Thursday, June 2, 2011

FLAT TIRE-INFLATED GRACE


Well, day 1 of camp is officially behind us.  Where to begin?  What an amazing day we had yesterday here in Lake Placid FL.  This is a beautiful place on Earth that God has created and we are thankful that we get t spend a few days enjoying it. 

So yesterday our plan was to spend the morning doing some community outreach here in LP.  A local pastor here had arranged some projects for us to work on before the group from the other church arrived.  So as we get ready to leave one of my adult leaders, notices that one of the rear tires on the bus he is driving is dry rotted and has lost all of its air.  Now, it has dual wheels and the inner tire is fine.  We determine that is it safe to drive the 1.5 miles to the meeting place and then we will get it taken care of.  So as we are forced to change plans due to transportation issues we end up setting up a car wash at the local church.  This is a free car wash where no donations are accepted.  We talk about how hard it will be for some folks to accept a free gift.  We discuss how sometimes the person giving is the one being blessed.  I emphasized how important it was for people to understand that the Jesus in us compelled us to serve them in this way.

So, we are referred to a local tire shop by the pastor and when we arrive he had already called so we were expected.  The owner greeted us outside, knew the exact tire we needed. (It takes 4 days to order and receive this type of tire)  He happened to have a used tire in exactly the size we needed.  At this point he asked his employee to stop what he was working on and take care of the bus tire.  So in 20 minutes or so we were ready to go.  When I asked the total he shook my hand and said to have a great week!  I began to argue and insist that he allow me to pay him and his words stopped me in my tracks as he squeezed my hand a little harder he said, “Be blessed”.  Wow, who am I to argue with the guy trying to be an extension of God’s grace.  You know, some people have a really hard time accepting a free gift. 

Waiting on Him,
ML