Sharing A Blessing

Good Morning!

I want to share a blessing I received Friday.

Have you ever pulled into your parking space and realized that one of your tires is going flat? Well, this happened to me Friday. I cannot say for certain but I believe that somewhere on I-285 between I-75 and the Powers Ferry Landing exit, I ran over some debris left from last week’s snow / ice storm. The result was a cut in my left rear tire … and subsequently that deflating feeling when you realize your tire is going flat.

It was 21 degrees when I stepped out of my car at approximately 5:45 a.m. So I opted to wait until the temperature climbed above freezing to deal with the flat. I finally got out to my car around noon … and sure enough, the tire was very flat. So I pulled out the instruction book (this is the first flat I have had to deal with on the Hyundai), read the instructions, pulled out the “doughnut”, the jack, and the lug wrench. I made several vain efforts at loosening the lugs … but the lugs had been put on by Paul Bunyan and I couldn’t make them budge an inch. My only option – so I thought – was to call a tire repair shop. I decided to stop by the building manager’s office to inquire if they knew of a local repair shop ... and this is where the blessing began. Well, actually the blessing began with me being able to get to work before the tire went flat … so this is where the blessing continued.

I have been an employee of ING for forty three years plus. Years ago, when the building manager was in high school, he came to work at Life of Georgia in the data processing department. My job was to train him how to sort punch cards; collate punch cards; and move the jobs along. Ken and I have been friends ever since … even though he has progressed further in the ranks than I. So Ken said that he might have a four-way lug wrench. We went down to the caverns of the building and got the tools we needed. Ken broke the lugs loose and helped tightened them up for me. He then insisted on checking the air pressure in the doughnut – it was low – and had me follow him into the garage to get compressed air. So I was set. But the blessings had not stopped …

We don’t often realize it but it really is unsafe to ride above fifty miles an hour on a doughnut. The tire is much smaller than a standard tire and has less stopping capacity. I knew I was more than thirty miles away from my tire shop … and I wanted to go to my tire shop. So I worried about having to travel down I-75 on that doughnut. I shouldn’t have … there was a huge traffic jam and we never got above fifty miles an hour. Coincidentally, of course. But the blessings weren’t done yet.

I got to the tire shop and was immediately ushered into a bay. As suspected, the tire was history – but a used one only cost $37. I was in and out within twenty minutes on a busy Friday afternoon.

It would be easy to count all of the events of Friday as just good fortune … but I don’t think I can do that. You see, my Heavenly Father knows me and how I worry about these little things. I fretted over changing the tire and the expense. I was provided a Good Samaritan to help me in my time of need. I worried over the rate of speed. I got a traffic jam – if you were in it, I’m sorry. I steeled myself to another January expense … and received only a small touch. So when I say “ain’t God good”, I really mean it.

1 Peter 5:6-8 (English Standard Version)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
This is a great verse for me to learn…

Agape’


Mr. Jim