Roadside Encounter

Well, I was totally planning to see Jimmy Wayne in concert tomorrow night. In fact, I've been missing opportunity after opportunity of seeing the man play his guitar in person. The reason this time? My car.

I was driving home from an appointment in Fayetteville when I realized my "check gages" sign was on. After spending some time at a Jiffy Lube (where they told me what needed to be fixed but they didn't fix radiators)I figured it was ok to drive home because they gave me some coolant for my overheated car. That's didn't work out as well as planned. I pulled over at another gas station to discover that smoke was coming from underneath my hood.

The tears started to come because I was frustrated about my car, but mostly about not being able to drive 2 1/2 hours the next day to go see my favorite singer. A man wandered over and asked if I needed help. I said I was fine, but he insisted. So he began looking at my car and assuring me that God takes care of us.

He mentioned that he was homeless and told me that some people think homelessness is a joke. I imagine that he assumed I hadn't thought twice about homelessness. I could have told him I was in seminary or that I had just gotten back from a semester on the west side of Chicago. I could have let him know that I am a Christian.

But I didn't. I simply nodded my head when he told me that God takes care of us and thanked him. I think I was too upset to do much explaining, but maybe that was good. Maybe it was his turn to be in a teaching role and it was my turn to listen. Maybe I should just be happy I have a car and a place to sleep and worry a little less about seeing Jimmy Wayne.