Don’t Pick Up Hitchhikers

by Aleta Kay



         I was driving home from the grocery store after work when I passed by a woman who was standing on the side of the road with her thumb out. I thought about stopping but there was a truck behind me and I didn’t want to cause an accident. I went home, about 2 miles away, put my groceries away, and went back to see if she was still there. I had been praying and really felt the Lord wanted me to give her a ride. But I don’t pick up hitchhikers. You never know these days if it’s safe or not. I definitely never pick up men.

          When I got back she was still there. I pulled off to the side of the road knowing that once she was in the truck I could drive to the gas station and turn around to head in the opposite direction, which I did.

          Lena was wearing a knee brace, the kind that is made of something similar to neoprene and has an opening for the knee cap, and her forearm was bandaged. She had a big backpack and another bag. She looked as if she needed a friend.

          Once inside the truck I asked where she was going. She said about ten miles down the road. We talked about the Lord the whole time. We shared a mutual love for our Lord Jesus. I soon discovered that she was homeless. After two marriages to men who liked to use her as a punching bag, she decided she was better off alone, on her own, and it didn’t matter if there was no shelter. Jesus didn’t have shelter either many times and if He could share His life with the world by being homeless, so could she.

          Lena makes counted cross stitch mini tapestries portraying Jesus standing outside a door and knocking, as described in the third chapter of Revelation.  She doesn’t sell them; she gives them away as testimony of God’s great love. She doesn’t beg for money or food. She prays and asks God to lay it on someone’s heart to provide her needs. She often sleeps outside under the trees. God is her constant companion and she shares His love with everyone she meets.

          It occurs to me that I am too comfortable in my stable life. I want to share Jesus with others, but from the comfort of my home. I tell myself I am too tired to go out “into the highways and byways and compel them to come in.” I am older now and not as energetic as in my youth. I’m not allowed to talk about Him (too loudly) at work. I would like to be more like Lena and feel compelled to talk about Jesus everywhere I go. After all, don’t you talk about the people you love?