So as I was heading out of Rockford on the highway that leads to Freeport, I took a glance at my gas gauge and realized I only had about a quarter tank of gas. As I was just past the city limits, and didn’t have much time to spare, I opted not to stop in the small town on the way to get gas, and figured I’d get gas before heading home. So I spent a wonderful couple hours in the salon, and got out in plenty of time to get home and take my kids to gymnastics and trampoline class. That was a bonus, because I was afraid I was going to be back too late. As I drove away from the salon, I realized I should have thought to ask where the closest gas station was, because I’m not familiar with Freeport and only know a couple roads well. I wound up on the main road I knew, and was slightly annoyed that it meant I had to go out of my way quite a bit to get to the gas station I knew, and worried that it might cut into me getting back in time for gymnastics. As I pulled out of the gas station, I heard the tell tale sound of a flat tire. I travelled through the intersection and pulled over to find the passenger tire was indeed flat. Drat. As we’re planning to drive from Illinois to Florida in two weeks, I had already planned on getting new front tires next week. I certainly wasn’t planning on doing it today! My van has a death grip on my spare tire, so it is not accessible or usable. I stood there for a second wondering WHAT I was going to do, when I looked up to see that I was literally at the entrance of a shopping center that housed a Farm & Fleet. Even more specifically, I was even at the entrance that led right into the tire center of the Farm & Fleet. How amazing is that? I drove the short distance to the parking area and went in to get two new tires put on. Unfortunately, it was a busy day, and involved quite a bit of a wait, but what other options did I have but to wait?
As I waited, I realized how perfectly the whole fiasco had worked out. I will never believe anything other than God was looking out for me today. I drove there on a highway travelling speeds of 65+ miles per hour. Had my tire blown out while travelling at that speed, the outcome would surely have been more disasterous. With my spare tire being welded to the undercarriage of my van, I would be stuck with no means of travelling to even GET a new tire. It was definitely orchestrated that I would HAPPEN to have backtracked to THAT particular gas station, and HAPPENED to get the flat just as I was pulling out to the intersection that lead to the Farm & Fleet. Also, that I just HAPPENED to have already budgeted to replace those tires, so I wasn’t stranded without the means to pay for the new tires. There was no reason for all of those things to have happened to perfectly, and I spent my time waiting for the tires being thankful for the way things played out. Even though the tire going flat was a disappointing fiasco, and it meant my kids would miss gymnastics afterall, how could I not be thankful for the blessings in the situation?
Then my wait dragged on and on. The sun that was shining so brightly when I pulled up began to set. The mechanics eventually came out and said that some of my lug nuts were damaged and useless, so they ordered some from O’Reilly’s and were waiting for them to be delivered. It seemed like it was s taking FOREVER, and I sat alone in the waiting room with the TV blaring incessant reruns of Sanford & Sons. Seriously, I was going nuts! Why was this taking so long! I realized that not only were my kids missing gymnastics, but if they didn’t hurry up, we were going to miss church too. And tonight was Turtle race night. This was Ella’s first year being old enough to participate in Turtle Race night, and she was so excited! She decorated her turtle herself, and was so looking forward to participating. She would be devastated if I couldn’t get there in time! A mechanic came out with some estimates of repairs they thought my van needed, like rear brakes and new wiper blades. As he went back into the garage, I grumbled that I didn’t ASK them to take my rear tires off and snoop around, I JUST wanted front tires!!! No WONDER this was taking so long! After another few annoying episodes of Sanford & Sons, my van was finally pulled up to the door to wait for me. When I tried to pay, the guy swiped my card a handful of times before saying “Oh, we don’t take American Express.” Seriously? I wasn’t even sure I had enough on my Visa account to cover the tires, as I had always intended to use the money in the account that has the American Express card. GRRRR! By the grace of God, my visa account had enough, and I was finally off, in the dark, on the trip back to Rockford. Buuut, my cell phone had died while I was waiting. I should mention that I absolutely HATE my iphone. And the fact that it took a solid five minutes of charging before it would turn on so I could call my kids and tell them I was on my way only frustrated me even more and made me hate this phone even worse. I was just soo frustrated! My heart was broken that Ella was going to miss Turtle Races, and it just seemed that everything was working against me. It was during that longish drive home that I wondered WHY it was that it was so much easier to get frustrated over the negatives than it was to focus on the positives. I was literally besides myself with frustration, instead of praising God for all the work He had done in the situation. Why is the negative so much stronger and emotion? Somehow that seems backwards! As if to drive that lesson home to me, my night continued to be a lesson in frustration. Right now, my laptop is making me pull my hair out because it’s acting on its own accord. Literally, my touchpad isn’t working right, and keeps moving my cursor all over the screen, randomly clicking on things. I’ve had to really work to get this typed!! Every couple words, my cursor moves up a few lines or so and starts typing in the middle of another sentence. Frustrating! I seriously want to throw this thing! I came into my room to find that one of my children had un-made my bed, and the animals had climbed all over my sheets. Pet peeve- kitty food in my bed. And my cat has an obsession with hiding his food in random places. If my bed is not made, my cat climbs all under the blankets. So I was annoyed at the child that was laying in my bed earlier today while I was gone and left it disheveled. Since this laptop is driving me mad, I thought I’d grab my tablet instead. Turns out one of my children has absconded with it, and it is NOT where it belongs. As they are asleep, I have no idea where they placed it. Grrr! So many frustrations today!! But, on the upside, not only was God’s hand in the tire fiasco, He also made sure that we DID make it to church in time for Ella to participate. We were late, and she missed the practice time, but she did get to race. So even though this day has had some set backs, and the frustrations with this laptop continue to make me want to throw it, I have to remember to focus on the positives. Why does it have to be such a conscious effort to not let the negative outweigh the positives? Today’s negatives were offset by some pretty significant positives! Surely that should count for more than the frustrations of this ridiculous laptop, and my messed up bed, and the missing tablet, right? I’m going to take as my lesson for the day. Plus my hair looks really good, so it’s hard to stay negative for too long
No comments:
Post a Comment