I’ll never forget the story of how my neighbor, Ben Martin, came to help my mother one fall evening on our Oklahoma farm. I’m forever thankful to him… and to the mysterious ways that brought him there.
The sun was going down, the weather was turning cold. Ben had driven into town that day to pick up his mail. From there, he intended to continue on to Tulsa, 55 miles away, to see a show.
Ben pointed his pickup toward the highway. But just before he reached the on-ramp, the strongest feeling came over him. You’re needed back home, a voice whispered in his head. The voice was out of the ordinary, so insistent, that he obeyed it unquestioningly and turned around.
He turned onto the rural, two-lane road that led past our cattle ranch and then on to his, not knowing what to expect. The road seemed deserted. Then ahead, he spotted a blue pickup. He recognized it as my mom’s. It was parked just inside the gate that led to our property. She was leaning against the pickup, waving. As he passed, he yelled, “Hi, Pearle!” and waved back.
Ben continued up the road toward his ranch. But that strange feeling came over him, again. Go back and visit with Pearle. He made yet another U-turn.
When he got to her driveway, he saw the truck was still by the gate, but my mom wasn’t standing by it. She was lying on the ground beside it. Now he understood something was wrong—she was in pain.
“What happened?” he asked, running to her.
“I’m so glad you came back!” she said. “I got out to open the gate, but forgot to put the truck in park. It rolled backwards and hit me. I had just managed to pull myself up and was praying for help when you drove by.”
Ben picked her up and drove her to the hospital, eight miles away. Turned out she had a crushed pelvis and a broken leg.
Several months passed. Once again, the mysterious voice told Ben to visit Mom.
He found her feeling fine and in good spirits.
“You don’t even walk with a limp,” he said.
“Well, I can when I want to,” she joked.
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