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Writing Straight With Crooked Lines
The wind cut into me as I walked out of the office and got back into my car for the 15 mile trip back home. The snow continued to fall as we drove along and I slowed the car down even more. I glanced over at my son in his heavy coat and orange toboggan as he looked peacefully out the window. In the eyes of the world he was looked upon as mentally handicapped. Over the years, however, I had begun to see him through the eyes of Heaven. What I saw was a beautiful, kind and compassionate soul with a ready laugh and a contagious joy. He had shown me more over the years about living and loving than I could have ever learned on my own. I slowed the car to a crawl as we approached a sharp curb. As we rounded it I saw a shivering, young woman in a light jacket hitchhiking in the blinding, snow storm. I pulled over and let her in. She was headed to her Mom’s house to visit her son whom she hadn’t seen in months. As I drove carefully along she told me of her life. She had already been dealt a string of disappointments and tragedies that would have broken a lesser spirit. Yet, she still held out hope of a new job and a chance of building a life for her son and herself. After all she had been through she wasn’t about to let a Winter storm keep her from seeing the child she loved. I took her as far as I was able and dropped her off at a place where I was sure she could catch a ride to take her the rest of the way. She thanked me for the lift and I told her I wished I could have done more to help. Then as I was about to pull away I saw my sweet son take off his orange toboggan, roll down the window, and give it to her. She put it on, smiled, and waved to us as we pulled out on the road. I waved back and said a prayer to God to watch over her and be with her always. As we drove away I realized that God had once again written straight with crooked lines. He had used a necessary trip to get me out on the road when I would have rather been home. He had used a bad snow to slow me down enough to spot that shivering woman. He had used her story of overcoming so much to strengthen my own faith. And He had used my mentally handicapped but spiritually wise son to both touch her life and to show me again how we are supposed to give, to live, and to love in this life. In this world we face so many adversities, challenges, problems, and tragedies. Sometimes it seems like our entire lives are a trip down a crooked, curvy, and hazardous road. Yet, God in His eternal love and infinite knowledge takes that crooked roadway and uses it to lead us straight back to love, to take us straight back to wisdom, and to guide us straight on to Heaven. |
