Perspective

Honestly, it took me about an hour to admit the value of this episode.

Last week we took our car to the shop for the 150,000 mile check. The brakes were good, the serpentine belt was fine, the shocks were good. Everything checked out fine. Well, almost everything. I had a screw embedded in my right rear tire. The mechanic where we took the car didn’t do tires, so we headed to Les Schwab for their Free Flat Repair. (Note: This situation has been resolved, but it’s still a good object lesson story).

They pulled the tire. The mechanic came to me: “I can’t fix your flat. There’s not enough tread left and the patch won’t hold.” I knew the tires were close to needing replaced. “What I can do is sell you a used tire. It’ll get you along for a few days.” $40. I told him to go ahead. He came back a few minutes later. “I can’t sell you one tire. You have All-Wheel Drive. I have to sell you four matching tires. I only have one used one.” We went to look at prices. Now, when we bought the vehicle we didn’t realize that: 1) it has 17 inch tires, and 2) 17 inch tires are expensive. Four tires, mounted and balanced: $908.20.

As calmly and as pleasantly as I could, I told him to put on the donut spare.

As I drove away from Les Schwab, I was angry. Furious. Livid. I was supposed to meet the rest of the family at a small mall for coffee. I was not in the mood for that, but I had no choice. Sitting, drinking coffee, I was like a little black storm cloud. I was not at all pleasant to be around. We got up and went to look at a decorative fountain while Andrea did some window shopping. As I was standing, seething, drinking my coffee, a homeless woman walked up.

“Are you having a good day sir?” Making only limited eye contact I answered, “No, quite frankly, I’m not.” I had hoped that would deter her from sticking around… it didn’t. She proceeded to chat with me, telling me some of her life. She was pleasant and articulate, but I was simply not in the mood. I didn’t even really pretend to listen. But then our eyes met. She smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said, “But you love God, don’t you. And you know that God loves you, and that God is going to take care of whatever you need.”

Seriously, God? I thought. Really? You decided to send a homeless woman who has almost nothing but her faith to remind me of mine? For the past forty five minutes or so, I had been telling myself (unconvincingly) it could be worse. I was hard pressed to define how, but I suppose I was trying. Then, I was offered perspective from a woman who has far less than I do.

Throughout the journey of the past year, God has repeatedly found ways to provide for us when we needed it most, and it’s usually come from unexpected and unlikely sources. But I suppose that’s where God does the best work; in those times and those areas where it’s obvious that we have nothing to do with it. Those times and those areas where we can’t claim any credit.

I look at where we are and what we need to make it to Thailand. I look at where we are and what we need to make it through the next few days and weeks. And I have no idea how that’s going to happen. But for some inexplicable reason – no… it’s not inexplicable, it’s from experience – I know that we’re going to get what we need, when we need it. And like it always happens, we’re probably going to receive a new perspective from an unlikely source.