We had our tires slashed this week. This event intended for evil was a great challenge to our week. It forced me to rearrange my schedule Tuesday morning so Nathan could make the school run. I lost Tuesday afternoon when Nathan found out that it was actually two tires flat instead of one. I added more hours to my day on Wednesday when I had to deliver two tires to be fixed at the shop, and my husband and I had the afternoon ruined when we found out that they were flat due to vandalism. Thursday then got blown up when we had to spend half of it going in to get the tires they ordered for replacement and pay $400 for them (Merry Christmas, Discount Tire).
In the midst of it, though, didn't come the anger I anticipated. I was mildly frustrated that my schedule kept changing, but the thing that overwhelmingly stuck out this week was peace. Peace in the midst of violence, in the midst of chaos...peace in the storm.
I realized that this was a great opportunity to watch God's hand at work. So, I sat back and watched. I watched as the right people crossed the right path to open up opportunity to report it to the police (for it wasn't as "isolated" an incident as they let on earlier in the week). Then, out of nowhere, came provision. A neighbor, whom I had never met before, came out to talk to Nathan while he cleaned out cars this morning. She had heard of our plight and was so angered that she chose to spread light into the darkness. She wrote my husband, a perfect stranger of a neighbor, a check for $100 to aid in the replacement cost. When Nathan insisted that she need not, she told him that someone at Christmas time and children should not have to suffer at the hands of vandals.
It reminded me of two things. First, we NEVER know where God's blessings will come from next. Even when we think we have God figured out, we are reminded never to count Him out...never take our eyes off the sky waiting for Him to move in our situation or in our lives. Second, we NEVER know how much God can use us in a situation to shower blessing into someone else's dark circumstance.
Thank you to our neighbor, to this stranger who blessed us so. Thanks be to our Heavenly Father, who supplies for our every need in His perfect timing and brings light to the dark world we live in.
