輕舟一葉
小楫輕舟，夢入芙蓉浦。
昨晚收到雪城舊日好友Grace (葛蕾絲) 寄給我的故事，看了很感動，遂翻譯她的文，並與大家分享：
我下午5點會議後開車回家路上，被困在科羅拉多大道，車子開始出毛病，接著車死了- 我勉強將車滑開到一個加油站，慶幸我的車沒有堵塞交通，我也至少在一個較暖和的地方等待拖車。我打電話給拖車公司之前，看見一個女士走出“簡便小商場”的門，她似乎踩到冰塊，滑倒在加油管邊。我走過去看看她是否OK.
當我到那兒，她滿是泣淚，摔跤倒是小事；她是個年輕的女子，看上去相當憔悴，眼睛下麵滿是黑圈。她掉了東西在地上，我撿起來，給了她。是一枚5分甭幣。那一刻，所有我看見的都匯集了起來：哭泣的女子，老式的“郊野”舊車裝滿了雜貨，車裏有三個孩子（其中一個坐在小孩車椅上），油價標有“4.95美金（一加侖）”
我問她好不好，並問她是否需要幫助，她隻是不斷地說：“我不想讓我的孩子看到我在哭。”於是我們站在車子油箱的另一邊。她說她去加利福尼亞州，目前情形很艱難。我問她：“你禱告了嗎？”她退了一步，我確信地告訴她，我不是頭腦有問題的人，我說：“祂聽到了，祂差我來。”
我拿出我的信用卡，在油管信用卡機刷了卡，這樣她能夠將車油加滿。她加油時，我到隔壁的麥當勞買了兩大包食物，和一些可以買更多食物的禮品卷，以及一大杯咖啡。她把食物給車裏的孩子，孩子們立刻如狼似的吞吃起來。我們在油管旁吃薯條攀談。她告訴我她的名字，她住在肯薩斯市。兩個月前她的男朋友離開她後，一直入不敷出。她1月1日將沒有錢付房租。最終沒有辦法，她打電話求助父母，她與父母已5年沒有通過話。她父母住在加利福尼亞州，他們讓她搬到加州一起住到她能自立。於是她裝了行李到車上，告訴孩子們他們去加州過聖誕節，但是沒有說他們將住那兒。
我給了她我的手套，一個小擁抱，並和她做了安全行車的快禱。當我走回自己車子時，她說：“對了，你是一個天使還是什麽？”這句話讓我動容，我說：“寶貝，目前這個年頭天使很忙，所以，有時候上帝用普通的人。”
能夠成為他人的奇跡真讓我難以置信。當然，你也許猜到了，當我回到我的車上時，我立即開動了車，一路沒有出問題地平安到家。明天我將把車開到車行檢查，我猜想修車員不會發現什麽問題。
有時天使飛得離你很近，你能夠聽到他們振翅的聲音。。。。。。
詩篇55：22有雲：“你要把你的重擔卸給耶和華，他必撫養你，他永不叫義人動搖。”
Grace (葛蕾絲) 寄給我的故事英文原文如下：
I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the 'quickie mart ' building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.
When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than
that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard， with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel. At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.
I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept
saying, 'I don't want my kids to see me crying,' so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, 'He heard you, and He sent me.'
I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fuelling, I walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little. She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City. Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet.
She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan 1, and finally in desperation had called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there. So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.
I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you like an angel or something?' This definitely made me cry. I said, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.'
It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course,you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.
Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings...
Psalms 55:22 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.'
Thanks hairycat. I like your personality - naughty, mischievous, out spoken, straight forward, caring... We're somewhat alike...:-)