Worth Stopping For

A few weeks ago, I pulled off the highway onto an exit that was several lanes wide. There was a car in the lane next to me that had their hazard lights on, and a woman was outside the car looking distressed. I was in the middle lane during a busy hour with seemingly no way to pull out of the way of other cars but turned on my hazards and stopped. I saw there was a child in the backseat looking at me with a scared expression and I asked the woman: “Are you ok?” She in a distressed tone said someone had hit the back of her car and driven off without stopping. 

Here I was stopping, but the cars all around me were getting annoyed, honking and I felt the pressure to move. I said to her how awful that was and looked at the child with an expression of “I see you there.” And felt moved for them yet moved on with the honks behind me and green light. I had this knot in my stomach that I should not have driven off and turned around at the next light. I made my game plan to stop on the street nearby the exit, so that I would not block traffic and be able to help make the next steps in view of other people at the same time. When I went back, the car was no longer there. I looked for it in both directions at every possible safe spot to pull off the street. I searched both ways within reasonable distance and she was nowhere to be found. I thought to myself how I wish I would have just let those cars honk and stopped for her. She was worth stopping for.

As I was driving, I prayed for them and felt so sad that they had been wronged by being hit and not stopped for, but then people kept not stopping. In the rush of the holidays, in the traffic, in the bubble of own lives people were not stopping. I told God that if I saw another car like that and had that feeling in my stomach that I would stop for that person despite the pressure of cars around me. Sure enough, the next day I was at a busy intersection and there was another car with hazard lights and a young lady inside. “Are you ok?” I asked concerned and she responded with wide eyes surprised and said: “Wow, thank you people have been passing me and honking, but I am out of gas. I have someone coming to bring it to me.” I told her that was good that she had help on the way and I very meaningfully said: “You are worth stopping for.” And she grinned at me and said: “Thank you!” with a perked-up spirit. I drove away thankful for the redo I was now ready for. 

I wish I could have said that to the other person, too. If I had the chance I would have liked to say: “You are worth stopping for.” I would have liked to help her in the distress to call the right numbers and find a way to pull to the side. I wish I could tell her: “I looked for you.”