A Heart Strangely Warmed

Remember me telling you that I needed to go to the Tire Shop and get that tire fixed. Well, I fiddled around the house. Did some laundry. Wrote that paper for my D.Min. Took a shower and did the whole hair and make-up routine and, then, got in the car to get the tire fixed. And I’m in a hurry because I’m afraid that they will be closed for lunch, once again forcing me to sit and wait for an hour (like the dealership did a few weeks ago).

So I’m rushing the 20 miles to the Tire Shop and I see a little old lady fighting a hay field fire near her house. So I stop and ask, “Do you need any help?” She says, “Yes, Yes, Yes”. So I grab a rake and start to help, then I ask, “Have you called the Fire Department?” because I see that the fire has already spread for a couple of acres. She answers, “No, I’ve been too busy fighting fire.” I rush back for my cell phone and call the fire department, which was easier said than done, because she lives where three counties come together. I finally, after being transferred for the 3rd time, say something ugly in my father’s native language which fortunately the dispatcher does not understand and tell them in the local vernacular that the fire is “fixin ta” burn down the woman’s house, which by that time was true.

At this time the woman and, now, her son are still trying to save the hay field (which in my part of the country is very, very important). However, the wind had shifted direction and was perilously close to burning down her house and I am between the fire and her house trying to stop it from getting any closer.

Not the wisest course of action because when the smoke shifted my way it became apparent that I could not see my way through such a dense cloud of smoke and, also, apparently cannot breathe smoke without a severe reaction. Duh!!

Now when I first came to the little old lady’s aid, she was busily praying that prayer that everyone does when faced with disaster, “O God, O God, O God”. Now when I was faced with being cornered by the fire, I prayed, “O Shit, O Shit, O Shit”. I can assure you that my prayer was sincerely prayed but not as nice as hers was. However, about the moment when I was considering jumping in the stock tank, the fire department arrived. And saved the day.

So I am sure that God provided for both of us, and now I have an excuse for my endless procrastination over getting the tire fixed. It was predestined. God does work in mysterious ways.

The woman required some medical treatment for smoke inhalation and some small burns. She just kept calling me her “angel” and hanging on my neck. I was thinking, “Why did all those other people just keep driving by on the highway?” My throat is raw and sore. My eyes a red and sore. Probably what I deserved for cussin’ instead of prayin’. I’m adding Fire Fighter to my résumés list of pastoral skills.

My lovely, kind Tire Shop fixed my tire, even though, it was the lunch hour. So all’s well that end’s well. Unfortunately, I have to take ANOTHER shower, which I hate. Not because of the shower itself but because of all the blowing and drying and face spackling that taking that shower requires.