The Crash

So I had an interesting morning today. It was my first day back since getting my wisdom teeth pulled out, and I can't say I was looking forward to it. That being said, I slept in a bit. Okay, quite a bit! I got up slowly, put on the tiniest bit of makeup, put my hair in a ponytail, and took an ibuprofen. I had to make myself one of those instant mashed potato packages, which surprisingly took about five minutes to do. I've been eating mashed potatoes from KFC for the last 3 days! So a little flavor change seemed necessary. Anyway, I put it in a container and left for work. I noticed on our gravel road that my car was pulling to the right quite a bit and made a mental note to take it in to get my alignment checked. At that point, I was already cursed. While on my work's street, I...brace yourself...did some off-roading in my poor, beautiful little Mazda3 and managed to drive over a curb. I just got my car at the end of May and I already ruined it! I completely popped my front tires, damaged a rear one, and my rims were too damaged to continue using. Thank God no one, including myself, was injured and nothing worse happened. Before I hit the curb I thought I was going to flip, but God's gracious hand kept my wheels on the ground. So today, I got to spend all day getting my car ready to drive again. New tires, new rims-$1080. Ouch. Definitely an unexpected expense, but my new rims look nice! Optimism is key, right?
I cannot believe all of the generosity I experienced from people today. It seriously amazes me. My best friend, Arissa, works at the same place I do, but on night shift. So as she was heading home, she saw me on the side of the road and stopped to make sure I was okay. Before I knew it she was helping me get my car fixed today. Not the labor, but all of the planning and details. She probably slept maybe 5 hours before her next shift. I never even asked her to, she just took the reigns and did it, knowing how flustered I was. She's always been the one with the knack for cars, so I think she felt like she could do a much better job figuring things out than me. Which is very true! She called up her father-in-law, who was planning on being on the lake today, and he came to tow my car to Les Schwab. Literally dropped everything he had planned for me. I couldn't believe it. Then when the lady at Les Schwab told me I needed new rims, she could see the disappointment in my face and gave me a little discount for the unexpected expense. What?! And on top of that, one of Arissa's friends did my alignment for 20 bucks, which would've cost me $90 at Les Schwab. I'm so amazed by the generosity and kind hearts of all the people that helped me today...people that don't even know me, but are more than willing to help. It really gives me hope for mankind. It's so easy to feel like the world is messed up and everyone is going in the wrong direction. But Jesus teaches us to love everyone. I was graced enough to have a handful of people show me love, and they probably didn't even realize it. It was just in their hearts. It's inspiring and heartwarming knowing that people who may not be striving for a relationship with Jesus are still being used by Him. I read a quote once that said "Be aware of how you live, you may be the only Bible some people ever read." How true is that? So no, you may not be preaching the Word, but showing love and kindness is a good way to represent Jesus. That's exactly what He stood for. So be aware of the things going on around you, people are preaching the gospel through their actions all around you. It really is an inspiring thing, isn't it?