Stone Pillar

     We did not erect a pillar of stone by the side of the road between Townsend and Toston, simply because we did not have time, but what happened to us there was every bit as memorable as was Jacob's vision at Bethel on his stone pillow. Afraid and homesick, Jacob was alone in the wilderness where his own sin had placed him. At that moment, few people could be less deserving than Jacob of his vision of a stairway to heaven, but God met him there, and that vision must have sustained him through long, weary years of waiting to go home. That stretch of I-287 is straight, but for our lives it was a turning point.
     A year ago our youngest son's DUI accident exposed years of addiction, and we had been praying since then for him to be willing to go to inpatient rehab. That prayer was answered last Wednesday when he came over drunk and desperate. I immediately called Rimrock in Billings, which has a good reputation and was recommended by Tracy's DUI attorney. They set up an intake appointment for him on Friday afternoon.  The closer we got to Billings, the more anxious Tracy became, so we stopped by the side of the road between Townsend and Toston to let him smoke and pace. Tracy sat in the grass smoking, I stood beside him, hand on his shoulder, trying to encourage him. Our children were raised in a Christian home, church and school, but Tracy's faith had wavered since his mid teens. He said, "I will never believe in God because I can't see him, and He can't see me." I prayed again, as I had so often, "Help Tracy to see that you are real, and you are good."
     At that very moment a car pulled up behind ours on the side of the road. It had government plates. We were afraid we were in some sort of trouble for parking there. The driver got out and began to talk to Reed. He asked Tracy if he was a veteran because he was a counselor for veterans. Ryan told us he passed us while heading the other way to a meeting in Helena. He said he was a Christian and God told him to turn around and go talk to us. He had an important meeting to attend, but he knew it wasn't as important as doing what God prompted him to. He encouraged Tracy about rehab, gave us his card and prayed with us. We were all crying because we knew God had sent Ryan at just that moment to show Tracy that He was real and that He loved him, loved us. Tracy said, "I will never doubt there is a God again, because of what He did for me today." We left that roadside different people than when we had pulled over. God had met us there, in that place of desperation, between Townsend and Toston.
     Reed and I have been Christians nearly 50 years, we knew God was real, but we never had, or ever expected to have, an experience where God so directly intervened in our lives. It is the kind of thing you hear about, but never experience. Angels are Gods' messengers, and since Ryan acted as God's messenger that day, I will always think of him as Ryan, the Angel. I wish we had noted the mile marker before we pulled out, but we were too stunned to do so. Ten days later, on the way to visit Tracy, we pulled over at the most likely spot and set up a pillar of  four stones. One each for Reed, Tracy and I, and a small heart-shaped stone for God, because that deserted spot is where God showed Himself to a desperate, fearful young man in the place where sin had brought him. And that glimpse of God will sustain us through the years ahead, as we wait to go home.