I was leaving church tonight wondering who I would pray for. I almost turned and headed back into town, figuring to find someone there. But instead I went the way I would have gone anyway, praying for God to provide someone obvious. He did.
The kid was walking along 85th Street – a narrow, two-lane road with no sidewalks – and I slowed down as I drove past him. He was headed toward town. I was going away from it. He was just a teenage kid. He was wearing a ball cap and a t-shirt and shorts. He looked harmless as could be. So I turned around.
“Where you going?” I asked when I pulled up beside him. He just said he was going to town, and he willingly accepted my offer for a ride. I wonder how many people had asked him. And I really started wondering when he told me he had walked from town all the way to the highway. That’s more than 2 miles. And he was half way back already.
“I just needed to clear my head,” he said, indicating subtly that he didn’t really want to talk about it. I didn’t push him. He said his name was Will. He was 15. We chatted about school. He plays football, but he’s not playing this year. He also wrestles. He was a friendly kid, and whatever problems he may have been having didn’t get in the way of his courtesy.
He asked to be dropped off at an intersection in town, telling me his mother didn’t expect him home until 9 p.m. That was an hour and a half away. So I dropped him off. We shook hands, and I asked to pray for him. He said that would be fine. Before I started, I asked if he was a Christian, to which he said he was. It was a short prayer, asking God to draw near to him.
Will thanked me and left. The last I saw of him was his back as he walked down the street.
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