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What goes around comes around.
And Roberta, a farm wife living outside Miller, South Dakota,
certainly knows this to be true. She had taken a quick trip into
Miller one morning, and was rushing home to get the noon meal on
the table for the workmen. As she drove, she was also keeping an
eye out for her father, who lived alone and had emphysema.
"He didn't drive much except for the twelve miles out to
our farm," she says, "so I always knew that if he
needed help on the road, one of our neighbors would probably see
him and stop." But it was still a worry for her, and she
often prayed for his safety.
There was no sign of Roberta's
father's car. Instead, up ahead, she saw another vehicle stopped
at the side of the road, a man peering into the engine. "I
was in a hurry, and although I always help people I know, this
man was a stranger," Roberta says. She should have kept
going, especially since the area was deserted. Yet something
told her to stop. So she did.
The driver was having trouble
with his battery, so Roberta drove to a neighboring farm,
borrowed booster cables, drove back, and got the car going.
"This is wonderful," the driver thanked her and
reached for his wallet.
"Could I...?"
"No payment
necessary,"
Roberta smiled, getting back in her car.
"Just return this favor by helping the next person you find
stalled along a road."
"I certainly will!"
The man waved as she pulled out.
Two weeks later, Roberta's
father phoned, with an interesting story to tell. "I went
to an auction about fifty miles southwest of here..." he
began.
"Fifty miles!"
Roberta was aghast. "Dad, you never drive that far
alone!"
"...And I got a flat tire
on the way home."
By now Roberta was in a panic.
The area he was describing was a back country road, with little
or no chance of anyone coming by. Nor could her father have
changed his own tire, weakened as he was. "What
happened?" she asked.
"You wouldn't believe it.
A nice motorist came along right away, and changed my tire. But
when I offered to pay him, he said no. Seems a woman outside of
Miller had given him a battery jump two weeks ago, and told him
to pass on the favor. He was paying a debt to her."
Roberta felt love surrounding
her like a hug. "I think God knew Dad was going to do that,
and so He arranged a rescue ahead of time," she says.
"I look for evidence of His presence all the time--and I
always find it."
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