So, this week has been very eventful for me. It all started Monday night while I was at work delivering pizzas. It was the end of the night and we only had about forty minutes left before we closed when I had to take a delivery real quick about two miles down the street. Everything went smoothly, until I got into my car to head back to the shop and she (yes my car is a girl) wouldn’t start.
I’ve never had this problem with her before. I left all of my lights on like I always do when I’m on a delivery because extra light never hurts, especially when there’s ice on the ground, so I think it’s safe to say that it wasn’t my battery. My car would even ding like it normally does every time I start the ignition. After a few more tries, I had to accept the fact that I was stuck, in a customer’s driveway, on the clock, at the end of the night, in 20 degree weather (-7 Celsius for my overseas friends).
Surprisingly, I didn’t panic. I called my boss and gave him the bad news that he probably wasn’t going to be leaving on time tonight because I couldn’t get back to the shop to get cashed out. After promising to keep him updated I called my dad hoping that, by some miracle, he would know what’s wrong with my car and be able to talk me through getting her going again. Needless to say, he didn’t know, and all my call did was cause him worry about me.
After that, I had no choice but to suck it up and call AAA for roadside assistance. Luckily, they answered the phone right away and told me they would send someone over in thirty minutes. I called my boss back to tell him the bad news (we were closing in twenty five minutes by this point) and asked for the customer’s phone number so I could let him know why there was going to be people in his driveway throughout the night.
After calling him twice with no answer, I had no choice but to go back up to his door (about fifteen minutes have passed from the time I delivered the pizza, so it was really awkward). He answered the door and looked at me really confused and I told him that my car wouldn’t start and that AAA was on their way so I would hopefully be out of his driveway in a half an hour.
Then he did something very unexpected. He insisted that I wait inside the house because it was so cold. After a little debate I finally caved because I probably would have froze out there eventually. Then he went above and beyond! He handed me the remote control to his TV and told me to watch whatever I wanted, and then offered me a bottle of water, and some of the pizza he just bought from me. He told me his cat was declawed and was very friendly, pointed out where the bathroom was, and told me that I could stay in as long as I needed to. Needless to say, I was completely blown away!
After thirty minutes of watching Full House in this stranger’s home, and still no sign of AAA, I texted my boss and told him he could send one of my coworkers to pick up my credit card receipts and money so he could cash me out and go home after leaving my money in the safe overnight. I trusted both of them and saw no reason for him to be stranded at work any longer than he needed to be.
Ten minutes later, my best friend at work showed up at the same time as AAA. My co-worker said he would take me home later if my car didn’t get fixed, which was a load off of my shoulders. My dad was ready to drive out there to get me, but it was late and I knew they were getting ready for bed.
The guy AAA sent out tried to jumpstart my car just to double check it wasn’t the battery. As expected it wasn’t. After looking around under the hood a little bit longer he concluded what I already knew, I needed a tow. Unlucky for me, he’s just the battery guy and he had to call in a tow which would be there in an hour. I called my co-worker and he said that was fine and that he’d be back as soon as possible.
Then the battery guy offered to give me a ride to the shop so I wouldn’t have to wait in the cold. After losing feeling in my fingers (I had two pairs of gloves on at this point), and not wanting to intrude anymore on the customer, I agreed.
After we finally finished up at the shop, me and my co-worker headed back to the house, but not before stopping at Steak ‘n Shake for some hot chocolates. We waited outside the house talking about anything and everything for about a half an hour when the tow showed up. All I had to do was sign a few papers, wait for the guy to finish the tow, and we were able to leave.
The next day I woke up and told the entire crazy story to my roommate. After telling her the story she said that she was going to drive her and her classmate to class today, but that as long as he was willing to switch days, she would let me borrow her car so I could still go into work that night in case my car wasn’t done being worked on. I was blown away, once again!
Now here’s the kicker! When I finally heard from the repair shop, they told me that they had tried several times throughout the day to start my car, and it started every single time. They couldn’t diagnose the problem and could only assume that having it jostled around on the tow must have fixed it (which happens apparently). So after a tow and an inspection I wasn’t out any money.
Why am I sharing this story? I have two reasons really. The first being that there are a lot of good people in the world still, and they continue to do good with little to no recognition. I wanted to take a moment to share with the world that there are good Samaritans out there. They could be coworkers, roommates, parents, or even complete strangers! The world isn’t all bad.
Secondly, because I believe that sometimes, we can be so distracted that God has to disrupt our lives to get our attention and show us what He can do in the midst of our problems. I can honestly say that aside from a little frustration about still not know what happened to my car, I didn’t completely freak out once during the situation. I did all that I could do and God went above and beyond what I needed to bless me in the midst of it.
I could have easily written a story about how awful my night was and all the horrible things that happened, but I would have missed the big picture, and that is what God is doing in our lives through the people around us. I don’t know about you, but I never what to miss an opportunity to see that because my problems are “too big”.
I don’t know what you’re going through right now, but I want to encourage you to see how God is moving in your life despite your trials. Stop for a moment and see the good in the situation and acknowledge it. You don’t have to settle for the, “Well, it could be a lot worse” mentality. There are blessings in midst of trials, and maybe, just maybe, your hope in humanity will be restored, just like mine was.
