Driving up to the man I stopped the car, rolled down the window and said "Hey man, would you like a ride?" He smiled with utter relief and responded with "yes, I would love one. I've have been traveling for eleven days, thanks for stopping!" I asked where he needed to go, and then introduced myself. "He happily responded "as far as you can take me, would be great, I'm trying to get back home. My name is Jay." We shook hands and smiled. I then reached to turn down the music and aked, "where is home?" Expecting hear the name of town close by, he responded "..............., Ohio!" At that moment I had a bit of disappointment reside in my heart as I realized that not only was I driving the opposite direction from home after a long week of work but I wasn't doing as much for him as I had originally anticipated. About this time, perhaps only 20 seconds since I had stopped, we passed a sign that read "Waynesville 17 mi." Jay commented that he had been walking towards that sign with a bit of grief considering what a far walk he had ahead of him before reaching the next town. I told him that "I can take you as far as Waynesville." He was thankful and we began to discuss other things.
As our conversation progressed I realized that he loved my God, and that all though I didn't know many people in Waynesville I might be able to help him find a place to crash for the night, take a shower, and eat dinner. As it turned out The Lord wanted to provide much more than a one night stay. Rather He provided through the help of Seth..., Sarah..., Darryl....., Blue Ridge Community Church, Josh...(fellow intern at BRCC), Curtis..., Hannah..., another Seth....., and Maura That Jay would be cared for in a special way. I was able to take him as far as Asheville where He was given a bus ticket to Columbus OH approximately 50 miles from his home. Before leaving we had dinner together in Asheville at my favorite burrito joint. We drank a beer, talked about the things we enjoy, and prayed, both together and for one-another. I am trusting The Lord to provide for him once he reaches Columbus, and have no doubt that He will.
Recently the Holy Spirit has been teaching me about loving people. He has had me listen to them, laugh with them, experience them, and most of all know them. I'm certain that God is currently doing many things to shape and grow me but this one thing; "love for others" stands out the most. Both today and yesterday I was given the opportunity to pick up a homeless man, listen to his life, sympathize, and empathize with his struggles. And while it is true that all of us sin. My impression was never that this man is being punished for sin or that he was in need because he did something wrong; rather, I concluded that this man was running away from sin in a way that had left blisters on his feet, sleeplessness in his eyes, and humility on his tounge. That the world hatted him for His willingness to run to Jesus, give him glory, and proclaim His name. Please understand me clearly, I have seen no man to be perfect other than Jesus Christ, and the description I have provided of Jay is not the way that Jay described himself to me. This is my understanding of who Jay is; first, after listening to him share his life and, second; after asking the Lord what He meant to show me through the power of listening.
I am happy to report to all of you who are reading this, that yesterday after taking time to hear Jay's story with patience; I asked the Holy Spirit "what do I do with this information?" His first response was yesterday afternoon, in helping me to network with a Christian cohort from work, providing Jay with a hotel room for the night. His second, by having me take Jay to Asheville, since I was already headed that way to get my oil changed. Further God answered me by, leading me to network with BRCC (my church family) to raise the money needed for a great dinner, one bus ticket to Columbus OH, some companionship, and a lot of love. Jay's response to this with a sincere heart of appreciation!
I am happy to report to all of you who are reading this, that yesterday after taking time to hear Jay's story with patience; I asked the Holy Spirit "what do I do with this information?" His first response was yesterday afternoon, in helping me to network with a Christian cohort from work, providing Jay with a hotel room for the night. His second, by having me take Jay to Asheville, since I was already headed that way to get my oil changed. Further God answered me by, leading me to network with BRCC (my church family) to raise the money needed for a great dinner, one bus ticket to Columbus OH, some companionship, and a lot of love. Jay's response to this with a sincere heart of appreciation!
Jay credited our God for taking care of him. He told me that every piece of clothing on his body had been provided by different people and, that 8 out of the 10 people who stopped to pick him up were Christians! He also shared that what he ran from was evil incarnate. I will not share his personal business with the public, but it is horrific. Much more so it's a magnificent blessing that he is safe and well. I seriously doubt that if any of us had been in his shoes, that we would have been greatly opposed to the idea of hitchhiking back home regardless of its dangers, distance, or pain.
The Lord chose to do this work in me, and through it's entirety my hearts question was this. "If I was Jay, and Jay were I, what would I want Jay to do for me? My conclusion is this, that I would be afraid, I would hope to give credit to my God's provision over me and my life, there would probably be blisters on my feet, and pain would show on my face as well. But most of all, gratitude would be my voice, to any and all who stopped their life to love me.
