Flat tires leave me feeling deflated.
This past weekend my friend, Bryce, and his bride Hailee were married at the idyllic Mackey House. The rehearsal went smoothly and the Low-Country Boil dinner at Vic's on the River was exceptional. One of the benefits of officiating a late spring wedding in Savannah is that you can visit Tybee Island for a little beach time! Perfect way to start the summer break! Tracie, the boys and I were a little over a mile from our hotel after spending the morning on Tybee when it happened. Blam, Bloom, Farfignuggen! "What was that!" "I have no idea! I didn't see anything but it sounded like somebody hit us with a crowbar!" The Tahoe seemed to be OK, so I kept driving thinking I could make it to the service station across from the hotel. Instead we were forced to pull into the corporate driveway of Gulfstream located directly across the street from the Savannah Airport. I had never changed a tire on this vehicle because I had never had the need. Here I was out of town, too far from the hotel with two exhausted kids, and my wife flipping through the Table of Contents of the Owner's Manual. "Where is the jack? What is this thing for? How do you lower the spare tire?" As I lay under the rear of the vehicle and Tracie tried to entertain two beach-weary boys I prayed. "Lord, I need some help. Could you send somebody?" I didn't know that Harrisen, our ten-year old was praying the same at the same time! I was still laying there trying to figure things out when Harrisen exclaimed: "Somebody's here to help!" Thank Goodness (You)! It wasn't just anybody--it was the Plant Operations Manager with ABM Building Maintenance for that Gulfstream location, Terry Whitfield. He informed me that he had already called a couple of his men to bring a commercial jack and they would take care of everything. No worries. Relief. But when they got there the socket wrenches that they had did not fit our custom lug nuts. Custom lug nuts? What? I didn't even know that they made that sort of thing. There was no getting the flat tire off and replacing it with the spare. So do you want to know what these three guys did? Terry, off duty for the day, drove to Wal-Mart, purchased an air compressor and a plug kit, returned to our vehicle and those three guys repaired our tire and sent us on our way. Terry ended up spending nearly two hours helping us--total strangers on his property. It wasn't his job and he had nothing to gain from helping a family on vacation. We were so grateful! I asked Terry: "You love Jesus, don't you?" He smiled. I said, " Well you are an answer to prayer. I was laying under that spare tire in despair and praying God would send somebody." He said "i drove right by you on my way home. I turned out of the driveway and got to the first light pole and God said i needed to come back here and help you." He asked himself: "What if that was my family?" "Good thing you got a direct line then!", he laughed. As a result we met three great dudes: Terry Whitfield, Stephen Beard, and Kevin Green. And the next time I see a stranded family I'm going to be inclined to stop and help no matter how inconvenient it is.
1 Comment
Seth Wade
6/3/2015 05:11:24 am
Man, you and tires don't get along. I've had a few rough experiences with tires myself...not fun. Glad it turned out ok for you all.
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