Tuesday became Monday

I think it was when we had MLK day back in January that someone commented that the rest of the week seems to want to pay us back for missing a day. Indeed, yesterday felt that way! I had a pretty tight schedule, but I was packed and ready to go. I was not, however, prepared to walk out of the gym and find this:

Bummer. Not in my schedule.

Y'all, I can change a tire. As a matter of fact, I changed a friend's tire in college after chapel, causing quite a stir by the chivalry-wanna-be's walking by: "Uh.... y'all need any help?" "Nope. Got it." "Ooooh-kay..." But that was when I drove a cute little compact thing, spare and jack neatly under the mat in the hatch. In this instance, I did what any other woman on the planet would do: I called my husband on the brink of tears.

He very wisely told me I was going to have to move it from the incline it was on to change the tire. Oh, right. Check. But I'm here to tell you, if it were up to me to figure out how to get the spare out from under an SUV, I would still be there. In tears. Thankfully, I had not, as I have threatened to do on more than one occasion, thrown our fancy-schmancy hydraulic jack that weighs approximately 142 pounds out on the side of the road after shuffling it hither and yon inside the car trying to put groceries in there. Did you know that the jack that comes on a 2000 Ford Expedition (yes, my car is older than all of you, I know, but IT. IS. ALL. MINE!!) will not actually jack it up? Hence the fancy-schmancy hydraulic jack that weighs approximately 142 pounds.

So bless that sweet man, he drove all the way across town (yes, all 15 minutes for you D/FW readers -- it's a LONG way here, okay?) changed my tire. It took both of us and our college degrees to figure out our fancy-schmancy hydraulic jack that weighs approximately 142 pounds, as well as the spare-removal deal.

Spare, of course, had about 12 pounds of pressure in it. Went to the nearest 7-11 to put air in. Fed the air machine $.75, in quarters, per instructions. Nada. Limped along to my tire place. Tire place fixed my tire (nail) and filled my spare and switched them both out.

Boom. Done. About 1.5 hours later, I was on my way. I completely missed my haircut. The forecast is ponytails for the rest of the week.

So, I went on my way. I made my Meals on Wheels run, and spending just a few extra minutes with one of my folks absolutely blessed my socks off.

Got home and had a few minutes before getting Ashley to the orthodontist. I had email after email that, in short, let me know that God heard. Yesterday, as I fretted and worried, God heard. Last week, when I poured out my heart, God heard. Months ago, when I dared to dream big, God heard. And yesterday I was reminded of all the ways that God heard. He didn't magically fix everything -- and certainly there was an ultra-flat tire in my day -- but he heard.

And I was reminded again of this day ordained for me. A day of not-much special, full of God and His work. A day of irritations and surprises, God in it all.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Psalm 34:15-19

And can I get an Amen on that?