The Conversation

The other day I met a nice older gentleman in the building where I work. We have a bank on the first floor so I went down during my lunch break to make a deposit. When the elevator door opened, I saw a man sitting on the bench in the foyer.  (I'm going to call him Bert.) We smiled at each other and then I went in the bank. On my way out, I noticed that he was still there. We smiled again and then I pushed the elevator button to go back upstairs.

I didn't want to be rude so I turned around and said hi. Bert and I started talking. He mentioned how nice it was in Baldwin County. He had just moved from Birmingham and said things were really bad there. I told him that my mom lived in Montgomery. He then started telling me about getting robbed recently. The elevator door opened and then closed. We kept talking.

Bert's first comment was about the news article reporting that he was eighty years old. I asked him if that was true.  He said yes. (Bert did not look eighty. He could have passed for sixty any day.) Bert continued his story.

Bert had recently purchased a storage container in a building in Birmingham. One morning he went to the building to check on the container. A young man approached him and then pulled out a gun to rob him. Bert told the young man to go ahead and kill him but to think about it first. Would he rather go to jail for robbery or murder? The young man must have decided robbery because instead of shooting Bert, he locked him in the storage container.

While Bert is telling me his story, several people are coming through the foyer going to the bank or upstairs. The elevator opens and closes a few times. Bert keeps talking.

There was not much space in the container. Bert said it was dark and he could barely move. After a day or two had passed, he decided it was time to talk with God. He could tell that the air was getting scarce in the container and it was getting harder to breathe. He asked God for one more big breath. He didn't want to die like this but wanted to have at least one more big breath before the air ran out. As soon as he finished praying, Bert said he felt a big rush of wind. He said it felt like a strong wind during a storm. I could see that Bert knew that God had answered his prayer and saved his life. I told him that God had other plans for him. He agreed.

Bert has a daughter in the area and moved to Baldwin County to be near her and get away from Birmingham. He was at the bank taking care of his financial business. One of the guys from my office came in and pushed the elevator button. I told Bert goodbye because it was time to get back upstairs. He told me to tell my mother hello.

I went upstairs and searched for an article on al.com about an eighty year old man getting robbed in Birmingham. I found it right away. He was robbed and locked up on Saturday and his son found him on Tuesday.

As I was talking with Bert, I was wondering why I met him. I think it was to share his story with you. God answered Bert's prayer and saved him. He can do the same for you and me.