“Does anyone know how to break into a car?!?”
by Carolyn Green, long-suffering wife of Emmaus founder 🙂
Prior to moving to Ohio over seven years ago, my family and I lived in a condo that shared the parking lot with the building that housed Emmaus Ministries.
One summer day, I had just returned from taking my two young children with me on an errand. The baby, Daniel, had fallen asleep on the way home. I decided to let him sleep a few extra minutes while I got my toddler, Jonathan, into the house. When I returned to get Daniel I realized, to my horror, that I had locked my keys in the car.
And it was hot. Sweltering.
The last of the air-conditioned coolness had dissipated and little Daniel slept on as the moist heat began to dampen his soft baby hair. A bead of sweat trickled past his ear. I had to get him out of there immediately.
I suddenly realized that my little community of people across the parking lot might be able to help me. I sprinted across the parking lot and burst into the Emmaus Ministry Center.
“Does anyone know how to break into a car?!?”
Several hands shot up and one guy stood and said, “Oh, I’ll help you, Carolyn. It’s easy.”
He grabbed a coat hanger and began straightening it as we speed-walked to the mini-van.
He put both hands on the passenger-side window and shimmied it down a fraction of an inch.
“See, you don’t really need that much” he instructed as I watched. “Just a crack so you can get the wire through.”
A tiny space appeared at the top of the window and my friend slipped the straightened-out hanger into the crack, then straight town to punch the unlock button.
“OH, THANK YOU!” I said, opening the door and retrieving the sweaty, startled-awake five-month-old.
My Emmaus savior assured me it was no problem. “Anytime,” he said, and sauntered back to the Ministry Center, tossing the wire in the dumpster
Emmaus is about moving from old, bad habits, to new, healthy, Christ-centered ones.
But I’m still grateful to God for the day I was rescued by a friend who knew how to break into a car. Next time I call the locksmith.