From the Heart
Faith in humanity. We hope for it in a world that broadcasts anything but that, on a daily basis.
This week as I read a post on Facebook, written by my friend Tamara Bentler, I found what seems so rare these days.
A good Samaritan.
Tamara was traveling from Stuart, Florida, to Charleston, South Carolina, when she felt her car starting to bump along. Ugh, flat tire. She pulled onto the side of the road on an exit ramp near Jacksonville. Her car was packed to the max as she is moving to Texas after visiting her son, who is in the Navy. She unloaded her trunk.
She tried for an hour to reach AAA and then was told it would be another three hours for them to rescue (?) her. By then, it would be dark. Here she was all by herself, except for her dog. She bowed her head and prayed.
She looked up and while wiping a few tears, she saw in the distance, a crotch rocket coming her way. The man, who was riding it, looked to be in his late twenties. As he approached my friend, he said, “Well I never take this exit but something told me to do so.” Hmmm.
He began to change her tire. During their conversation he shared with her that he was in the Navy. He told her that this must be a God thing, him taking the exit and finding her stranded. He told her that he was raised in a Christian home but had drifted away from his faith. Tamara told him that we all drift away at times during our journey. God doesn’t.
He shared with her that God must have been watching over her as she could have easily wrecked her car, going at the speed she was going on the highway. She could have been stranded alone for all those hours and who knows what else might have happened.
As he changed her tire a bolt snapped. He was concerned as to what to do so he called his dad. Tamara had a chance to thank his dad for raising such a kind son. The dad told her that his son makes him proud every day.
Her good Samaritan helped her pack up her trunk and then followed her to a hotel just off the exit ramp. He noticed that her spare was then flat but the rim didn’t even have a scratch.
As Tamara gathered her luggage and let her dog out, the young man handed her a key. He had paid for her room.
He carried her luggage into the room and when she turned around to thank him, he was gone. She glanced over at a few green bills laying on the table by the door. She chased him to the elevator to return the money. He smiled and said, “I only hope someone would help my mom if she were ever stranded. If I had more cash, I would have left it.” And with that said, the elevator doors closed.
Perhaps humanity has more faith than we realize. Perhaps it is when we drift that we truly find God. Perhaps angels arrive on crotch rockets. Perhaps that young man found his faith on the side of the road that day. Perhaps we all need reminded that God never drifts away … we do.
Perhaps … it wasn’t just a tire that was changed that day.