful woman stood in front of a crowd preaching to them all.
"Always put your faith in the Lord. The Lord always has the answer. He always has a plan. Sometimes the Lord will test us in ways that we do not understand. We will have two paths we can choose from: we can turn away from the Lord when times get hard, or we can continue to put our faith in him until we get to the other side of our hardships."
The woman strode in front of the crowd, taking everyone's attention. The lights shining through the stained glass windows seemed to shine down on her.
"I was tested when I was younger. The Lord tried my faith, but I continued to keep my faith in the Lord. I was in a dark place, but I continued down my path towards the light that was Him. I am proud to say that I was tested. The Lord found that I was His."
"So do not give up on the Lord in hard times. He has a plan for us, all of us. It is our decision on whether we stay with him, or we forsake him."
She finished up and stared out into the crowd, her gaze coming to a stop on a man. An older man with striking blue eyes stared back at her and nodded.