Tuesday, July 3, 2012

praising in the storm.

Last week was great! The first half anyway... I was finally enjoying work again, had energy and was on a great high. 
And then Thursday rolls around. 
After work I decided to do my grocery shopping. My faithful car of 10 years, Sophi, decided to overheat on me. (I shouldn't have been driving it in the first place on a VERY hot day with a broken fan - but what do I know about cars??) While smoke was pouring out, I was able to pull into a business driveway before she totally shut off. I was blocking the entrance of the business (which was thankfully closed). I began to try to call Babe, father in law, mother in law, brothers in law (3 of them), friends. NO ONE could come to my rescue. It was about 4 in the afternoon so most of the men were at work. A couple would be able to come in about an hour . . . . Talk about a HELPLESS feeling!!!
By this time I've been sitting in the driveway for about half an hour. It's in the heart of touristville, so despite the fact that the business is closed, people are using the parking lot to park. I am getting evil glares from people as they come and go, because they have to go around me (and apparently thought I was just hanging out in the entrance of the driveway to text or something). I am near hysteria. 

A man leans out his window as he is about to go around me to exit the parking lot. He (in a not so nice but not totally mean voice) hollers at me "can you move your car? At least into a parking space?" By this point I am hysterical and yell very angrily "NO, I cannot move my car. IT WON"T START" (I think I almost screamed). By now tears are rolling down my face. He comes to my window and assures me its ok, he didn't realize I was having car trouble and apologizes. 
Talk about feeling like a helpless little girl. He rounded up some men and they pushed me into a parking spot. The kind man and his family asked if I had anyone who could take me home. At this point,  I did not. He asked where I lived, I told him. He smiled and said, we are going to a restaurant and are going right past your house. So, a nice tourist family gave me a ride home. 

And here's my honesty . . . I came home, plopped in my hallway and cried. 

I cried because I felt totally alone (my Babe felt AWFUL that he was so far away!). I cried because I'm pretty attached to my car and had a feeling it had seen it's last day. I cried because I was mad at myself for crying (who does that??!?).

And then, I realized, I'm ok. I wasn't in an accident, I'm not hurt. A nice family brought me home. I am safe. We have a backup car we can use. No matter what, everything will be ok. 

What did I learn from all this? That no matter what situation you're in, there is always something to be thankful for AND God will never leave your side. I am also seeing that I need to work on my first responses :) Instead of wallowing in my self pity, I want to praise Him in the storm. I will work on and improve in this area!

Thanks for reading my looooong story! 

-A


4 comments:

  1. aww Sophie!! Is she a gonner? I was wondering why you were driving your mom's car this morning, i thought maybe just becuase the AC in your car isn't working properly. sad! but i'm glad you learned through it :)

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    1. We're still not sure if Sophi is "dead". Torn between sentimental feelings and being practical when it comes to getting her fixed. Is it worth the money? So we'll see.

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  2. I so appreciate this post! Been there, done that :) and am working on this area too. Glad you're okay but sorry for poor Sophi!

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