Sometimes the only time we hear about certain decisions that people make is when those decisions don’t work out well. That’s the way that Rachel and I felt about hitchhiking until we found ourselves in a predicament where hitchhiking was the best option.
Rachel and I were heading west down the interstate on our way home from Grand Forks on Easter Sunday eight years ago. We were about two hours from home when our car started to make funny noises. Things didn’t seem right as the car appeared to be losing power.
The exit sign ahead of us pointed towards a rest area and as we pulled onto the exit ramp, it was clear that we made a good decision. Our car was making more strange noises and now the power was really inconsistent. I backed into a parking spot and as I put the car into park, the vehicle shut itself off.
Easter Sunday. My wife and I sitting at a rest stop with a car that shut itself off. We were halfway home, which meant that both my parents and Rachel’s parents had equally far to come and pick us up.
Rachel and I sat in the car wondering what we were going to do. We both needed to be in our classrooms teaching the next morning so we couldn’t spend the night in a nearby town. No one was going to be able to fix our car that night so we could get home.
We threw around as many ideas as we could and decided that we would spend a little bit of time talking to others at the rest stop, and see if they would give us a ride home. We were going to hitchhike.
We sat in our now-dead car for a few minutes when a couple pulled their minivan into a parking spot a few away from ours. They got out and went inside. When they were returning to their car, Rachel and I got out of our car and approached them. We explained our situation and asked if they would be willing to give us a ride to Bismarck.
They were also headed to Bismarck and invited us to join them.
Everything went great with the ride, even though I am sure that both sets of our parents weren’t super excited that we were getting rides from people we didn’t know. When we got to Bismarck and they asked us for their address, we lived only a few blocks from their house.
What was really cool is that the couple that picked us up had to do the same thing years before.
There is so much to be thankful and often some of the greatest things I am thankful for is the unexpected kindness of strangers.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
-Philippians 2:3
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Previous 30 Days of Thankfulness posts
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24
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