If you notice my shoes today, they’re muddy. And for good reason.
Why? Let’s go back to the beginning.
It was last night about 6:30 and life was punching me hard. Some things I have no control of were taking up all my brain’s hard drive and RAM. I was making mental mistakes (gas cap left off for example) as I hustled to get my son to soccer practice. I had fallen asleep previously during his guitar lesson. I was tired and frazzled.
So naturally, I drove past the soccer field where I normally drop him off. My brain was in some kind of automatic overdrive and was taking me to my workout (which was 13 hours previously.) I turned quickly to the right into the back of the field and cut across the grass — something I’ve done at least a dozen times.
But what wasn’t the case the other 12 times was that the field was now a bog. I felt the car sink and then the tires spun. Whirrrrrrrrrrr. Mud flew everywhere.
Groan.
The car (which was blameless) was stuck up to the front axles. And all my plans for the next hour were radically changed.
I sent my son to practice and stepped out myself.
Squish.
It was worse than I thought. I went over to a nearby building where a friend worked. He and I got some wood to help the car get some traction. I’ve unstuck cars a million times. But it wasn’t happening today.
The soccer team came over to give it a push. No dice.
I guess I could have gotten mad. But there was no use — Life had decided I needed a reset. And you can’t argue with life.
My fingers began dialing the number for a tow truck.
I guess the good Lord had decided He had thrown enough on my plate because an angel in a truck pulled up at that moment. His name was Jason — and he was dropping off his son just like I was. Except he had a four-wheel-drive and off-road tires.
“Let me go home and get some rope.”
“Good,” I thought, “I’m at the end of mine.”
He came back about 20 minutes later and we got the car out of the mud in about a minute.
We talked for few minutes; I really liked the guy. It’s funny how a man with a truck and a few straps can renew your faith in humanity. A bad moment had introduced me to a great guy.
I think a younger version of myself would have panicked. Or gotten mad. Or pitched a fit. While I did have a sense of frustration, I knew things would work out. And they did. Maybe it was because I had visited with a friend with lymphoma earlier in the day and had a better perspective. Or maybe I just knew that staying calm was the best option.
I hosed most of the mud off my car last night but didn’t clean my shoes. Why? Because I wanted to be reminded that when we sink in life’s mud, it takes friends to pull us out.
