It was a few days after Halloween and I was driving across the country.
Sixteen hours. Alone.
I was constantly searching for cheap(er) gas, only stopping at fast food restaurants where I had coupons, and paying half of my life savings to the state of West Virginia in tolls.
I got cranky fast. At two dollars a pop, those tolls were adding up fast. It cost me more to drive through West Virginia than I spent on food, by the way.
But then I got an idea.
At the next toll booth, I pleasantly greeted the man. What an awful job he has. I handed him a five dollar bill. He gave me my change. I took it and extended my hand with a Baby Ruth in it.
"Happy Halloween," I said. He laughed. Not a chuckle, not a smirk, not a courteous "that was a joke attempt that wasn't really funny." No, a full-belly laugh.
The gate went up, I wished him a good day and drove off. Maybe his day really was good. After all, he had a fun size Baby Ruth to munch on until the next driver came.
But my day was good. I had "miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep" but I also had his laughter bottled up in my memory.
All it took was a piece of candy and a smile. It didn't hurt me a bit.
I've heard it said it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. The huge bag of Trick or Treat candy was sitting in my passenger seat just waiting, begging to be eaten (maybe that's why I spent so little on food). I don't even like Baby Ruth. But from this guy's laugh, he does.
Make a difference today. It doesn't hurt much. Laughter overrides cranky.
<>< Katie
Showing posts with label gas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gas. Show all posts
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Guilty Getting Gas
Sometimes I have a problem with the "You are now entering the mission field" signs on the edge of church parking lots. Can the church property not also be a mission field? Yet sometimes we need that reminder. Sometimes we forget worship does not conclude when we leave the parking lot.
I forgot that on Sunday.
After church and lunch, we said goodbye to the youth who had touched our lives for the last two days and prepared for our three-hour journey back to school.
First stop: gas station.
The university keeps a gas card in the twelve-passenger van was I driving. I plugged in the card and it said, "See attendant."
Trip into the gas station number one. She told me to try it again and if it didn't work I could pay inside after I filled up.
Back at the pump, it didn't work a second time. I filled up the van and went inside to pay.
Trip into the gas station number two. We ran the card and it was denied. We ran it again, still denied. We ran it as debit, but I didn't have a PIN.
Back at the van, I called Heather. No answer. We called Kevin. He said he didn't know the PIN and told us to call Neal. Neal was apologetic that we hadn't been given the PIN before we left campus.
Trip into the gas station number three. On the phone with Neal, I punched in the PIN he gave me. Still no luck.
That's when I started to get short with him. It was out of frustration but that didn't make it right. Had I learned nothing on our weekend of living to worship? I could have been worshipping at the gas station... thanking God that we had gas to fill up the van, that our only snafu was a misbehaving gas card, and the ability to reach someone who was willing to help us on a Sunday afternoon while he was spending time with his family. I could have been courteous to the attendant and the man on the phone.
Getting mad at Neal wasn't worship. In fact, it was the opposite. It was getting cranky with someone who was trying to help.
The chorus of the Casting Crowns's song "The Altar and the Door" saying, "I will not lose my follow through between the altar and the door." Not forgetting everything we learned in church between when we leave the sanctuary and when we, as the sign in the parking lot says, enter the mission field. Instead, we should take what we've learned home with us and implement it into our lives.
Well, fail, Katie.
I lost a fight with a gas card and I lost my worship mindset. A mile from the church and I had two apologies to make: one to Neal and one to God.
Thankful for forgiveness,
<>< Katie
PS: On the fourth trip into the gas station, I paid out of pocket and was reimbursed when we made it safely back to campus.
I forgot that on Sunday.
After church and lunch, we said goodbye to the youth who had touched our lives for the last two days and prepared for our three-hour journey back to school.
First stop: gas station.
The university keeps a gas card in the twelve-passenger van was I driving. I plugged in the card and it said, "See attendant."
Trip into the gas station number one. She told me to try it again and if it didn't work I could pay inside after I filled up.
Back at the pump, it didn't work a second time. I filled up the van and went inside to pay.
Trip into the gas station number two. We ran the card and it was denied. We ran it again, still denied. We ran it as debit, but I didn't have a PIN.
Back at the van, I called Heather. No answer. We called Kevin. He said he didn't know the PIN and told us to call Neal. Neal was apologetic that we hadn't been given the PIN before we left campus.
Trip into the gas station number three. On the phone with Neal, I punched in the PIN he gave me. Still no luck.
That's when I started to get short with him. It was out of frustration but that didn't make it right. Had I learned nothing on our weekend of living to worship? I could have been worshipping at the gas station... thanking God that we had gas to fill up the van, that our only snafu was a misbehaving gas card, and the ability to reach someone who was willing to help us on a Sunday afternoon while he was spending time with his family. I could have been courteous to the attendant and the man on the phone.
Getting mad at Neal wasn't worship. In fact, it was the opposite. It was getting cranky with someone who was trying to help.
The chorus of the Casting Crowns's song "The Altar and the Door" saying, "I will not lose my follow through between the altar and the door." Not forgetting everything we learned in church between when we leave the sanctuary and when we, as the sign in the parking lot says, enter the mission field. Instead, we should take what we've learned home with us and implement it into our lives.
Well, fail, Katie.
I lost a fight with a gas card and I lost my worship mindset. A mile from the church and I had two apologies to make: one to Neal and one to God.
Thankful for forgiveness,
<>< Katie
PS: On the fourth trip into the gas station, I paid out of pocket and was reimbursed when we made it safely back to campus.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Are you kidding me?
Comments make my day. :-) Since everyone likes the songs, I won't feel so bad about always including a song. I like songs.
Yesterday I drove the car my sister typically drives. (No, it's not her car). There were huge key scratches running from the driver's window to the keyhole. The car's a mess inside and out (two weeks ago I spent an hour plus cleaning this car... what the crap?). I get to the point where I actually turn the car on and the gas needle barely moves. Less than 1/4 of a tank of gas. What? That car shouldn't have less than 3/4 of a tank of gas! THEN Stellar Kart comes BLASTING through stereo. That 1999 stereo can't stand Stellar Kart! Ok, enough of my rant.
I pop out the CD and threw in The Altar and the Door by Casting Crowns. Good CD, but by the time I got to church I'd heard the whole CD. For the next three hours the songs rotated through my head. I finally stopped singing them and what song is part of the sermon? "Everyman" by Casting Crowns. Thanks, buddy!
Back to work!
In Christ,
<>< Katie
Yesterday I drove the car my sister typically drives. (No, it's not her car). There were huge key scratches running from the driver's window to the keyhole. The car's a mess inside and out (two weeks ago I spent an hour plus cleaning this car... what the crap?). I get to the point where I actually turn the car on and the gas needle barely moves. Less than 1/4 of a tank of gas. What? That car shouldn't have less than 3/4 of a tank of gas! THEN Stellar Kart comes BLASTING through stereo. That 1999 stereo can't stand Stellar Kart! Ok, enough of my rant.
I pop out the CD and threw in The Altar and the Door by Casting Crowns. Good CD, but by the time I got to church I'd heard the whole CD. For the next three hours the songs rotated through my head. I finally stopped singing them and what song is part of the sermon? "Everyman" by Casting Crowns. Thanks, buddy!
Back to work!
In Christ,
<>< Katie
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