It was a last-minute trip to take my 88-year-old friend to the beauty shop. She had been invited to go to a birthday party the next day and was not happy about having bed head to wear but had not made an appointment in advance and her regular girl could not do it in time. When she got up on that Friday morning, she just could not handle the idea of going that way in public, so she got a number from another friend. She asks if I would take her, “Of course” I said. It was a really hot day already and was supposed to be up to 98 later – not the kind of day to be out in if you are elderly, but I knew it was important to her, so I agreed. She made the call at 10:30ish and the beautician said she had an opening at 11:00. It was just a few minutes from the house, so no problem – we thought!

There is no room in the drive for my truck to be out of the way of the garage door, so I went out to move things around and get her car out and cooled off while she got ready. When I backed the car out the garage, I noticed the low tire pressure light was on. After walking around the car to investigate I found the culprit. The passenger rear tire was low, very low – great! I knew she could not get up into my truck, we had already discussed that before, so we would have to move fast to get to an air pump before the tire went flat!

“That was my pressure valve letting off a little steam and thank goodness no one was around to hear that one”

I did not realize she had not eaten yet that morning, and when I came back in the house with every intention of scooping her up and out the door, she was in the kitchen making a sandwich. I tried to scoot her along without rushing her and making her feel anxious – I had enough anxiety now for the both of us. What if she was late and the lady did not take her in, or make her wait until the next opening at whatever time that may be, or what if, what if, what if… I took a deep breath and slowly gathered her things and began sauntering toward the door, hinting – ever so subtlety – that we move in that direction. She followed – ever so subtlety – and in a few minutes she was safely in the car, buckled up, and her walker in the trunk. As I began backing out of the driveway, I felt a little puff of air flow out of my chest and through my lips. I was so relieved at that moment knowing that with her bad ears she most likely did not hear it. I did not mean to let myself get stressed and I did not want her to notice and take it personal. With that little puff of air released, out the driveway and onto the street we go.

The tire felt fine as I drove, but I still took it slow just in case. She had stated it was just down the road, so I felt confident I could deposit her at the beauty shop first, and then go put air in the tire. She was inside and in the chair by 11:05 – whew. I ask the woman in the shop where I could go get air for a low tire and she said right across the parking lot at the 7-Eleven. Great! Off I went. Mind you, it is a big parking lot. There is a large chain grocery store, a strip mall where the beauty shop is, several restaurants, and the gas station all on the perimeter of this hot black sea of pavement. Perpendicular white lines marked off hundreds of spots for incoming cars to deliver a bounty of buying, spending consumers. “But at least I did not have to go back out on the main drag,” I thought out loud.

Once at the 7-Eleven I found the air pump which looked more like an ATM machine and started my search in my purse for money to deposit. I remember the day when you could pull up to any gas station, unroll the hose, turn on the compressor and pump as much air as you wanted in your tires. I do recall being very frustrated when they started charging 50 to 75 cents and you had to make sure you always had quarters in car. But now, it is $2.00, will take a credit card, and you must set the amount of air you plan to pump! But air is free! It is God given! We breath it to survive, yet today I must pay for it to put it in my tire or suffer the consequences! Funds were low in my bank, and I sure did not want to use my debit card but at this point that was my only option to try and save the tire – and the day. I knew my friend was going to be in the shop a while so I figured I would have time to put some air in the now almost flattened tire and take it somewhere to have it checked out and fixed. At least that was my plan. That plan was quickly thwarted when I was cheated out of my two dollars by a machine that did NOT deliver any air. Argh! It’s hot outside now – too hot. I felt not just a little puff of air this time, but a forceful gust was purposefully pushed out of my open mouth by the boiling frustrations. That was my pressure valve letting off a little steam and thank goodness no one was around to hear that one; I may have lost my testimony at that moment.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. — Isaiah 40:29

There was not enough air left in the tire now to get it anywhere else, so I tried to find a spot out of the way on the hot steamy parcel to pull over and call the auto club. I had not changed a tire in so long I could not even remember where to start. And to be perfectly honest, at that moment I was happy to be suffering memory issues. That was the last thing I wanted to do out in this heat. What’s more, I felt sure if I had tried, I would have passed out at some point during my futile efforts and then I would need a tow truck and an ambulance. Besides we are in the city, it should only take a few minutes to have someone here. Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang, done!

Nope – not today!

I should walk over and get my friends auto club card. I could use my own but since I travel all over with the trailer and I only get two tow calls per year with six months left for this year it would be best to use hers, I reasoned with myself. However, that meant walking back to the beauty shop to get it – in the heat and in my non-supportive sandals. “I can make it once,” I said to myself, regardless now I need to let her know what is going on and that I am just on the other side of the now seething pavement parking lot. I had tried to call her but no answer.

The next few hours of this story are pretty much blah, blah, blah you’ve heard it all before, so I’ll shorten it for you and get to the most important part – the sparkling jewel. A couple of floundering walks back and forth, a broken computer system at the auto club, phone calls to and from my friend’s daughter, yada, yada and finally a real person was reached. “It is going to be a 90-minute wait,” she reported. It was scorching hot outside now and I was glistening (more like sweating profusely like a pig). The water droplets on my skin were now twinkling in a prism-like pattern all over my whole body. I didn’t need to see them; I could feel them. I had been sitting in the car already for about an hour and apparently, I was not getting help anytime soon. No forceful release of pressure now – it was more like a passing sigh of disgust and concession. The daughter calls a friend to come pick up 88-year-old mom and get her home safe. Trunk is up so the tow truck driver will know which car is in distress. Gas is low in the car, not my car, so turn on to cool off, then off to conserve gas. In-out; stand up-sit down; phone is going dead; hot; starving; thirsty.

Badda-Bing, Badda-Boop!

It had been more than three hours now and it was seriously sweltering inside and out. I was growing ever bitter with humanity each time a ‘man’ walked by the car without stopping to help – and there were quite a few. There was nothing left to do but ask God for a miracle and for Him to send someone to deliver me quick! Just as those words were released out of my mouth – well not those exact words but a prayer of “Please help me God! You are the master of the universe; surely you can send me a tow truck. I just need one guy with a tire iron, that’s it, Lord, just one guy! Please!” – those words. No sooner had I spewed that plea of desperation out, a car pulls up right in front of me – wow, that was fast, “Thank you, God.”

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. — Psalm 73:26

It was a pea green Nissan Cube, or something like that. Not your typical tow truck. But who cares, I had only asked for ‘just one guy’ with a tire iron. He stepped out of the car with a wide grin on his face and a sparkle in his eye – or maybe that was my own ‘glistening’ dripping down my eyelid – either way his eyes were sparkling, and it made me smile. In one hand he had a giant bottle of water, and in the other a bag of chips. Um, not a tire iron? Nope, refreshments. One guy, no tire iron, no jack; a bag of chips and a bottle of water!

He had a little bounce to his step as he approached, and I thought how cute he was. A young man full of life and apparently bubbling over with jubilance for the opportunity to show an act of kindness to a stranger. He said, “I saw you when I went in the grocery store, I know how awful it is to have a flat tire and it is so hot out here.” He extended his hand to give me the bottle of refreshing hydrating fluid – I did need it now, and I had forgotten that I too had not eaten this morning. Just seeing the bag of chips in his hand had reminded my stomach of that fact, and it was screaming at me now. He presented the bag of chips with an explanation. He said, “I didn’t know what kind I should get for you so I thought these would be best because they are healthier than regular chips” and then handed me the bag. It was a bag of check mix. How thoughtful, I decided, that he took the time to ponder what would be best for me, not just any ole snack, but a healthy one – and they are my favorite. It was such a sweet show of a good Samaritan that I ignored, just for a moment, how terribly hot I was and how overly tired I was getting of the waiting. I ask his name (I normally don’t use for a post but…) it was Jewel. I thanked him graciously for his intentional kindness while secretly waiting for him to offer to change my flat tire – he said, “God bless you” then got in his car and drove away.

As he drove away, I could almost see his little green car bouncing with joy. ‘Jewel’, I mused, but of course that was his name! Rather than a guy with a tire iron, God had sent me a sparkling jewel. Scarfing down the snacks I reflected, “was I sacrificed today for this kid to learn the value of being directed by God to help someone in need?” Possibly, but that was not the life lesson God would drop in my heart during the next thirty minutes of continued waiting, this is: He does not always ‘deliver’ us from our struggles and difficulties but, He ALWAYS sees us where we are, and He WILL ALWAYS sustain us – where we are. He saw me. He sent sustenance. That was the most encouraging thing that could have happened to me. It would not have meant the same to me or carried as much weight if I just heard it from a preacher, read it in a devotional, or had it spoken to me from a dear friend. He knew I needed to experience it to receive it. It does not matter where we are, what we are doing, or how difficult the circumstances become – He sees us! He may not always deliver us out of it, at least not in our time frame, but He will sustain us until help comes.

Those thirty minutes of listening to Him comfort me and speak into my heart brought so much peace to my soul. It was still hot – hotter – and I was still sitting outside in the scorching hot California sun, but there was no frustration now, only peace; no need for a pressure valve release; no need for a puff of air. Nothing but whispers of thankfulness and praise.

But wait, there’s more…

When the tow driver came (another nice young man; another name for my prayer list) I was at peace with the situation but still so relieved to finally be saved out of it. Once again, He spoke. Ever so softly He said, “See, I will deliver you – in My time.”