Thanks, you all, for your interest in my new project! I will be in touch next week. Right now I am in Phoenix for a conference. I have a story to tell you about getting here.
Do you know that driving in city traffic stresses me out? I must have told you this before. I had a mid-morning flight out of Chicago and it was inevitable that I would be driving in rush hour traffic for a chunk of the trip. Blech, I hate driving in Chicago rush hour traffic.
I had just merged onto 190 and I was trying to figure out where my exit was. There was construction, and the lanes were poorly marked, and the exit signage was confusing, and BUMP — I went over an uneven spot. “That probably wasn’t great for my alignment,” I thought, as I steered toward the exit. DING! The low tire pressure alert light came on.
“Hm,” I thought to myself, “I bet if I turn right here I can find a business that will help me sort this out. Let me just pull into this parking lot and assess.”
The tire was totally flat. I had never changed a tire on this car before. A guy came out of the building and started striding toward me across the empty parking lot. I was sure he was going to say, “Ma’am, this is private property and you’ll have to move along.”
But! No! He was a Rosemont public safety officer named Anton. What he actually said was “How can we help you this morning?” He and another officer changed my tire for me, lickety-split, and I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
So much grace there, you guys. For the flat to happen where it did, when I was almost to the airport. For me to feel certain that I should exit there and turn right, when that was not actually my exit. The kindness of strangers is a lovely thing to see. I am also grateful for the kindness of my husband, who is planning to deal with replacing the tire while I am away.
As I was driving toward Chicago in the early morning darkness I thought to myself “I have a hard time trusting God with potential disasters.” Through my hotel window I see palm trees silhouetted against the rising sun, and I am thinking about how wide and strange the world is, and how much goodness it contains. I hope I am learning to trust him, slowly.
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