Saturday, March 23, 2013

My Personal Storm

This past Monday night I flew into Dulles Airport
from San Diego with a couple of friends. Glen was
waiting in the cell phone lot for my call. It was rainy
and cold and I was so hyped over getting home and
going to bed. The clock read 9:30 and we were forty
minutes from my desired destination.

Jane: "Hey, Honey, I'm ready for pick-up
Glen: "The car won't start.
Jane: "You have got to be kidding!"
Glen: "No, but I wish I was. When I pushed the
start button all kinds of lights blinked on the dash-
board, the gas gage went from two bars to one then
blinked before going to zero. Now all is dark.
Jane: "Let me find the Greens and I will call you back."
(That was not exactly what I was thinking...)

Our friends graciously offered to take us home even
though it was in the wrong direction for them. We left
the Prius unlocked until it could be picked up the next
day and transported to Toyota. Danny called me later to
let me know that the car had no fuel in it, the battery
had died, and as a result the car engine was now full of sludge.
Danny said that it appeared we had ignored the blinking
light on the dashboard warning us of impending doom,
but the gas gage said we had plenty of fuel and we had
only driven 300 miles. It took most of my day to deal with
the car issues and my "to do" list went out the window.
Glen called the next day to set the record straight, because,
for us to let a Prius run out of gas was unthinkable! (I grew
up with a Dad who told me he would not come and pick me
up if I ran out of gas!) Danny finally admitted that the battery
might have given us the wrong fuel information. However, his
explanation did not pay for the damage due to the sludge.

As I have pondered our adventure I realize that the car could
have run out of gas on the highway either coming or going,
but it didn't. It died in a cell phone lot making it more safe to
leave overnight, and easy to pick up the next day. Half the key
was left behind in the ignition, so I did not have to get a ride to
the airport to meet the tow truck. God was in the midst of
my personal storm.  He always is....

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