Another Divine Appointment

I had a strange morning today. I gave a stranger a ride home. I don't usually pick up people walking on the side of the road. In fact, I am probably more paranoid about picking up strangers than your average person, because my husband and I wasted a lot of time and money trying to help someone that we picked up on the side of the road several years ago. But that is another story.

I had been at a friends house and was leaving her neighborhood. As I pulled up to a Stop sign, waiting to pull onto a busy road, an older-middle-aged woman walked up to my window. She was well dressed, in slacks and a stylish sweater. She had on lipstick and jewelry, I could even smell the perfume she was wearing. She asked if I was heading toward a certain neighborhood. I could see that she had been crying. In fact, she was wiping tears off of her cheeks the whole time I talked to her.

I was not heading in the direction she asked about, in fact I needed to be somewhere in the opposite direction in 25 minutes. Plus, I am not the kind of person who gives rides to strangers.

Here is where the story gets interesting. All of this was happening, literally, right across the street from my church. I could see that there were several cars in the church parking lot, and I knew that our church secretary was there as well. I tried to talk the distressed woman into walking across the street and getting help from someone inside. She didn't want to do that. I asked her if I could call someone, and she only cried more and said "no." I tried to ask her if she was in trouble, or if she needed some help, but she just kept saying that she wanted to go home.

At that point she left the side of my car and started walking back down the road. It was 77 degrees and sunny, and based on the place she had asked me to take her, I knew she had a long way to go in the heat. I thought for a moment, but decided that she was probably a woman who was stranded and in real need of help, and not some scam artist or dangerous person. I mean, she was very well dressed, she was even carrying a nice black leather purse. I think it was the lipstick and nice perfume that made up my mind. It would be like my mother or my mother-in-law being stranded and needing help from a stranger.

I pulled into the parking lot of my church, and walked inside. One of the secretaries was standing right there. I asked her if she could ride with me, and I briefly explained what was going on. She grabbed her purse, hopped in my car, and we drove down the road and picked up the distressed woman.

She was very glad to have a ride. As soon as she got in my car, Debbie, the secretary from church, asked if she could pray for her. So as I started driving, she and Debbie held hands and prayed. Then she told us a little bit about why she was stranded and needed a ride.

She told us that she was married to a very mean and controlling man, who treated her very badly. They had been going to marriage counseling, and she said he just lied about everything. She said she just couldn't take it anymore, and walked out. I assume that meant she had just left the marriage counseling and was trying to walk home when I picked her up.

We let her talk for a while, she was still crying, and giving us some more of the story. I'm not going to give you all the details, that is not what is really important. Debbie asked if she had a church home, and she said no. Then she started crying some more and saying she wouldn't go to church with her husband. Debbie wrote down our pastors name and phone number. We gave it to her and told her that she certainly did not have to come to church, but that she could always call if she needed help, or just a person to talk to.

When we got to her house, I asked her if I could pray with her again, and she let me. I don't really even know what I prayed about. I just wanted her to know that I cared, and more importantly, that God cared. I helped her out of the back seat of my car. She cried some more, thanked me and gave me a hug. I can still smell her perfume on my shirt.

I have no idea if she will ever call our pastor, or go to any church. But I have been praying for her all day. I sincerely believe that I was supposed to give her that ride today. I mean, what are the chances that all of that happened randomly? Right across the street from my church? That Debbie would be standing right there when I walked in, and would be able to ride with me so I wouldn't be nervous about giving a stranger a ride?

I wonder if I am supposed to be learning something from this. This is the second older woman in distress that I have encountered recently. Maybe God just wants me to remember that underneath the nice, socially acceptable facade that people present, there are real hurts and needs. Believe me, I spend a lot of time around people who seem perfect. People who seem to have it all. Women with nice black leather purses, stylish sweaters and lipstick perfectly applied. But every once in a while, people will let you see behind it all. Maybe I'm just supposed to remember to keep looking.