This past Thursday was not a happy Thursday.
Don't get me wrong, there were parts of it that were fantastic. But overall, not my best Thursday.
It started with snow. Quite a bit of snow. It made my morning drive to work a little difficult, but overall not too bad. I made it to work, and was having an ok day in the office (I even got paid!). I was excited at the prospect of making a snowman and getting in a snowball fight with Andrea. The morning went ok. Nothing to complain too much about. Lunch rolls around, and I decide I need gloves for our snowball fight. I drive to Wal-Mart to purchase some gloves, but due to the snow, they are all sold out of gloves(They did ask if I would be interested in purchasing work gloves, though. Wal-Mart employees are so gosh-darn helpful!), so I drive to Old Navy instead.
Old Navy had one pair of gloves left. So I purchase them for $6.47, and head back out to my car. I attempt to start my car... nothing. That's ok! I think to myself, Andrea can come jump start my car, and my day can continue as usual. So I call Andrea who heads on over to help out. She pulls in front of my car and we attempt to jump start it. No luck. A friendly old man stops by and asks if he can help. He takes a look at the battery and determines I need a new one, because my current one is 8 years old. (It was a 50 month battery... did I get my money's worth or what?) So I remove the battery, Andrea drives me to Interstate Battery, and we replace it for $104.72. She drives me back to my car, where I drop the battery in, connect it, and attempt to start the car.
Victory. The car starts, we cheer a bit, and then I tell Andrea to kill the engine so that I can tighten the battery connectors a bit more. She does, and we tighten the battery. I climb in to start the car and drive back to work.
Un-Victory. The car doesn't start. We complain a bit, and we pop the hood all over again. Another friendly gentlemen heads over to help out. He tinkers around with it a bit and determines that it's the starter. So we call a tow-truck and have the car towed to Max's Automotive where it is confirmed that my starter is dead. Max tells me it's going to cost $314.93 including the new starter, the labor, and the cost of towing.
By this point, it's too late for me to go back to work. I'm tired, frustrated, and rather cold (Whose car waits until the biggest snow of the half-decade to die?), and we head back to my apartment.
We do manage to get our play in the snow in, and that was wonderfully fantastic. But then I lose one of my gloves. Not so wonderfully fantastic.
By the end of the day, I'm out over $400 and a left glove. Happy Thursday indeed.
I was not at all happy by the time the whole car ordeal was over. I hated the way it went. But I tell this story not so you can sit back and say, "Oh poor Tyler and his car!" But rather to say this:
My day had all of the makings of a Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very-Bad Day. I was grumpy and not at all happy. But when I look back on my day, I notice a few things:
1. I got paid that day. I had the funds to handle my broken car.
2. Both times I was wrestling with my car, someone very friendly and much more knowledgable about cars stopped to help out as best they could.
3. My wonderful, amazing, fantastic girlfriend sat in the snow with me to keep me company. She drove me around so I could get my car fixed, and then she built snowmen with me and made me hot chocolate when we finished.
When I look back on my day, it wasn't so bad after all. I mean, I've certainly had better days. I've certainly had more productive days. But it's on days like this past Thursday that I can see the intense blessings that God has put in my life. God put my broken car in just the right spot that those two very helpful men would stop and would kind of know what they were doing. God kept my car running until I had the funds to fix it. God sent snow for me to have something fun to do to unwind after my stressful day. And God blessed me with an awesome girlfriend who was willing to give up her day to help me and spend time with me.
It's funny how God works like that. He uses less-than-fun situations to show us our blessings. He uses some of the worst days to create some of the best memories and stories. I can't look back on Thursday and say it was a terrible day. I get to look back on this past Thursday and say it was a day that God reminded me of all the blessings he's given me. It was a Happy Thursday after all.
May you find all of God's everyday blessings, too.
--Tyler
