A Flat Tire, Tender Mercies and Guardian Angels

Have you ever gotten up in the morning, gone through your entire morning routine, leave for work and think, I wonder what kind of day is this going to be? I did just that on Friday as I had gotten out of bed a few minutes late and I felt like I was dragging.  Friday’s seem to feel like that nowadays!  I think it is just that getting up at 5:20 AM so that I can leave before the school buses start coming down the streets for all of the schools that I must pass on my way to work wears on me during the week.  Any way, as I pulled out of my driveway, I thought to myself that the day was starting and I was to find out that it was sure doing that with a great big BANG, CLUNK, and you had better pull over quick kind of way!!

If you don’t live in the beautiful state of Georgia or driven through this beautiful state, you don’t know that on most roads (unless you are very fortunate) there is absolutely no where to pull over if you have a blow out (flat tire) or if you have car problems.  However, my first tender mercy for the day appeared in front of me when the tire blew; of course, I was still slightly asleep so I thought something horrible had happened, like my transmission had blown because my car was not wanting to go.  I was able to get the car into a Shell service station not far from where the tire blew and got it parked.  First tender mercy, there was some where to pull off when it happened as a little further and I would have had no where to go.

Second tender mercy, I called a man at my office who I know gets in early and told him that something was wrong with my car…he immediately said where are you – I’ll come and get you.

Third tender mercy:  I walked into the Shell station to see if I could leave my car parked there until I could get a tow truck or someone that could get it going.  Who was paying for his gas and talking to the attendant at the station…you guessed it – a BMW mechanic.  He turned to me and said Ma’am would you like me to take a look at your car?  WOW, so we went out and he was able to tell me that everything with the engine and transmission was working and he didn’t see a problem.  He told me to get in and crank the engine and see what happened…of course, at that point, yes, the flat tire became very evident.  Don’t laugh..it was 6:15 in the morning!!  He changed my tire for me and the spare (the donut tire) was flat too.  At that point my friend from work showed up, and the mechanic left without me being able to thank him!!

My friend from work arrived told me to leave it be and that we would get a tow truck for it.  When I got to work, I knew that I couldn’t afford to have it towed and so more tender mercies began to show up…

Fourth and fifth tender mercies:  I sent a text to my sweet niece, Diane Garfield, to see what she was doing and if she could help.  Of course, she was more than willing to come but she had a furnace guy coming over so she couldn’t leave until he came.  I told her I would continue to see if I could find any one else that could help.  I walked into the office of the owner of Mencom, Bruce Mistarz, later that morning and he asked me what was going on as he always does.  I told him what had happened that morning.  He told me that if I could wait until noon, he would take me over and get the spare tire working so that I could go and get some new tires which we ended up doing.  Great man to work for!!

Sixth Tender Mercy:  I have another friend at work who knows cars well.  He was able to help me decide what tires to get.  Since my back tires had dry rot and the tread was almost gone, I ended up getting all four tires replaced.  Carlos has been more than willing to help me long the path of better managing my tires for the future.  He has told me that they will be rotated because he will remind me.  What a nice feeling to have friends that care!!

Seventh Tender Mercy:  When I arrived home I found two sunflowers and an Almond Joy with a note from Diane that said for a little sun and some joy for a bad day.  She really made me feel loved!!

Eighth Tender Mercy:  when I called my father who had just had cataract surgery two days before, he offered to help me any way he could.  Love him so much!!

Was it a bad day?  I don’t think so.  I just counted eight tender mercies and I know that there were actually more than that if I really went into more detail.  Each of those tender mercies had a guardian angel sent with it.  So why am I writing about this past Friday; because I once again have been shown by my Father in Heaven just how much He loves me as He sent His angels to help me with my tire problem.  He didn’t send just one…he sent me many!!

I was told in a Kirk Duncan seminary that we should never be afraid to ask our Father in Heaven to send Guardian Angels to watch over us, our home, our loved ones, or our pets.  He said that his family does it all of the time and they pick which guardian angels they would like to have watching over their home at night and during the day.  I have been asking for my guardian angels to watch over me, my home, my Dora, and to allow them to be with me as I travel to and from work.  On Friday, the Lord let me see just how many guardian angels I have that are alive and how many from heaven were with me that day!!  What a beautiful, wonderful day Friday was!!!