Flat Tires Are Only Flat On One Side. 7/13/2018

Good Morning,

I am blessed to be a part of your life today. Thank you for joining me in mine. My cup is full of Door County Highlander Grog Coffee and my heart is light and alive.

James 1:2-8 New King James Version (NKJV)

Profiting from Trials

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Last night when I arrived home after my work day, I could tell that Rene had something on her mind. She waited until my glass was full of ice cold sweet peach tea and then she let me know that her car had a flat tire. Now letting me know that it had a flat means more than what it sounds like. It was her way of saying "what are we going to do about it".

I just went to the garage and filled the tire with air from my Father's Day gift from a few years ago. That air compressor has come in handy many, many times. I then located the leak and decided that repairing it or replacing it was best left to a tire emporium. We developed a plan for her to take my Jeep to work in the morning and I would fill the tire this morning and take it in for service. A friend will be picking me up at the service center and we will go to work together.

It was a battle plan that any commander would be proud of. I remember back in the day when this would have set me off and I would have been kicking the tire and cursing the person who left a  screw in the road. I would have been wishing that their arm pits would be infested with 1000 fleas. But a little older and wiser each day I took it in stride and considered the blessing. Rene, made it home safely. The car was in a spot where I could fill the tire with air easily. I own a compressor and we have a plan to get it fixed.

20 years ago and with a full head of hair the reaction would have been different. Friends, flat tires will come and go all through life. Water heaters will deliver a cold shower, and kids will be kids. Taking the things that come along and then looking for a blessing within the event, makes the misfortune easier to deal with and stomach.

Food for this Friday. May all of your flat tires be flat on only one side!

Marty