This morning, my husband (who left the house early) called to tell me that it was raining so I grabbed my rain boots and shoes and put them in the living room until I could get dressed. I threw my shoes into my purse, placed a bag of cookies for a friend on top and realized I couldn't find my phone. I delicately removed the cookies and then my shoes to see if the phone was in my purse. It wasn't. I put the cookies back in my purse and shuffled about trying to find it.
When I found it (so close to my purse I could just scream), I grabbed it and ran out of the door where I got into my car, which I haven't driven in months, and discovered that not only is my inspection up this month but also, I was sitting on E. I prayed for the ability to make it to school on what I had left in the tank. Well, what I didn't count on was getting lost on my way to school. Just about the time I realized that I had gone the wrong way and had a "gosh, I hope I can figure this out from here" thought, I also realized that my shoes were on the floor next to the couch and I would be wearing my rain boots all day long.
When I got to the turnpike, I thought "I'm saved! I can turn right and all is well with the world!" but it wasn't. I ended up at the Target near my house. 20 minutes of driving, a gas gauge on E, and I'm back at the Target in my neighborhood. I hopped onto the turnpike access road and made a U-turn. Let me make a confession to you: I've run out of gas before. Twice. On different highways. This would be my third run-out-of-gas-as-cars-whip-past-you-so-fast-you-can't-think-straight experience but it would be the first time it happened - when? You guessed it! When it was raining.
So I've already called people to let them know I'll be late because I've made an idiot mistake in my neighborhood and I've called my husband who, for a moment, thought I was by the Target across from the Wal-Mart which is really, really close to the school and actually in the neighborhood we lived in before we moved into our house. He must have been quite distracted because surely that wasn't a panic-inducing incident. And since I've called everyone else, I call out to God and ask him this time to just let me make it to a gas station because I've already pushed my luck with the getting to work idea. I know this.
I keep chanting "God will provide! God will provide! God will provide!" And you know what? He did. I made it to the gas station just in time. Of course, it wasn't without incident because that's just the kind of day I was having. Thankfully it was just that the first pump was shut off and I eeeked my poor neglected car around to the next one. (Remind me sometime to tell you about the time I got gas all over my pants on my way to Austin.)
So I roll into the parking lot at work, gassed up enough to make it to work, the after work meeting, and my house again later, and I am thankful to God for bringing me there safely, albeit late.
But the story isn't over. As crazy as my morning was, as inexplicable as it is that I somehow made a big loop in my neighborhood (I still need to check out a map) and wound up late, as awesome as it is that I made it to a gas station before my car went kaput, it gets better.
I believe that God has us where we are for a reason. Sometimes the reason is hard to find. Sometimes, it is smack dab in front of our faces. Well, like I said, it was raining this morning. I hurried to the door as it was closing but a girl opened it wider for me. There was another girl whom she was helping into the building. This girl uses special crutches on a daily basis every day of her life. Today, they couldn't gain traction for anything because of all of the water and the girl fell right in front of me. The helper girl and I hoisted her up onto her crutches again and walked a little bit further with her. She fell again. This time she hurt herself. The helper girl looked helpless and I had to act fast. I didn't want the girl to stand up again because she just kept falling down. I asked Helper Girl to stay with her and I went to get the nurse to bring her a wheelchair.
If I hadn't been there, it is possible that the helper girl would have gone to do the same thing but then the crutched girl would have to sit there, hurting, all alone.
I know that some of you will say I was just at the right place at the right time and maybe that's true but I can't shake the feeling that it was God's time and God's plan for me to be there to help this girl. And if that's the case, then whatever I went through today was totally worth it because I was there to help one of His creatures and that's all we can ever hope to do in this world. Help one another.
Mrs. V
PS - Though I was dejected that I would be wearing my rain boots all day, I got quite a few compliments. :)
