Tonka 02 is my pretty big truck. Well, she’s not that purty, but she’s big. At least she’s larger than the original Tonka! Sometimes I still miss my smaller Tonka, but understand why we had to part company after 14 years and 400,000 miles!

I have tires on my truck that were made by the Bridgestone / Firestone tire company. The model of my tires is not on the recall list. I think they should be, for sure. However, I had a tread separation in Savannah a few months ago. My wonderful son-in-law put my brand new spare on and I headed home for Florida.

On a recent trip to visit said son-in-law, William, and his lovely wife, our daughter, we had another tire problem. About 14 miles south of Tifton, GA, we started feeling a gigantic whump, whump, whump. Grandson Ben helped me look at the tires. He’s 15 and knows a lot! We cut our speed waaaaaaaay back and limped into Tifton.

After we pulled off the Interstate, we passed a couple of your major, name-brand, garden variety tire stores. I almost drove in to one of them, but could remember very lengthy “waits” at some of our tire places here at home. We pulled into a convenience store. I found a nice gentleman who pointed me toward an independent tire store that nearly defies description. It was a sort of a shade tree tire changing place.

When I pulled in, the first thing I noticed was the sign on the wall. There, in large red letters was this message: “Please Do Not Spit On The Ground Where We Have To Work. Thank You, Management.” The manager came out immediately and started the the ball rolling. When I asked him about the sign he said that a lot of his local customers chew tobacco and used to expectorate on the cement apron. The service was excellent.

I looked at the top of the faded red humongous tire changing stand and noticed the name “Jesus” spray-painted across the top. Now, I know full well that in the Mexican language it’s pronounced “Haysoosâ”. I just couldn’t resist chuckling that my new tire was going on Tonka 02 by “Jesus”.

I’m always looking for ways to open conversations with new people and see what they might know about the Lord. When I pointed out my observation to the manager, he laughed and said, “Well, that man over there is named ‘Angel’. I’ve got it made with Jesus and Angel working around me.”

In literally 10 minutes we were back on the highway. Ben had a gigantic slush drink nearly in his gullet. What a neat outcome of a potentially dangerous and deadly tire incident. Did I want to spend money on a new tire? No way. However, when he showed us the twisted, warped carcass he’d taken off my truck, I breathed a prayer of thanksgiving toward the Lord and praise toward the good work done by the employees.

Does God truly bring good out of all things, even things meant for our harm? (Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.)

Do those prayers we utter before turning on the key really help?

Are there really good people out there serving the public, politely, properly, and with a sense of humor?

Your responses and personal life experiences are of great importance to me.  Use the “Leave a Reply” box below!  I’ll respond.

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