Things Could Always Be Worse…

by | Apr 30, 2018 | Thankfulness, Trials

Another day was over. I sat in my car, turned the key and pulled out of the parking lot. It was Thursday. I had only one more day until the weekend. Two days alone with my wife.

I turned left onto the highway. Approaching from the west was an ominous black storm front. Two miles into my drive, the trees began to sway and dance.

Their leaves fluttered like swarms of butterflies. Rain began to lash, power washing the layer of farm dust off my car, revealing the original color of the paint.

I stopped at a red light and watched bolts of lightning striking just out of view behind buildings. The light turned green. As I passed through the intersection, I glanced down at my dash. The “battery” light was on. “That battery is less than two years old. It can’t be dead.” I thought to myself. My second thought was, “Will I make it home?”

On the other side of the intersection, traffic came to a stop. It was backed up due to the storm. My apprehension grew, when I looked at the dash and saw the “engine” light had joined the “brake” light. The situation was going from bad to worse.

Fifty feet ahead was the driveway to the parking lot for a golf course. I pulled to the shoulder, passed the car ahead of me and pulled into the lot. My mind raced with possible causes and guesses of how much was this going to cost me? It was obviously an electrical problem. Did lightning cause it? My first thought, and I hoped I was correct, was the universal belt. It might be the alternator – a costly replacement. It might even be a computer failure.

I stepped out into the blinding rain, popped the engine bonnet and there, wrapped around the pulleys like a dead snake, was my broken belt.

I was delighted. I wasn’t angry, because all the other possibilities would have cost several hundred dollars to repair. This was simple and easy.

Ginny picked me up; the car was towed; and the next day, after paying $128 for repairs, I had my car back.

On the way home, I thanked God the belt hadn’t broken on our trip to the mountains. We would have been stranded without phone service and perhaps no place to pull over on the narrow and winding roads.

There’s two ways to look at all problems we face. Just remember, chances are, things could always be worse.

Michael T. Smith heartsandhumor@gmail.com

Post

Things Could Always Be Worse…

Topics

Series

Archives