It was a clear Saturday morning as I headed towards the yard in Abbotsford with a super B train loaded with lumber. I was westbound through the Fraser Canyon near Spuzzum. I just crossed the bridge over Spuzzum Creek and was rounding the corner when I saw a black bear walking along the fog line. He was still about 500ft away and I said, “Come on Mr. Bear, don’t be stupid, get off the road.”
It was as if he heard me and he turned towards the ditch and started up the bank. Now a loaded super B weighs around 140,000lbs. I was going around 100kmh, so a direct hit wouldn’t have been good.
Then, just as I was going past him, the stupid thing ran right under the tires on the lead trailer! I looked in my passenger side mirror just to see it literally explode from the impact. I didn’t feel a thing. 140,000lbs vs 600lbs. Do the math.
Well, I was pretty bummed out about it. I don’t like killing critters, unless I’m hunting, then that’s a whole different story. I got to the yard an hour and a half later, parked the rig and checked for damage. Aside from some blood and bear fur, there wasn’t any. I went home for the night.
Sunday morning, I headed back north to get another load of lumber, and, as I was going through Hope, I saw a woman sitting on the no post with her thumb out. There was lots of room for me to pull over so I stopped to give her a ride.
As soon as she got in the cab I almost threw up from the smell. She was a pretty woman but she had obviously been “well used” by men the night before. I can’t describe the smell but it was pretty bad.
I rolled the windows down and asked her where she was going. She said, “Spuzzum”.
My heart really went out to her. She was used and abused and had no self esteem. I knew I had to share the Gospel with her, so I did. I told her how Jesus died for our sins, rose again, the whole thing. She said she wasn’t worthy and that she was raised Catholic so she was good. I had less than half an hour to explain that she needed to be born again and that no one was too far gone. She asked a ton of questions and I did my best to answer her as honestly as I could.
She then told me that her boyfriend in Spuzzum was probably going to kill her, for real. I said that I was going to Prince George and that I could drop her off anywhere along the way, but she declined and asked, “If I believe in Jesus, I’m going to Heaven, right?” I said yes. Then she said, “Well, then I don’t have to be afraid of dying!”
The next thing I knew we were at Spuzzum. I pulled over to let her out and she stood up and with tears rolling down her cheeks and a huge smile, she said, “Thank you! I’ve never felt so clean inside! I am a child of God! I’m not afraid to die!” I started to cry too. It was totally the work of the Holy Spirit and I was just a vessel, but it was incredible and with that, she got out of the truck, said, “God bless you!” and walked away, towards her fate.
I sat there, weeping at what the Lord had just done, but I had to get going so I pulled away from the curb and went through the gears.
Then I saw it. It was the same spot where I had hit the bear the day before. There was a lot of blood from the bear all over the road. It was surreal. And it hit me. There is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood.
I never saw her again and have often wondered what happened to her. But one thing I know, I will see her in Heaven one day!
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