A Tale of a Flat Tire and God’s Goodness
Tuesday March 3, 2009
I pray a lot for my kids. I always have. I ask God to protect them, shield them, guide them, and watch over them when I cannot. Watching your oldest child reach 18 years of age, start college, start driving, and be out of your line of sight and protection for large parts of the day make you pray even more. And so it is that I missed God’s blessing entirely and went straight to angry, pissed off, frustrated, groaning, belly-aching, and in general no fun to be around this morning when my darling bride and I drove both cars down the driveway to get the annual vehicle inspections done.
Thankfully, I noticed the flat tire about 30 yards down the road from our driveway, so I pulled over, checked it, (went straight into pissed-off-mode), and turned around and went back home. It’s snowy, slushy, icey, and cold right now in Douglas, MA, so it was all that I could do to barely get the car into the bottom of the driveway. I’ve never had to drive on a flat tire before, but this time I had no choice. I’ve heard all kinds of bad things can happen as a result, and I was most worried about ruining the wheel or axle or something. So I pull into the driveway, open the trunk, and discover that the trunk has been leaking water again (or allowing it in through the bottom… I don’t know which), and now that it’s winter in MA, it has frozen solid inside the trunk. The trunk wheel well was about half full of frozen water, surrounding, enclosing, and including the spare tire. An hour and a half later, after failed attempts with a heat gun and a steam cleaner, I used a 20-pound steel pry bar to pry the spare tire loose from the trunk. I now have a Flinstone-car-looking ice block that looks like a tire. Another 15 minutes with the steam cleaner to get spare tire free of the ice, and I put the spare on and inflated it.
Now we’re on our way to the inspection station. Turns out that (I think) the reason the tire was flat is because it was so under-inflated that the bead seal just failed and all the air leaked out. However, being that I drove on it for a couple of minutes while it was flat, the tire is now unusable (steel belts destroyed and air bubbles are now in the sidewall). $70 later for a replacement tire, and a Russian immigrant mechanic to tell me “your tire no good”, and we’re on our way again.
And then it hit me. This was what I asked God for. This is what I’ve been praying for. Not necessarily to have a flat tire, ruin an whole day of work, not be able to get the spare tire out because the entire trunk is a big ice cube, and to waste $70 on a replacement tire. No, I distinctly do not remember asking God for that. But I’ve been praying for my kids’ safety for their whole lives, and that is exactly what God did for me. If this would not have happened to me today, it would have happened to my eldest daughter tomorrow, who likely would not have known to check the tire because it felt smushy, and who very well may have gotten into a really bad car accident, or been stranded, or worse, as a result. Thank God that this happened to me today instead of her, tomorrow. And as I was moaning, griping, cursing under my breath, freezing, frustrated, and angry, it occurred to me that God was being extremely gracious to me and my family once again. Who am I to question how God answers my prayers and keeps my family safe?
Thank you, God. And I’m sorry for going straight to anger, frustration, and pissiness and missing your blessings.
Oh, and you cannot tell me that God does not have a sense of humor, after a day like this. =:P
[Update] Wow, people can be incredibly rude, insensitive, and insulting. I’ve deleted the idiotic vitriole that found its way to this posts’s comments, and have turned further comments off. Thanks, idiots!
[Update2] I’ve decided to turn comments back on here. Unfortunately, I deleted the previous hateful, rude, insensitive, insulting comments instead of moderating them, so I am unable to bring them back for your enjoyment.
I should start moderating all comments, honestly, but in an attempt to not have to do that…. Please feel free to add comments as you like, but know that if you are unable to restrain yourself from attacking me, swearing, or otherwise being a belligerent fool, I will help you with this and moderate or edit your post. Thanks!
Great post Jason, I found it really encouraging and thought-provoking.
Nice to see something a bit different on Planet KDE for a change!
Thanks Mike! =:)
Keep it up — it’s encouraging to find somebody in the same field as mine, with the same beliefs (God is good)! I’ve been through some stuff lately, that I don’t understand, but have come to the realization that they have benefited me in the long-run by influencing the way in which I now make decisions regarding priorities, friends, and whatnot. I believe there’s a Bible verse in Romans 8:28, that states, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” From my experiences, I’ve come to the conclusion that things occur semi-randomly (in that God does not cause everything to happen), but all events ARE heading toward a singular even, which I believe is the return of my Savior, Jesus (He makes me happy)! Although everything that happens may not be driven by purpose, everything that happens can be used to our benefit, creating a “lemonade from lemons”-type scenario.
Good stuff!
I have just read this blog post. It was good for me and others to read it, so, PLEASE do not stop posting topics like this 😉
@Dylon: Wow, that is awesome wisdom! Thank you so much for sharing! I believe fully (as evidenced by this post and this happening to me) that God does answer our prayers, and that He chooses to do it in ways that we might not necessarily expect or appreciate at the time. =:)
@Nico: Thanks for the encouragement! =:) I am always surprised by how negative, angry, and bitter people can get when you mention God. The anonymity of the Internet doesn’t help much either, since it just gives people an excuse to behave in a way that would get you punched in the face if you did it in person. But thanks very much for the kind words. =:)
Jason, people don’t get angry when you mention God. For there are many ‘gods’. It usually gets nasty when Jesus is shown as the one and only way to our Creator.
Anyway, like Dylon, I was happy to see another programmer, who seems to be a Christian too …
Jason, I saw a few of the early posts and found it shocking the reaction some people have. I guess some feel that if another doesn’t believe 100% what they themselves do, then they shouldn’t express their opinion at all. Unfortunately they’re the loud ones.
Just wanted to say I enjoyed reading your post and offer a bit of encouragement to counter some of the vitriol some people spew.
Cheers.
Hi Jason! It’s nice to see a Christian KDE hacker. I am a member of the KDE-ES Spanish translation team. Yes, God is good indeed. May God bless you and your family always.
@mactalla: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. They’re the loud ones. I think the appropriate term is “poisonous people”, and they show up and attack all sorts of different people (the attacks on Aaron not so long ago, for instance). But thanks very much for the encouragement!! =:)
@Eduardo: HI! Thanks for the comment! May God bless you and your family also! =:) (And a pre-emptive “I’m sorry!” for the until-now-untranslated KPilot strings. =:()
Nice story. Nice thoughts 😉
🙂 nice post.
I’m not religious at all any more, but it’s nice to see the positive side of religious thought for once. taking this sort of perspective instead of getting pissed off at the car is definitely healthier 🙂
Hi @Chani! =:) Yeah, I don’t much care for religious folks myself (at least those who view church as a social club, etc.), but I’m in 100% agreement with ya that getting mad at the car doesn’t help to begin with, and it only makes it harder to see blessings and good stuff. It’s just SOOOO much easier to get pissed off at the car, though! =:) Thanks for the comment!
I have two tenets that together explain most of the world: (1) God is good, and (2) stuff happens. It’s just that when stuff does happen, God can usually nudge it (or us) so that it’s somehow useful, or we learn from it, things like that. In the words of Discovery Channel: the world is awesome!
kde user here
great post, good wisdom. not particularly “religious” here, but I do know that prayer works and have noticed similar lessons in my life.
God doesn’t have a sense of humor because he would first have to exist to have one.
There that was the “hateful, rude, insensitive, insulting comment” that was deleted. If you are still offended by it, feel free to censor it, again.
Glad to see that the light of God is shinning through every pore in you body. I’m happy for you, but please keep what apears to be religious propaganda off of planetkde. Good story, just off topic for the planet.
@Patcito: Heh. Actually, it wasn’t your comment that was “hateful, rude, insensitive, or insulting”. You don’t believe God exists and that’s your decision. That doesn’t insult me. It was the other comments that were hateful/rude/…
Fun story, it’s always nice with new perspectives (on why things break too ;).
Good read. Keep ’em comin’! 🙂
I hope that one day if I’m everin a similar situation that I can see God’s love in it too. I’ve probably got a ways to go though 🙂
Great post.
God usually comes/talks to us through simple everyday life issues and not through thunder with a dramatic music in the background. And at every encounter one can profit from His wisdom, strength, blessing… if one is open enough.
Thank you for not being afraid of talking about God in a climate where it’s considered weird 🙂 It’s a great encouragement to hear about his work in your life. I’m quite a pessimist by nature and often need reminding that God really does work all things out for good!
Here’s another atheist who has no problem reading about things like this 😉
I see how it is more comfortable to see things your way instead of considering them just good or bad luck.
Hey Jos! =:) BTW, I still find it EXTREMELY hard to not be negative, angry, and frustrated. Case in point: the day after all of this happened, my darling daughter tells me that a rock flew up and cracked the windshield on the same car, so now we need to go get that fixed. *sigh* So, God still has some work to do on me, apparently. I should at least be thankful that it wasn’t a telephone pole and that my daughter is safe. =:) Thanks for the comment!!!
Hey Jason 😀
Well, it shows believing in god doesn’t negate the need for controlling your anger and frustrations… Then again, as you say, you’re all safe & sound, that’s what matters. Maybe god just wanted to make sure you didn’t feel to good about yourself?
take care,
Jos
Keep up the good work! And let them mock you => more trasure at home with the Father 😉
Just found your blog while googling about urxvt and i love the site design and style of writing. And after seeing this blog post, sign me up! 😀
@sizur: Heh. Thanks for the encouragement! =:) Sadly, I’m still using urxvt too, for the time being. =:/
Good story, Jason. Thanks for sharing.
Heya Mike! =:) Thanks! =:)