Do you ever wonder why bad things happen when you are doing all the right things? I do. I had two conversations about this yesterday. One with my Mom and one with my Best Friend.
But it got me thinking...
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Yesterday I was driving a girl in my ward to her physical therapy appointment. As we were traveling on the freeway the car in front of me quickly changed lanes. As soon as it changed lanes I saw a huge rock in the road. I tried to swerve so I would miss it, but I didn't have enough time. I missed it with my front tire but my back tire ran right over it. As soon as we hit it there was a very loud THUD. I was hoping that my tire would somehow be unaffected, but sure enough it started to deflate. I moved over to the shoulder and just kept on driving. I wanted to try to get to the next exit that was 1/2 mile away.
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As I was slowly driving, my van started to lag and I knew that I wasn't going to make it. I was hoping to get off the freeway and make it to the Target parking lot. Instead of making it off the freeway, I was able to make it to the top of the off ramp. I got out of the van and saw my sad looking tire.
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The first thought I had was, 'this shouldn't happen, I should be blessed because I am doing service!' How stupid I am. I was blessed. Many times. Just because I was doing a good deed, it doesn't make me exempt from the bumps in the road.
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I've decided to count my blessings instead of being ticked off about my tire.
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1. I called my mom. Fortunately, we were pulled over right by her exit. She was able to make it to us before we were even able to unload all the kids and car seats. I had my two kids, and the girl I was driving had her 4-year-old. I was also lucky because this was a Thursday, my Mom's day to work at the temple. It happened about 2 hours before she had to leave.
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2. I called Steve as soon as I called for my Mom to come pick me up. He was at lunch and able to come fix the flat and get the van to my Mom's house.
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3. I had my stroller in the back of the van. This is not always the case. Usually I have my little umbrella stroller for quick trips, but for some reason I had my big stroller - the same one I have been thinking about taking to the consignment store because we never use it. It was big enough to load all my stuff in from the van, Clara, and a car seat.
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4. Out of all the off ramps I could have been stuck at, I was at a great location. It had a big enough shoulder that there wasn't a concern about traffic.
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5. We got close enough to the main street that we were able to walk to Target within 5 minutes. This is fast considering we had 3 car seats, a stroller, 3 little kids under the age of 5, one woman with a fractured elbow and another one who just had a total shoulder.
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6. My mom has an extra SUV that she let me use. We were able to load all three kids up with their car seats and still get my friend to her therapy appointment - ONLY 10 MINUTES LATE!!! I am that late when things are going my way!!!.
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7. After we dropped her at her appointment, My Mom treated the kids and I to Golden Spoon. Golden Spoon had a new flavor, Graham Cracker. It was delicious. My mom even bought me a quart to take home. She still takes care of me and tries to cheer me up even if I am 35.
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8. My wonderful husband called while we were sitting in the shop eating frozen yogurt. He wanted to make sure we were all okay. When I told him what we were doing he just laughed and made some comment about being traumatized and fixing it with sugar (but hey, it was non-fat). Then he said something about coming to my rescue on his white horse. I laughed. Then I started to think. I thought about how much I love him. I thought about how he is my Superman and does so much for me and our children.
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So, next time someone asks why bad things happen when you are doing good things, tell them to rethink the situation. I did, and I've come to the conclusion that blessings will surely be poured out upon you when you are doing service for others.
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4 comments:
There is always a silver lining to that cloud, eh Amy? Glad you are all okay. Hugs.
Good job.
Good post Amy!
Amy you are amazing. Thank you for that post, I needed it today!
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