She remembered back to when she had first started teaching out in the small communities. In those days she was constantly picking up hitchhikers. She smiled as she remembered the one young 16-year-old fellow she picked up one day. He kept saying, “Haven't we met somewhere?” They laughed long and hard when they remembered that she had given him a ride a month previously on the same road. She thought back to the day when she was on the northern route and had given a ride to a man. He was seated before she realized he was drunk and a talker. He talked and talked and made little sense. Finally with great relief she saw another hiker and picked up that one to keep the first company.

Her family became greatly concerned about her welfare over the hitchhikers but she continued the practice until the day her sister talked to her. Her sisteržs friend had been shot in the head by a hitchhiker, all because the girl stopped out of mercy to help a man in a storm.

The storm that night brought back the memories. They'd gone to school with this girl. She was gentle and thoughtful. To die because of an act of goodness did not make sense. That was when the family heard the promise. 'No more hitchhikers, I promise!'

Well, I won't see a hitchhiker on this road she thought. It is unlikely I'll see a car!

She came out of a slight curve and slowed because a car was parked on the road ahead. These little highways just don't have any shoulders, she thought. Then she saw the man waving. He was in trouble and she slowed more. He looked like he was in trouble but what if he wasn't? A screwdriver on the floor was the only protection she had.

In a flash she remembered the promise. She remembered the old school friend, dead because of a hitch hiker. She knew this road well though and the chances of another car coming along to help were stacked well against this lone motorist.

She pulled over and rolled down the window. She had pulled ahead of the stranded car. Now as he ran toward the car in the dark she shook with fear and yet knew if he was truly in need she could not leave him here in this storm.

The stranger explained that his car was dead. She knew she had to break the promise and hoped she would live to see her children that night. She told him to get in. They drove for an hour into the next city and she took him to a telephone booth. She waited until he had made a call. When he reported back to her that a family member would soon be there for him, she wished him well and left.

Tears fell on her cheeks as she drove away. It felt as though she had been holding her breath for an hour. “I hope they'll understand why I had to break my promise. I think I've been watched over this night!”

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His name was Brian and he was a student at the small high school I attended. Brian was a developmentally disabled student who was constantly searching for love and attention, but it usually came for the wrong reasons. Students who wanted to have some “fun” would ask, “Brian, are you the Incredible Hulk?” He would then run down the halls roaring and flexing. He was the joke of the school and was “entertainment” for those who watched.

Brian, who was looking for acceptance, didn't realize at times, that they were laughing at him and not with him. One day, I couldn't take it anymore and told the students I had had enough of their game, and sternly told them to knock it off.

“Aw come on Mike! We are just having fun. Who do you think you are anyway!”

The teasing didn't stop for long, but Brian latched onto me that day of my sophomore year. I had stuck up for him, and now he was my buddy. Thoughts of: “What will people think of you if you are friends with Brian,” swirled in my head, but I forced them out as I realized that God wanted me to treat this young man as I would want to be treated..... Later that week I invited him over to my house after school to play video games. We sat there playing Intellivision (this was the 80s) and drinking Tang. Pretty soon, he started asking me questions like, “Hey Mike. Where do you go to church?” I would politely answer his questions, all the while turning my concentration back to the video games.... He kept asking me questions about God, and why I was different from some of the kids at school.

Finally my wife Kristi, who was my high school sweetheart at the time, pulled me aside and said, “Michael, he needs to talk. How about you go down to your room where you can talk privately?” My wonderfully perceptive girlfriend had picked up on the cues better than I had.

As soon as we arrived in my room, he asked, “Hey, Mike. How come you're not like some of the other kids at school?” I knew I needed to share with him the difference that God had made in my life. I got out my Bible and shared John 3:16 and some verses in Romans with him. I explained to him that God loved him just the way he was and that he sent Jesus down to earth to die on a cross for him. All the while, I did not know if he was comprehending anything I was telling him. When we were done, I asked Brian if he wanted to pray with me. He said he would like that.

We prayed together: “God I know I am a sinner, and that even if I was the only person on earth, you still would have sent your Son down to die on the cross for me and take my place. I accept the gift of salvation that you offer and I ask that you come into my heart and take control. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

I looked at him and said, “Brian, if you meant those words you just prayed, where is Jesus right now?”

He pointed to his heart and said, “He's in here now.” Then he did something I will never forget, as long as I live. Brian hugged the Bible to his chest, laid down on the bed and let the tears flow down his face. When I cry, my sobbing is very loud. Brian was unearthly silent as the faucet behind his eyes let loose. Then he said to me, “Mike, do you know that the love that God has for me, must be like the love a husband has for his wife.”

I was floored. Here was someone who had trouble comprehending things in school, but had now understood one of eternity's great truths. I knew now that he understood what I had shared with him. He laid there for another five minutes or so as the salty drops continued to flow.

I don't remember now, if we went back upstairs to finish playing video games or not. But I do remember the incredible feeling I had at that moment. A high, higher than anything a substance could ever give me. The high of knowing that God still works miracles in everyday life. John 10:10 immediately came to mind: “....I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

It was about a week later that everything came into perspective for me. It was then that Brian really opened up to me. He explained that his dad had left him and his mom when he was five years old. As Brian stood on the porch that day, his dad told him he was leaving and that he couldn't deal with having a son like him anymore. Then he walked out of Brian's life and was never seen again.

Brian told me that he had been looking for his dad ever since. Now I knew why the tears kept flowing that day in my bedroom. His search was over. He found what he had been looking for since he was five years old.

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