Just Call Me McGyver

Yesterday afternoon was not like I had planned ~ and you know I am all about the plan.  I had a to-do list a mile long and as I was checking off one very important thing, picking up my lovelies from school, I came out to find a flat tire.  I tried to call my sister but couldn't get her.  I hated calling Hubby, as he works an hour away, but I needed to talk this through with him.  There was something metal in my tire and I needed to know what he wanted me to do.

Hubby: Can you get air in it and see if it will hold till you get to Sears?
I was contemplating this and wondering where I would get air in the school parking lot.  Then I remembered that Hubby took the car-powered compressor out of his truck the other night and it was put back in my car.  Put air in the tire ~ CHECK!
The air was coming right back out of the hole made by this metal tube thing.  Meanwhile, Princess is squatting down next to me saying, "Mom, I think we have an oil leak.  Do you see that stuff dripping from the car?  It's oil."
"No, we don't.  It's from the a/c.  It's supposed to do that."
"No Mom, I think it's oil." 
Whatever Princess, I can only do one thing at a time.
As I was discussing this with Hubby, we both came to the same idea at the same time.  I chewed a piece of gum and stuck it on the hole.  It would hopefully hold until I could get to the store.  Princess had to offer her two cents worth, "Gross Mom, the tire people are going to have to touch that gum that was in your mouth to fix the tire!"  Did I mention that by this time it was raining?

Here is the gum I stuck on the tire.

I quickly loaded the kids back in the car with a quick prayer that we would make it 3 miles to Sears to get this tire fixed.  As we were driving there, Princess and I started singing:

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

At some point in the afternoon Prince said, "This is the worst day ever."  It could have been, but there were so many things that went right about this situation.  The compressor that doesn't live in my car, was put in my car and for some reason left there.  We weren't on the road when the tire went flat.  I found it that way in their school parking lot.  The rain held off long enough that I wasn't standing in a downpour while I put air in the tire.  I was able to make it to the store without stopping and we have their road hazard plan so they fixed it for free.  Just the night before I had been riding on the interstate and it was late, dark, and the roads were wet.  It didn't happen then.  God had His hands all in this.  Yes, it was an inconvenience, but it was manageable.  After talking to Prince and Princess about this, Prince said, "You're right Mom.  We are really blessed." 
These little inconveniences can really serve as wake-up calls that God is in the small stuff and He covers us with a hedge of protection each day if we will ask Him to be there.  I know that He was with my every step of the way and the Holy Spirit worked in my soul to keep me calm and help me to solve the problem.

And now for your listening pleasure, This Is The Stuff