A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication. She got back to the car and found that she had locked her keys in the car. She didn't know what to do so she called home and told the babysitter what happened. The babysitter told her that the fever was getting worse. She said, "You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door." The woman looked around and found an old, rusty coat hanger that had been left on the ground, possibly by someone else who had locked their keys in the car.
She looked at the hanger and said, "I don't know how to use this." So she bowed her head and asked God to send her help. Within five minutes a beat up old motorcycle pulled up with a dirty, greasy bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull rag on his forehead. The woman though, "This is what you sent me?" But she was desperate, so she was also very thankful.
The man got off his cycle and asked if he could help. She said, "Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in the car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock the car?" He said, "Sure." He walked over to the car, and in less than a minute the car was opened. She hugged the man and through her tears she said, "Thank you very much! You are a very nice man."
The man replied, "Lady, I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have been out for about an hour."
The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cries aloud, "Oh, thank you God! You even sent me a professional."
My wife is incredibly streetwise, and I've experienced all sorts of stories like this in real life. Not all good people look like good people, but there are signs to look for. I don't have a clue what these signs are, but she hasn't been wrong yet.
These folks know they live in a society that just assumes they're shady and need to be avoided. So they get quite confused when my wife shows up with two little kids in tow and compliments them on their tattoos, or asks "can my kids look at your Harley?"
It helps to think of it this way: The light of Christ is given to all men, even those who had cigarettes put out on their stomachs at age two, and got knocked around a lot by their mom's drunken shack up lovers. These people will probably never grow up to be the churchy type, but they can still grow up to be good people.
LM
-- Edited by LoudmouthMormon at 13:29, 2008-08-22
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And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, seven hours every day. That would be the sweetest thing of all.
