Carla and I received an unexpected gift Monday evening. We had a flat
tire. Oh…you don't think that would be a nice gift? Well…it actually
turned out to be several gifts. We had spent the afternoon visiting family
and were nearing home after a 40 mile drive. The tire waited until just
outside of Sycamore to go down. And it didn't blow all at once…took about
a mile to slowly deflate. Traffic was light, and we were near a very nice
pull-off where we could park well away from the highway. Dusk was still an
hour away. It never crossed our minds that we could have been in danger
until after we had parked and called our insurance company's roadside
assistance. Aren't all those things good gifts?
Cell phones are a great gift, too. One short call put us on the schedule
for help to arrive in a promised 45 minutes. It really only took a half
hour. Another call to our son eased our only real concern: our four-legged
friend was overdue for her supper and even more overdue for her
"necessary" trip to the backyard. He gave the gift of his time and help,
driving first to our house to tend the puppy, then the couple miles out to
wait with us for the tire to be changed. He followed us home to be sure
the spare held. (The only other time we have needed that spare, it went
flat as soon as the car began to move.) This time the spare was good…we
made it home and to the repair shop the next day.
There was gift in the kindness of a stranger turning his car around to
come back with an offer to help.
One of the best gifts of the evening was the half hour we got to spend
with each other. Sure, we had just driven nearly an hour together, but
time together has a different quality when everything around you stops.
More to be treasured. Kind of like when the electricity fails and the
house is suddenly completely silent. And we agreed neither of us would
have appreciated the event if we had experienced it alone. Being together
is a gift.
Our flat tire was a gift, also, to the service man that came to our aid.
He shared that he had just completed training for this job, and we were
his first call. He did his work fine, and seemed to genuinely enjoy it. I
had wondered if I shouldn't just change the tire myself, but we carry the
insurance for such events, and given the uncertainty about our spare, the
call for help seemed the right choice. We were especially happy that our
problem helped this man get started in his new job.
Now, we aren't always like Disney's Pollyanna, quick to look for the good
in every situation. But Monday, we could see it. All in all, our flat tire
gave us an hour or so of the unexpected in our schedule. If it had caught
us in a different mood, or on a tighter time schedule, we might not have
received it as the many gifts it was. Every day brings its share of
interruptions to our life. Can we see God's blessing in each one?
Ron Vanatta
Coming up at Salem:
Midweek cookout and study on "Receiving God's Gift of Time" continues
Wednesdays at 6. All are welcome. Come to one or all sessions.
Vacation Bible School next week, July 12 thru 16.
No comments:
Post a Comment