I hadn't seen the driver offering to take me back to Knoxville before I replied "Yes". I after I agreed to take the ride, both Randy and the other utility worker gave me a strange look. One like, "Are you serious?" Given they had both talked to and seen the driver I started to wonder. Next thing I knew, a fellow popped out of the green GMC pickup and introduced himself as James. Then I understood the look. James wasn't a person you probably would choose to hang out with every day. In fact, he would probably be someone like the good Samaritan from the Bible. Someone who is ostracized and somewhat an outcast in society. He was about 5'5" with what is best described as a wiry frame. His hair style was exactly like the caveman in the Geico commercials. He was missing probably a third of his teeth and the remaining were crooked, stained yellow and covered with plaque.

What he lacked in looks he sure made up for in personality and friendliness. He worked really hard to hook-up my car and I was impressed. But as he was getting things ready to attach my car, Randy, the older and probably wiser utility worker, quietly came over to me. He calmly pointed out an obvious question to me that never crossed my mind. He said, "You might want to see how much money James wants to tow you back before he hooks up your car."

Duh! I should have thought of that. I asked and James replied, "Whatever you want is fine." "Ok" I replied, "I'll fill-up your truck if that is ok." He agreed and we continued to hook things up.

It took a while to finish hooking up my car because James's car dolly was so old. It was while he was working on it Randy came over gave me another obvious suggestion. I probably should call my dad and let him know what was going on. Yet another "duh" moment. So I called my parents and let them know I was getting a tow back and my car had broken down. I conveniently left out all the details of my ride because I didn't want them to worry.

After about 15 minutes or so, we got it all attached and ready to tow. Right before we were ready to leave though, Randy discretely approached me again except this time with concern in his voice. He said very quietly as he handed my his business card, "If you wouldn't mind, give me a call once you get back to your dad. I would really appreciate it. I've written my personal cellphone number on this card and it would make me feel a lot better knowing you got back safe."

Up until that point I really hadn't considered there was any danger in what I was doing. I had complete and utter peace. Some might call it naivety but I knew God had provided for me this ride home and I had nothing to fear. It was an affirmation of things I've been learning since the previous November. How to live completely in today without thought or worry. But that lesson is a story for another time. All I knew is I had nothing to fear despite the external circumstances which had Randy so worried.

Despite my feelings of confidence, I gladly agreed to call Randy and let him know when I got home. How could I do anything else for a man who had taken such great interest in me?

Well, it was time to leave. I said goodbye and thanks to Randy and his co-worker and as I approached James's truck when I noticed for the first tome some other things. Things that Randy had already noticed.

I first noticed the bed of James's truck was filled with random junk you might find on the side of the road. Stuff collected probably to sell for cash. The cab was a king cab and the area behind the bench seat was filled with all sorts of junk. The only thing that looked useful was a suitcase behind the drivers side squished down on top of everything.

The bench seat was covered with random items. There was a car radio lying bare in the middle of the seat. There were wires running from it to a speaker on the middle of the floorboard and to the cigarette lighter. There were two loaves of white bread, one half eaten where I was to sit and a 6-pack of Coke on the seat next to them. As with behind the seat, there was trash everywhere. Trash on the seat, on top of the dashboard and on the floor. By this time it had only been about 30 mins since I had pulled over and I was optimistic I would be home before dark. Little did I know . . .

So, I hopped into the truck and just as we were getting on the interstate, my car shifted backwards on the old car dolly and we heard this terrible scraping sound. We pulled off to see what we could do. As it turned out, one of the straps James used to "secure" my car to the dolly left a lot to be desired. It was frayed and well used. It was the culprit that allowed my car to shift and was the focus of James's energy. He fiddled with it and worked it until it appeared to hold but that was only after attaching a come along winch to James's truck and the frame of my car. It was the only way we could keep the dolly from scraping the road.

Well, we were off again and this time without a problem. Only 50 miles to go. Yep, might still make it before dark or so I thought, that is until we had driven a few minutes on the interstate.

You see, James had bought this truck used with zero down and it had a few idiosyncrasies. The truck once had a diesel engine but had been poorly converted to a gasoline engine. Now, when I say poorly converted, I mean poorly converted. None of the gages worked on the dash (including the gas gage). The radio in the dash didn't work (explaining the one on the seat). In fact, I would only find out later how poorly it was converted.

Since I had at least 1.5 hours with James, I decided to learn a little more about him. I had an extra bottle of water in my car and figured it was the least I could offer to which James politely declined. Ok, no water. I next asked why he was headed to Knoxville to which he replied, "I'm gonna see my daughter I haven't seen in 5 years." I thought, "Wow, that is cool" when James added, "It's really hard to get across state lines when you are on parole."

Ok, that explained alot of things and for the next hour or so we had an interesting conversation about life and spiritual things. I gained insight into the perspective of a man out of jail. I learn things I've never considered and felt blessed by all the freedoms we take for granted. Traveling when we want and where we want without consideration of permission. It had been 5 years before James was able to get permission to travel to visit his daughter.

It was neat to see how excited he was to see his daughter and the sacrifice he was making to take me home. Adding at least 3 hours to his drive. About 20 miles from home we decided to fill up with gas because the last time he filled up was in Georgia. James had a good idea how much gas he had and was almost spot on with his estimate of 20 gallons.

The light was ebbing by the time we finished filling up with gas and finally got started again. As we got on the interstate, again the dolly began to scrape and we had to pull off and re-adjust the winch. It was a quick fix this time and we were off in a few minutes. I again offered James a bottle of water when he finally 'fessed, "Man, I swore off that stuff. I only drink coffee and coke." As a medical student my first thought was, "So that explains the teeth."

It was at this point when James told me another idiosyncrasy of his truck. He couldn't run the lights too long before the fuse board would overheat and the entire truck would turn off. "If it's okay with you, man, I'm gonna drive as long as I can without the lights or until I see a cop." What could I say, "No?" If I insisted he use lights the truck would turn off.

It was dusk and we were racing against the clock to see how far we could go before it was completely dark. As it turned out, the headlights weren't too much of a problem. By the time we really needed them, there were streetlights along the interstate and the distance we needed to drive on back roads was short enough to keep the truck running with head lights.

To make a long story short, James ended up taking me all the way home and only asked that I lead him back to the interstate because he couldn't read. My parents met James and my mom had the most interesting description of him. Of course I'll leave it to your imagination. I was so blessed by James that I wanted to do something in return. I was able to give him a CD testimony by Kirk Cameron and then lead him back to the interstate (using my father's car of course). Before we left though, I had one last question. "James, why did you get off at exit 49 and stop to help." James' reply was so fitting, "Well, I got off because I had to go piss and I don't really know why I stopped." His reply just continued to illustrate how God uses so many "trivial" events to orchestrate the entire adventure.

Reflecting on this experience while writing it down has really made two things stand out. First: God provides through unexpected sources. Second: Would I have done the same?

James was my own personal good samaritan. Someone I wouldn't normally associate with, someone who would be avoided by almost all of us and relegated to the background. He gave of himself to help me. He did everything for me and insisted on doing it "like my own stuff." When was the last time any of us did the same for someone else?

So often we limit God and how He can provide for us. Looking back on the situation, many trivial decisions turned out to be God provision for me. If I had filled up with gas in Chattanooga, I wouldn't have needed to shift until I was in Knoxville. I would have been a few miles from home when "floppy shifter syndrome" struck. I could have called an assortment of friends for help which would only have been a slight hassle and no big problem. If my sister had waited for me then she would have been there and most likely my family would have taken care of everything to get me home. There is nothing wrong with either of those options. I listed them, however, to illustrate who we turn to first. So often we limit God's provision to just our expectations, support circles, insurance or "AAA".

Often we limit God's provision through our prejudices and our own "holiness." We think, "There is no way God would use 'that' person to meet my need." We end up limiting God to our idea of how He should work. We finagle, manipulate, twist and try to make events meet our standards. All the while missing out on His provision and lessons for us today.

So, that leads me to finish the title of the article. A question for everyone:

"Are you better than a parolee?"