the searbys

In more than one way, last night was a homecoming. Of course now that Florida is our home it was special for us to get back and, like those childhood days, get excited when we finally crossed into Alachua county, our county, nearing home. We had a great weekend in Tennessee at the Parmenter Family Reunion and are glad for our family ties and heritage. It was great to see all of my aunts, uncles and cousins and catch up on life.

But last night was a homecoming for someone else. When we stopped for dinner just south of Atlanta we noticed a pretty young guy on the side of the road at the ramp onto I-75 South. We both agreed that if he was still there after we ate and got gas we would give him a ride. After 30 minutes or so we were ready to get back on the road and as we got to the ramp we noticed that he had moved to the other side and was now holding a sign. He had given up trying to get a ride. But I pulled over anyways and asked him if he was going south. Excited he said yes and Jen got in the back (our policy for picking up hitchers) and we headed south. It was only then that we found out that he was trying to get to St. Augustine, Florida. We have a knack for picking up people going our same direction so that they end up spending hours with us. As we got to know Terry we found out that he is 23 years-old, recently divorced, just lost his job and got kicked out of his apartment. Now I know that many of you are skeptics and cynics when it comes to hitchhikers and their lives, stories and motives. But I have been there and I know that there ARE people that are in need. I also know that it was a man that picked me up and helped me out that changed the course of my life forever. I have met quite a few people like Terry now and I think you can usually figure them out pretty quick. Some of them lie a lot and are just wanting something from you. Some of them are confused and not sure what they want. Others are truly down and out and need someone to care about them. That was Terry. His story was amazing. Kicked out of his house at 13, he began to hitch around the country. After several years he wound up in Florida where he was adopted by an African-American man (Terry is white) and got back into school. His adoptive father has other adopted children as well. After some years in St. Augustine Terry decided he wanted to try something new. He says his dad counseled him against going to Atlanta and against marrying and he wishes he'd have listened. His quote was, "as I get older I think I get dumber and my dad looks smarter and smarter." There's a lot I could tell about Terry's story, all of it interesting. When he was a teenager a traveling evangelist introduced him to Jesus and he was instantly interested, he says. He began going to church but after a few years got burned by some people at a church. He was homeless and travelling and he went to several churches in that time and was shunned, actually asked to leave at one church. He hasn't been in church for more than two years. Yet, he said, he reads his Bible every day. Now usually I would think someone who says that in Terry's position is feeding me a line. But not Terry. Over the course of our three+ hours together Terry quoted scripture from at least fifteen different books of the Bible and talked about what they'd meant in his life. It was really an amazing evening. We called around for bus stations and decided that Lake City, Florida, just south of the I-10/ I-75 junction that heads east to Jacksonville was a good place. There weren't any buses until today so we paid for a cheap motel, gave him money for a bus ticket today, exchanged contact info and said goodbye.

If you're reading this and it touches you, pray for Terry. He also asked that we pray for his ex-wife, Tasha. So, I will. Thanks for staying in touch. Look forward to hearing from you all.

-joel

Joel - you can give your mama a scare picking up hitchhikers, if it wasn't for the fact that I know you bathe each of those decisions in prayer and will trust God to protect you from those that might do you and Jen harm. I am always proud to hear of your stepping out in faith and being willing to reach out to your fellow man. We had a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa Parmenter as they came to B'ham after the reunion. We visited the Civil Rights museum downtown and ate at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which inspired the book / movie Fried Green Tomatoes. It is just 10 minutes from our house and serves the FG Tomatoes as well as other fantastic comfort down home cookin food. I will pray for you as you preach this Sunday - what a great opportunity. Love, MamaLinda  

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