An angel in disguise
The night was black and I was struggling to steer my car. I had spent three hours visiting my cousin with ALS and was heading towards home. As I pulled over to the side of the road, there was not a house in sight. The tire was flat and I wondered, "What do I do now?"
Not having a cell phone was suddenly a problem. Not even seeing a house nearby to walk towards made that idea seem foolish as well. As I struggled to find the hazard lights, a pick up truck slowed down and a young man asked what was wrong.
"I have a flat tire and I don't have a cell phone."
"No problem," he said and promptly pulled up behind me to help.
I watched in amazement as he worked to solve problem after problem. Because the wheels were bigger than the originals, nothing I had fit. Without his own tools, the wheel could not have been removed.
When he put on the spare tire, he noticed that it didn't have enough air to get me home. He decided to take it to his in-laws home in the neighbourhood and use their air compressor. As I sat in the dark, waiting for him to return, I wondered what would happen if he didn't come back...But soon he was back to say they were away and must have taken it with them.
So I used his phone to call my husband and we waited for him to bring one of the snow tires. What happened next seemed surreal. As we waited I started telling him why I was out visiting. He said that his boss's twin brother just passed away from Lou Gerig's disease last year. He totally understood how helpless a person becomes as the disease takes over.
I shared what a struggle it is to want to control things when that ability is being taken away. And yet God is waiting for us to trust him. He said he was like that, wanting to have his own business and not work for someone else. He didn't like working long hours and then coming home to work more and clean up after his brother-in-law who was working on his basement. He was struggling with wanting things different than they were.
Standing between the flashing lights, hearing the crickets loud in the darkness, talking about life's challenges with a total stranger all seemed like perfect timing. I only knew him as Adrian from Wellandport, yet we were connecting and encouraging each other in our conversation. I knew that God was in control even when I was helpless. Only God could have perfectly arranged for Adrian to drive by and have the needed tools in his truck. Only God could have guided our conversation and encouraged each of us to keep trusting him in our individual struggles.
Not having a cell phone was suddenly a problem. Not even seeing a house nearby to walk towards made that idea seem foolish as well. As I struggled to find the hazard lights, a pick up truck slowed down and a young man asked what was wrong.
"I have a flat tire and I don't have a cell phone."
"No problem," he said and promptly pulled up behind me to help.
I watched in amazement as he worked to solve problem after problem. Because the wheels were bigger than the originals, nothing I had fit. Without his own tools, the wheel could not have been removed.
When he put on the spare tire, he noticed that it didn't have enough air to get me home. He decided to take it to his in-laws home in the neighbourhood and use their air compressor. As I sat in the dark, waiting for him to return, I wondered what would happen if he didn't come back...But soon he was back to say they were away and must have taken it with them.
So I used his phone to call my husband and we waited for him to bring one of the snow tires. What happened next seemed surreal. As we waited I started telling him why I was out visiting. He said that his boss's twin brother just passed away from Lou Gerig's disease last year. He totally understood how helpless a person becomes as the disease takes over.
I shared what a struggle it is to want to control things when that ability is being taken away. And yet God is waiting for us to trust him. He said he was like that, wanting to have his own business and not work for someone else. He didn't like working long hours and then coming home to work more and clean up after his brother-in-law who was working on his basement. He was struggling with wanting things different than they were.
Standing between the flashing lights, hearing the crickets loud in the darkness, talking about life's challenges with a total stranger all seemed like perfect timing. I only knew him as Adrian from Wellandport, yet we were connecting and encouraging each other in our conversation. I knew that God was in control even when I was helpless. Only God could have perfectly arranged for Adrian to drive by and have the needed tools in his truck. Only God could have guided our conversation and encouraged each of us to keep trusting him in our individual struggles.
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