Lesson(s) learned...

On Friday night I volunteered in the Historic Third Ward for their Christmas festival. I've done it five of the last six years. I help sell cookies to benefit Toys for Tots and hot chocolate to benefit the Ward. There's always a ton of people and kids and it's a joyful thing to do. I love it! This year, however, it was COLD. REALLY cold. I think single digits maybe. Anyway, there weren't a lot of people. Still, it was fun.

Then I got to sit and chat with my sister-in-law over a warm bowl of soup. It was a lovely time of catching up and just being an adult. Around 10:30 it started to snow a little, but it's Wisconsin and we have snow here and I didn't think anything of it.

I headed home and the roads were pretty good. Snowy in parts, but I took it slow and all was well....until I hit some black ice about a mile from home and ended up backwards in the ditch. Thankfully, the car and I are both absolutely fine. It was 12:15. I wasn't entirely sure what to do. I shifted the car into low gear and tried it to see if I cold make it out. Not so much. So I figured I'd breathe a little and call Steve. We have roadside through insurance, but you find your own tow truck and then they reimburse you. I called Steve. And I called him. And I called again. It wasn't til about the 8th call that I remembered that I'd taken the phone out of our room during naps - and it was not likely that it got replaced. So I sat some more and weighed the idea of walking home against calling someone else and thought about who I'd call... I got out and used my boot to dig around the tires a little in a last effort to get myself out. As I was doing that, a good Samaritan pulled up. I wasn't sure what to think or do. That makes me sad. When I saw it was a woman, I was less trepidatious and in retrospect that makes me even more sad. What kind of world do we live in that I need to be wary of someone who is coming to give me help at 12:30am while I'm in the ditch?

Anyway, the kind woman who stopped asked if I was okay and if I had a cell phone. I said yes to both, but explained that I was having trouble getting in touch with Steve. She offered to call AAA for me and wait with me. I was pretty amazed - in this world - that someone would offer to do that - and so late at night! I was also very thankful.

Unfortunately, in my haste to get out the door that afternoon, I had determined that I "probably had enough gas to get to Milwaukee and back" so I didn't fill up. That is one huge lesson learned. I was down to about 1/8 of a tank as I was nearing my exit and I truly would've had enough gas to get home and then some, except that at the angle the car was at, the gas all flowed away from the engine and the car started to sputter. Knowing that I'd need to get home once I got towed out, I shut the car off. It was interesting to see how quickly the car got cold. I was sitting there shivering and listening to Christmas music and wondering whether or not I was really that cold or just a little shocky after my experience. Thankfully, the tow truck came after just half an hour. I thanked my Samaritan one last time and drove directly to the gas station and filled up.

It wasn't until I got into the garage and turned off the car that I thought to take a minute to thank God for keeping me safe - and for teaching me some lessons about trusting people and getting gas in my car. I'm disappointed in myself for not thinking to thank Him the moment the car came to rest and I was fine - or when the nice woman pulled up and offered to call a tow truck and wait with me or during the quiet time while I waited for the tow truck. I'm glad I remembered in the end, but particularly in this time of year, I wish I'd thought to do it sooner. Thankfully, my God understands my weaknesses and loves me anyway. What a gift that is!