On Wednesday, I arrived in Ohio for a conference. You can read about my crazy experience upon arrival in another post.
The conference Wednesday night was amazing! I felt uplifted and refreshed. I returned to my room for the night and was able to forget about the crazy day.
Yesterday morning, I woke up and went to the morning session of the conference. The time was great and rushed past. On my way from the conference to the hotel in the early afternoon, I noticed that the short drive wasn't going to be so short. The first indication of this was the police officer on the side of the highway, lights flashing. The second indication was the long line of cars waiting to take the exit. I pulled in line and began to wait. And wait. And wait. After about ten minutes of watching traffic and seeing that the cars within the exit were not moving, I conferred with my gps on my phone and decided to take the trip up the highway to the next exit. As I took the longer roundabout way to get to the hotel, I called my mom to chat. I was explaining the highway exit situation and when I explained that I grew tired and decided to go a different way, she asked, "Didja get it fixed?"
"Get what fixed?" I asked.
"Your flat tire," she replied. When I said that I didn't have a flat tire, she was adement that I said I got a flat tire. I teased her and left it at that.
When I arrived at the hotel, I ended the call and spent my afternoon in my room and with a trip by foot to Sonic for lunch. Around 6 pm, I went out to my car to return to the evening session of the conference and when I pulled out of the parking spot, I instantly knew that something was wrong. I returned to the spot and got out of the car, and there it was...a flat tire. My front driver side tire was flat flat flat.
I messaged my pastor, who is also at the conference with me, and informed him that I wouldn't be making it to the evening session. He offered to come pick me up, but I was so flustered, I declined. I decided that I would just spend the evening working on other things in my hotel room. We did make arrangements, however, for him and another coworker/friend to come and help me.
The irony of it all was, my hotel shares a parking lot with a car garage is within sight. I called and got their hours and planned to go first thing in the morning.
Ya see, the problem wasn't just that I had a flat tire, but that my car is lacking a jack and a tire iron. So, as efficient as I am, I just simply can't change a tire without those two things. After the evening session, Tim and Matt arrived at my hotel and we got the spare on. Pastor Tim also was super kind and gave me a ride to the Starbucks down the street where I was able to get coffee and "dinner". Then, after getting it all taken care of, I resumed to my room to call it a night. I did a couple pages of scrapbooking then went to bed, reading my book that I began last weekend in Wisconsin. I said a little prayer that the tire would be an easy repair, a patch, a $12 thing.
This morning came quickly and when the alarm went off, I got up and went to get my tire fixed.
I crossed the parking lot, parked at the tire place and got out. I explained to the man working what was going on. He took a look at it and said that there was no way it could be repaired. He said something about the crack between the tread and led me inside to another worker at the desk to get the process of a new tire in motion. It was there that I learned that my car has "H directional" tires. Obviously that is important. And they didn't have any in stock. So, I was instructed to go to the next closest garage. When I was leaving, the man who first assisted me asked what we were doing. I shared the information with him and said I was going to go to the other garage. He quickly insisted that I at least let him put air into the spare, which was low, for me. I gladly obliged and thanked him. I shared that I wasn't from here and that the hospitality that they showed was appreciated. He asked if I was in town for the local amusement park attraction, and I shared that I was not, that I was here for a conference. I explained a little bit about the conference and our denomination as he filled the tire. When I was re-entering my car, he called out, "Have a blessed day!" It was amazing to hear that from a worker at this large retail, obviously nonreligious garage. And, of course, before leaving, I returned the blessings.
I drove on my little spare to the next garage, which was closed. However, I found comfort in the fact that in the same parking lot, there was another garage which was open for the day. I pulled in and went to the desk to explain the situation. The man there said it would be about 20 minutes before they could get my car in, so I asked if it would be okay to leave. When he confirmed, I contacted Tim again and asked if he would mind giving me a ride to the conference.
As I waited, I just praised God that the car was on its way to being repaired and that it went flat while I was safely in my hotel room. Over the last week, I have driven about 1000 miles, much of it on major expressways doing about 70 mph. A blowout at that speed could have been dangerous. And over half of those miles had my children in the car with me. God protected us and kept us safe, and for that, I was grateful.
Pastor Tim came and picked me up, we did the drive thru at Starbucks, then we went to the conference. I enjoyed a wonderful session led by a college classmate and a newfound friend, then I called the garage where my car was. I was prepared for the news that it was going to cost at least $100 to fix. However, the man on the phone informed me that the tire had become separated from the rim and that it just needed cleaned up and resealed. The damage was a little over $20.
I'm fairly certain that my smile could have been seen from the moon. I thanked him repeatedly and praised God again. After confirming that I'd be by around lunch time to get the car, I hung up, in a joyous mood.
After the second session, Tim drove me back to the garage, where I paid the small amount and drove off. I called Jose and my mom both to let them know that it worked out amazingly and to speak of how God took care of the situation. I just kept thinking about the craziness of it all. Of the first place saying I needed a new tire, but not having one in stock. Of the fact that I was safe. And of the news that the cost was minimal.
I went through a drive thru for lunch and was excited to have a few hours to enjoy myself before returning to the conference for dinner. When I returned to the hotel, I exited the car with my food and stopped dead in my tracks. Here it was, less than ten minutes since I'd left the garage, and my tire was flat. Again. Same tire. Flat flat FLAT!
I am pretty sure that I stood in the parking lot with my jaw on the pavement for a full two minutes. Then, I reacted. But I reacted calmly and kindly. I called the garage and explained that I just left with a tire repair and had a flat. He told me that if I came back in, they'd gladly take care of it, no charge. I explained that I had no tire iron or car jack and practically begged for help. He said he'd try to help me out, and ended the call with the promise to call back. And he did. Within minutes, he called back to say that there was a tow truck on its way. He said that, as long as it was the same problem, they would pay for the towing.
After the towing company called me to get my location, they quickly arrived and in the ride to the shop, the two tow truck men were kind and grandfatherly, and from the hotel to the garage, they pointed out every restaurant along the way, warning me of the expensive ones and the small serving sizes and the pizzas that taste like cardboard and singing praises for a couple as well. Then, I had returned. To the mechanic garage where I had been less than an hour earlier. The man assured me that they would get it into the garage immediately and determine what happened.
And they did. I finished reading my book, called "Your Heart Belongs to Me" by Dean Koontz. I sat in shock as I read some of the final pages, when all of the plot came together and I saw that the entire message, the subtext of the book, had meaning that hit me like a sack of bricks. Essentially, it reaffirmed that there are signs all around us about the ongoings in our life, that we need to read them, listen to them, to follow our minds and not allow ourselves to be struck by greed or other malice elements of life. And, it had a brief message that Satan never sleeps.
I was shaken from my feelings of disbelief about the book and my experiences when the man came and asked me to go into the garage with him to my car. There, he showed me my tire that was removed, and then showed me that they pulled a rock from the edge where the tread meets the sidewall. He said that when they repaired the tire initially, they had cleared all the rocks and pebbles from my tread, so it must have happened within the half mile trip from the garage to my hotel room. This rock was the size of a tooth and equally sharp, obviously. He said that it had just straight punctured my tire. And because of the location, I needed a new tire. It couldn't be patched.
By this time, I was in a fog. I just kept asking, "Can this really be happening? What are the chances? Statistically, who gets two flat tires in one 24 hour period? Who gets two flat tires in the same tire from separate causes in a 24 hour period?!" Seriously, it may have been a mild case of shock. So, I told him to go ahead and change the tire. What options did I have, really?
And, since the second flat tire was entirely separate from the first one, there was no sort of credit for the repair initially and I was now responsible for paying the tow truck.
I waited for him to come back into the lobby with a price and to confirm that they had the tire I needed. While there, I chatted with a kind woman who had paid for her vehicle already, but was confused by her invoice. I was then able to laugh at the irony of it all as I shared the story with her.
The employee returned and mentioned, again, that my two rear tires were pretty worn out. I shared with him that we just don't have the cash to pay for three new tires and that one was bad enough. I asked how much farther they could go and he said they don't have any more they should go. That they need replaced. I continued to insist that it just couldn't be done today. That it'd need to wait until I returned home where there is a garage that I have a credit card for. He asked what garage it was, and then he informed me that they are connected and that I could use that credit card there, with them, at their garage.
For the second time in one day, a grin spread across my face so wide, and I told him to replace all three tires then. And, my heart just couldn't resist singing praises for God. The day had been so weird at that point, but I just continued to trust that He had a plan. That He was using this all for His will, and that, where Satan tried to drag me down, to toss me out, to cause me to question His greatness, He came through stronger.
I went outside to call Jose and my mom and give them the newest update. My mom reminded me that I did, indeed tell her yesterday afternoon, that I had a flat tire. Mere hours before it was a reality. Twice. And on both calls, I just kept saying how amazing God was. That both flats happened in the hotel parking lot, where I was safe, with a place to stay. That neither flat occurred as I was driving down a highway at high speeds with my family in my car. That a plan of greatness shone through in regards to the concern about paying for it. I really stuck to the finding the joy in it all, and I refused to let it tear me apart.
After the calls, I returned inside and sat in their waiting area. There was a woman and a man there, waiting as well, but soon, the man was free to go with a repaired car. The woman and I began conversating. I'm not even sure, really, who began the chat, but within moments, I had explained the crazy day of mine to her, and couldn't help but say how good God was through it all. She lives in the next town over, where our conference is being held, and we discussed that because she had seen the signs. She shared her life with me and I shared mine with hers and within an hour or so that we waited, we discussed passions and service and God and following our hearts and praying. She told me about a possible career change, which, ironically would be to an area which I know a lot about. I just kept thinking, "Is this why I'm here? Today? Right now?" and I prayed that God would allow her to hear what she needed to hear from our discussion and to move her heart and convict her of whatever He intended because I don't believe in coincidences.
The discussion was only interrupted once, which was when the man from the garage called me over to share with me that they had decided to not charge me for the initial repair nor the towing since there was no real way to know that the rock was not in the tire to begin with. The only charges that I paid were for the three new tires being put on.
When my car was completed, the woman and I bid one another fairwell and exchanged contact information. She promised that she would inform me of the possible job change and I said that I would be praying for her. I wrote her onto my prayer list already.
And I left. With my head swirling about the events since arriving here for the conference, of the numerous odd occurances and "coincidences" and how it all came to be. I kept thinking of how bizarre it was and couldn't help but laugh. Seriously laugh at it all.
As I drove back to the hotel room, I had my mom on the phone to give her yet another update and laughed about it all. And, of course as I pulled into the parking lot, I informed her that I had my doubts about parking in the back lot...where my car had gotten a flat tire twice. I giggled as I parked on the side and walked through the lot and through the hotel hallways and as I arrived at my door, I bid her goodbye as I slid the key card into the lock. And it wouldn't read it. I took the second key from my pocket and did it also. And it didn't work either.
I just laughed....and headed to the hotel lobby.
1 comment:
Gave me chills! What an awesome testimony!!
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