On Sunday, Raphael and I drove to Sioux Falls to be there
while the group that I went to Haiti with in January presented to their church
about their experiences. It is always a
great joy to be with folks who have a mutual love for Haiti and also to share
about experiences in Haiti.
On the way home, God hit me with inspiration. Just as we pulled onto the interstate I heard
a strange noise. It sounded like something
was banging up against the side of the car.
We pulled over, I opened my door, and there it was; the back tire was
flat. We were now on the interstate,
pulled over to the side of the road. I
have changed tires before, so we stepped outside. It was VERY COLD! The wind was blowing - to make that cold cut
through you like glass. Car after car
went whipping by us. It reminded me of a
blog, my friend Lee shared about the differences between people helping you on
the side of the road in Haiti vs. the U.S. http://thegreenmangoblog.com/2013/02/23/car-troubles/
and I thought no one is going to stop so we better get to it. (In Haiti someone would have already stopped
and a dozen more people would have asked if everything was ok.)
Most
the time when I pull over with road problems, I end up getting help; one of
those advantages of being a woman I will take.
But Raphael was out there with me, so I had no hope of anyone
stopping. We got the tire and the jack
out. Then had to take a break inside the car, it was so cold! Finally we stepped back out and Raphael was
under the car, trying to find a spot for the jack.
All of a sudden, I see an older man with long wild crazy greyish hair blowing
in the wind walking toward us. My first thought
is he looked like a man who could have been living out of the his car. I looked at his car and
he had a woman in the seat beside him and a bumper sticker indicating he might
be a Veteran. I felt bad for being
judgmental but just as in 'giving' the people who are most likely to help are
those that have been there.
He immediately
grabbed a ‘real jack’ (instead of the crappy ones that come with the car) and
started helping Raphael. After giving
Thanks and more thanks; I wrapped my scarf around Raphael . I was
going to wait in the car and let the men handle it (after all I had a skirt
on). When I thought they were about done,
I popped out of the car again – thanking the man profusely! He let us know the ‘donut tire’ was low and
the Canton exit was only two miles down the road, we could get air there. Next thing that happened; Raphael looked up
at the tall crazy haired stranger and said “HUG!” in his heavy accented
English. It brought tears to my
eyes. The gentleman then said, “I don’t
normally stop for people anymore but God said maybe I needed to this time.”
“God Bless You!” Raphael and I both said.
As we
proceeded back on the interstate going 45 miles an hour with our hazards on, I
found this new found stranger (our Angel) following us also going 45. Now this is what the Haitian would have done –
gone one step above and beyond. You
might get lucky and find a stranger to help you. You might even be that stranger that helps
someone. But do you go the extra 2 miles
at 45 (when you could be going 75) and take the exit with this stranger you
decided to help just to make sure they got on their journey. Our Angel came over to the car and told us
where the air pump was at the gas station.
We both exchanged “God bless You’s” and then he headed back to the
interstate. A stranger, an angel that
blessed us that day and made a difference in 2 people’s lives; not only
changing a tire – but by helping restore my faith in humanity.
