While Mother and the girls had been with Grandmother and Grandfather in Minneapolis, one day before coming up to live in their little house in the big woods, Grandmother had a serious talk with Naomi. “Naomi, I want you to listen carefully to what I have to say. You are almost nine years old and you’re going to live up in those north woods where I won’t see you for a long time. You have not yet received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, have you?”
Naomi shook her head, “No.”
So Grandmother continued, “That is a very dangerous thing for you to neglect. You know that the Lord Jesus loves you and died on the cross for you. He wants you to make it a definite decision to receive Him and give yourself to Him. This is something too important to keep putting off. The Lord Jesus may come at any time now for those who have trusted and received Him. Listen to this verse, ‘He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.’ You won’t forget that, will you?”
“I will remember,” Naomi promised, “and I will do it real soon - I will make that decision.”
Grandmother repeated her verse several times before they left for the north woods, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” What a dreadful thing that would be. Naomi really meant to keep her promise to Grandmother, very soon.
In their new life with all the exciting things that filled each day, that promise was almost forgotten. Most of the year had gone by. Then one day, Naomi noticed Father had put his saddle on Queenie and was about to go to see a neighbor.
“May I come too, on Jenny, Father?” Naomi coaxed eagerly.
“Yes, but I’m in a hurry — you can catch up,” and Father was on his way.
Naomi was used to riding bareback so she didn’t bother to saddle up, or even to put on the bridle, just the halter, for she knew Jenny would be eager to follow Queenie. Naomi led her to a fence and jumped on.
Away they went like a flash to catch up with Queenie — straight for the clothesline. Oh no! Naomi tried to duck, but could not.
As the rope seared across her neck, Grandmother’s verse flashed into her mind, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed.”
“Help, Lord — oh, help! I will keep my promise!” she cried desperately, as her head whipped back and she found herself flat on her back, but still on her horse. As Naomi cried to the Lord, the rope snapped away again and she managed to sit up without falling off Jenny, who was still racing after Queenie.
Shortly after this, a young Bible school student from Minneapolis came up to preach in the Jasmer Schoolhouse. As he encouraged his listeners to receive the Lord Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, he too reminded them that the coming of the Lord Jesus might be soon. It was then Naomi remembered her promise to the Lord.
As soon as the service was over, she slipped hurriedly out and ran all the way home. In the bedroom, she knelt by her bed and told the Lord Jesus that she knew she had sinned and that she wanted to receive Him as her Savior right then. She thanked Him for dying for her sins in order that He might accept her into His family forever.
For some reason, Naomi did not tell anyone about what she had done; it just seemed to be a secret between herself and the Lord.
A short time later, she went down to Minneapolis for a visit with two of her aunts. While she was there, she received a letter from Mother telling how happy they were that several had received the Lord as their Savior. Suddenly, she realized that she had never shared her good news with anyone at all. Sitting down, she wrote to her mother and family all about it. Then she told her aunts the good news too.
It was then that God gave her the joy in her salvation that seemed to bubble over. God’s message to her in Romans ten and verse nine became very real to her:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”