A Knock on My Window (8/23/2023)

I walked out the door and into the parking lot, looking for my car. I asked myself why I had a black car because fully a third of the cars in the lot were black. Why hadn’t I picked a purple or orange car? It would make these searches so much easier. Finally, I used my fob, hit the button, and followed the noise. I got to my car, slipped inside, put my purse on the passenger seat, and reached for my seat belt just as someone knocked loudly on my car window. I looked, and there stood a young man still in his teens. What did he want? Should I open the window? Something inside of me said, “Yes.”

I rolled the window down and asked, “What do you want?”

“I need money to buy a bus ticket home.”

“Where is home?”

“Alabama.”

“May I ask your name?”

He answered without hesitation which I took as a good sign. I told him my name was Kate. Then I asked why he needed a bus ticket. He explained that he’d taken off with a couple of his friends a few months back and it was a huge mistake. Then he ended by telling me, “It’s not what I thought. I don’t want to live like this. I know if I can get home, I can start over. My mom will help me.”

I looked at him for a few seconds. Then I asked how much that bus ticket was. He had a figure right away. I asked how he knew that. He said he’d been to the bus depot to find out the day before. Then I asked him why me. He shook his head and started to cry. “I don’t know. I wasn’t planning to do this. I can’t explain it.”

I reached into my purse and got the money he’d asked for plus a bit extra for meals. I handed it to him and said, “I don’t know. I wasn’t planning to do this. I can’t explain it. Promise me you will use this to go home as you said you were.”

He started to cry again. I told him it was okay. I also told him that the LORD was with him. “You sound like my momma” he told me. “Smart woman,” I said. We shook hands and he walked away.

I sat in the parking lot for a few extra minutes. Why had I done that? I can’t explain it to this day, but I did. Why did I have the money in my purse? I don’t usually carry that much cash. Then I remembered his words when I told him the LORD was with him. And I felt it. The LORD was with me.

As I revisited that encounter multiple times during the day, my read of it began to morph. Finally, before bedtime I realized, both he and I needed to go home. He needed the money for a bus ticket. I needed to recognize that I’d veered off course in my journey. Providence? I hoped he was on a bus headed to Alabama. I knew I was on my porch having a serious talk with my LORD. That was years ago, yet I still remember it vividly.

As we journey in faith, hope and love, may we remain open to others and their needs. May we also remain open to providence, the LORD’s movement in our world, not a coincidence but a grace filled moment.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.