The Man with A Sign (Part 2)

It’s An Encounter:

This Wednesday morning, the words on the sign spoke to Merilyn and actually caused her to slow down and digest every word carefully. Well actually, the sign and the accident that happened right in front of her caused her to slow down.

A car from the left lane took a lame chance of entering the right lane too quickly and ended up causing an accident. The manner in which the driver in the Honda was pushed to the curb scared Merilyn.

I need to help that driver! she unfastened her seat belt immediately.

Turning off her engine, she carefully got out and headed over to the driver who had just been hit. I hope he’s ok, she prayed.

Dialing 911 as she walks over, she gives the location of the accident.

“The driver is alive, though not looking good” She confirmed to the 911 operator. ‘What a crazy morning,’ Merilyn sighed in relief after hanging up. Looking around, Merilyn caught sight of the man with the sign who usually stood nearby. He was there quite alright, a few feet from the spot of accident. Thankfully he was ok, but his sign looked different today and she couldn’t ignore the words. Merilyn read the words on the sign, “ARE YOU SERVING GOD OR THE DEVIL, COME TO JESUS TODAY, JESUS SAVES.”

Stunned, Merilyn looked around at the drivers passing by. She felt sorry for those that might find this offensive.

“This is one radical child of God,” Merilyn baffled at the mans’ sign.

As she continued her drive to work, the words on the sign kept replaying on her mind and she wondered what it could mean to her. She pondered what prompted the man to consistently stand on the bridge with the word of God. A very un-strategic place to stand if he was looking for money. On a second thought, he might not be there to ask for something, but to give.

***

Liam took a couple days off from work after the accident. He wasn’t sure why his heart was heavy on empty thought. ‘Could this be as a result of the accident or the events that followed?’ He couldn’t seem to get the man with the sign off his mind. For some reasons he could not understand, his curiosity on Christianity spiked. He couldn’t speak to anyone about this because he was surrounded by atheist. Heck, he was the one at the fore front of leading people to atheism. He is a social media influencer on Atheism. How dare he be curious about what he doesn’t believe in?

Liam picked up his laptop and began typing, ‘why do Christians believe in Jesus? His research began. As he dug deeper, he realized there was no turning back from the hole he just dug for himself. Nothing will undo everything he is reading; his mind will be forever haunted and his sleep interrupted with voices and images he can’t fight off.

 Aaah! I hate you for bringing this much frustration to my life. Liam cursed at the very thought of the man on the bridge.

How many people has he done this to? Liam wondered. He must have destroyed many people’s lives this entire summer, just by standing on the bridge with that sign. The next time I see him, I have a word or two to say to him. that decision was for sure. The one he wasn’t sure of was why he couldn’t stop reading the articles he found on Jesus.

As Liam drove to work in a rental car, he slowed down as he approached Quinn-Holmes bridge. His heart started racing in anxiety. He tried to shake it off knowing he was approaching the scene of the accident. It was normal to feel scared that something would happen again.

Of course, something did happen,

.

.

.

again.

Woah! Liam exclaimed in shock and stepped on the brake quickly.

The driver in front of him threw a bunch of things out of his window at the man with a sign. Things that could have hurt him. What did the driver do that for? Liam questioned angrily. He didn’t want anyone damaging the rental car he is now using while waiting for his car to be fixed.

There must be some bad omen on this road. He looked around to see the man with the sign laughing and looking all happy.

“Praise God! Thank you very much,” the man said and kept waving at the driver who drove away.

This man is crazy! Liam baffled at the man’s response to the assault. ‘What in the world is making him so happy?’

Liam continued his research for days. Everyone around him knew something about him has changed, and they all felt sorry for him reasoning it was caused by the accident.

***

“You need to slow down Merilyn, take a moment to breathe. Taking time off from work to rest or spend time with your family is not a crime, Kingston begged his wife. You are putting in too much time and energy to this job, at the expense of your health and the wellbeing of your family.

Realizing he was venting a little, he slowed down and moved closer to her. ‘It’s frustrating to see how drained you look when you get home late at night.’ He said softly. You don’t even join us for dinner anymore. Your excuse is always something regarding your work.”

Kingston hoped to win the debate that morning. He constantly gave his wife reasons to take a break or work less hours, but she didn’t consider anything he was saying. She kept on getting her things ready for work without saying a word.

“You know if you don’t go there for a few days, the company won’t shut down. Kingston assured her.  They will work around your absence.”

With a frustrated sigh, Merilyn stopped by the bedside.

“I know that Kay, Merilyn said before bending to tie her shoe lace, being committed at work might not be a crime, but as the manager of my department, I always have to make sure everything is in order and no one is stranded if they need anything.

‘Aren’t there other people that can do what you do?’ Kingston insisted

“I AM THE MANAGER, she responded in affirmation. My team can only do so much when I’m not there. They’re still going to need me.”

‘That’s what you think, but they can do without you.’ Kingston replied firmly.

“Excuse me? Merilyn flung her hair around to face her husband. Are you trying to get me out of my job? Am I not contributing to the wellbeing of this family?”

Kingston regretted his choice of words. He could hear the bitterness in her voice and he immediately corrected himself.

‘I meant to say, they can wait till you get back. You can’t solve all the problem in one day. I just want you to come back home after 8hrs of work, not eleven hours.’ With that, he dropped the discussion. It baffled him how he could complain about something over and over, yet Merilyn could not reason with him or care about his feeling and that of the kids. When she’s stressed out, the family is stressed to, but it looks like she is the only one that doesn’t seem to understand. Many times, he’d come up with ideas to take some time from work to enjoy their little family, Merilyn would always have an excuse and begged to postpone.

‘Even though I work also, he said. I don’t ignore my family and you shouldn’t either. If we don’t work together and do things in understanding, then we are headed down the wrong path.’ With that, he left the bedroom.

Merilyn picked up her bag and followed him.

“We don’t have the same job responsibilities at our respective places of work, Merilyn spat the words out. Yours might not be demanding, but mine is.”

 She stormed out of the house and started her drive to work.

Hugh! she let out a frustrated sigh and gladly breathed in the fresh summer air. ‘Finally, some peace and quiet.’ Why does Kingston keep doing this? He knows as the only female manager, I need to work extra hard to get past all the discrimination.

Opening up the Pandora app, she refreshed her mind with some gospel songs to get her in the right mood for the day. A little relaxed after a some of minutes, she drives carefully over the Quinn-Holmes bridge and smiled at the man holding the sign on the bridge. Merilyn admired the man for standing there every morning, encouraging people with the word. She and her family are Christians and anything for the kingdom of God is admirable.

Today, the man was holding his old sign that read, HONK FOR THE LORD, GOD IS GOOD.

Again, Merilyn thought, Yes, God is good… but honk? Hmmm… I don’t want other people to feel bad about my honk which would seem for no reason to them. I admire what he’s doing but I’m not just moved to pressing the horn.

Then she questions herself. ‘Am I embarrassed of the gospel? Why don’t I honk? Why am I ashamed or afraid to show people that I’m connected to this man through Christ?’

With no answer to give herself, she drove by doing the same thing she does every day- no honk.

Like other days at work, Merilyn’s boss asks her to prepare a financial plan for a new product launch and to have it ready before she leaves work. It was already 1.30pm and before she couldn’t source for all the information she needed, it will be pretty late and this would be another day of getting home late and missing dinner at 7pm.

On impulse, she started preparing the plan. With some anxiety, she wondered, “Is there no other way of gaining the respect and stability I need in my career? why am I doing so much to please man at my expense? who am I serving?”

The last few words rang a bell, she heard it somewhere… yes, that was the question written on the man’s sign on the bridge a week ago. She felt empowered by the words, knowing that she serves the one and only true God.

‘That sign must be changing more than one person’s life’, she said.

THAT’S IT. The man on the bridge is bold enough to stand there in warmth and cold to give people words of peace every morning. Why can’t I be bold and steadfast where God has placed me?

Walking in determination, Merilyn heads to her boss’ office.

‘Hi Mike,’ she began, forgetting her sweaty hands when she gets nervous.

 “I started looking into the financial plan for the new product and to have everything accurately planned out, I will need till Friday to have it ready for you. I will have my team work as fast as they can to put the presentation together.”

‘Ok, sounds like a plan,’ Mike smiled at her and got back to what he was doing.

Merilyn was literarily blown away. What?  All I needed was to speak up?

She left Mike’s office and gathered her team for a quick meeting, informing them of the task at hand. It felt good sharing responsibilities, breaking down plans and brainstorming with what the team came up with. In a couple of hours, they were ready to wrap up their presentation the next day.

“That’s what I call a productive day,” she winked at them as they all left work for the day. It was the best day in a long time because she didn’t have to do everything alone to prove she is the capable.

“Today was different, but in a good way. I want all days to be like this.”

She got home early enough to get things done in the house including dinner.

“Did something happen at work?” her husband asked nervously, knowing how late she gets home.

“Nothing happened.” Merilyn replied with a smile as she set down the bowl of gravy on the dining table, looking at her daughters and to her husband.

“God reminded me that as long as I serve him, he will make the burden easy.” That’s all she was willing to explain at that moment.

All forms of emotions rushed over Kingston. He didn’t know the exact feeling to express as he sat there looking at his wife like he just met her again, years backward. Whatever happened today, one thing was for sure. His wife had an encounter with God.

Like what you’re reading? Subscribe below to get a new inspiring story like this one directly to your inbox