This was my husband's response when he learned that I picked up four people off the side of the road and transported them to their destination. I can't say I blame him, but in my defense, I really felt in my heart that this family needed my help. Maybe I should flesh out a few of the details...
I was getting gas one Monday. A woman with her three children walked through the parking lot. I noticed them because each was carrying one suitcase/backpack. The smallest child still had something similar to a pull-up sticking out of the waistband of his pants. I watched them walk across the parking lot and thought...surely they aren't walking somewhere too far from here in this ridiculous heat...it is summer in Alabama after all. The pump kept gurgling alerting me to more and more money going into the gas tank as I watched the family cross the road beside the gas station. I don't know why, but I felt really compelled to give this family a lift. I stopped the gas pump and jumped back in my car. I met the family in another parking lot a few businesses North of where I originally saw them. I got out of my car and asked the mother if they could use a ride.
She was surprisingly grateful and obviously distraught. I helped get her children settled in the backseat and took them to another spot a mile or so down the road. A family member from another town was going to pick them up there. It wasn't safe for them to stay at home any longer, so they left home with one bag each and the clothes on their backs. Her daughter looked up at me as she was sliding out of the back seat and said, "Thank you, Miss Amanda. I'll always remember you."
I cannot begin to tell you how this one encounter has touched my heart. And, I cannot tell you why I felt so compelled to give this family a ride. I, personally, believe that it was something God called me to do. Not everyone believes in God, so you can call it instinct or whatever, but I sincerely believe that I was meant to encounter this family for some reason.